In this episode, Rory Horner speaks with Elisa Gambino about her latest paper 'Flexible embeddedness: how Chinese lead firms internationalise in Africa' with Costanza Franceschini. The ‘rise of the South’, and particularly that of China, has promoted lively debates around the centrality of Southern firms in shaping the contours of twenty first cent…

Dr Elisa Gambino (GDI) interviews Dr Fidèle Beletchei Ebia, a postdoctoral researcher with Duke Africa Initiative, about her recent paper analysing how the rise of South-South value chains disrupts the trade of African print textiles. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: Website Blog BlueSky LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Newsletter I…

In this episode, we speak to PhD researcher Anuradha Ganapathy about her recent think piece 'Beyond Digital Platforms: Unpacking Disinformation Through a Feminist Commodity Chain Approach'. Anuradha discusses alternative approaches to analysing disinformation, moving away from platform centricity and toward an understanding of gendered commodity ch…

In this episode, Sophie Van Huellen (Senior Lecturer in Development Economics at GDI) and Fuad Mohammed Abubakar (Head of Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company UK LTD and Simon Industrial Fellow) talk to Caroline Cornier (PhD Candidate at GDI) about their recent work on the political economy of the Ghanaian cocoa sector. They discuss the implications of po…

In this episode, visiting postdoctoral scholar Monika Verma (Palacký University Olomouc) sits down with GDI's Ibrahim Efe to discuss her research on the securitization of migration in India, focusing specifically on the case of the Rohingya community. Monika discusses the background to her research, the meaning of securitization in a migration cont…

As the world moves towards more sustainable energy sources and infrastructure projects, demand for critical energy transition minerals is surging. Given the uneven distribution of such resources, how can we support cooperative resource management between countries while curbing heightening geopolitical tensions and potential supply chain disruption…

In this episode, GDI students Max Slater, Rosie Rochester, and Armando Caroca Fernandez interview Dr Noam Leshem (Durham University) about his new book, Edges of Care: Living and Dying in No Man's Land (The University of Chicago Press). They discuss the notion of no man's land as a site of radical uncaring, exploring the political dynamics of state…

PhD Researcher Anuradha Ganapathy interviews Payal Arora, Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University and co-founder of two initiatives, Inclusive AI Lab for Debiasing Tech and Fem Lab. The pair discuss Payal's recent book, From Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech (MIT Press), digging into th…

Brought to you by the combined voices of the African Cities Research Consortium and the Global Urban Futures and Environment Policy and Planning research groups, this episode features Dr Taibat Lawanson. Taibat is an associate professor of urban planning at the University of Lagos and a Leverhulme Professor at the University of Liverpool. In this e…

In this episode, GDI's Senior Lecturer Saumik Paul discusses the recently published United Nations Development Programme report on the Multidimensional Poverty Index, 'Poverty Amid Conflict', with Yanchun Zhang, one of the report's authors. Find out more about the Global Development Institute: Website Blog BlueSky LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Newsle…

GDI students Ellen Logan and Alex Pettifer interview Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab (University of Exeter), covering the discipline of Palestine Studies, how Israel-Palestine can advance our understanding of broader issues surrounding decolonisation, and how people can enrich their understanding of Palestinian histories. Details of resources mentioned in th…

In this episode, GDI's very own Tekle Weldemichel discusses his recent paper, 'Tigray war: Modern geographies of mass violence and the invisibilization of populations'. The paper critically examines the strategies and tactics employed by the Ethiopian government and its allies to sustain a “zone of invisibility” around the Tigray war. Read the pape…

In this episode brought to you by the Sustainable Forest Transitions Project, research associate Lucas Alencar speaks with anthropologist Amy Penfield and ecologist Filipe França from the University of Bristol. Lucas, Amy and Filipe discuss the roles anthropology, ecology and other disciplines can play in conservation both in isolation and in colla…

Towards the end of 2024, GDI's Professor Uma Kothari delivered a lecture titled 'Decoloniality: Beyond a Metaphor'. We're fortunate enough to have recorded the lecture, in which Uma discusses how metaphor can inhibit attempts to decolonise our societies and institutions, as well as the role of material reparations in addressing past and present inj…

Chaired by Professor Nicola Banks and Selim Iyirdirli, this episode brings to you a lecture discussion between Deborah Doane, author of ‘The INGO Problem: Power, Privilege and Renewal’, and Nana Asantewa Afadzinu, Executive Director of the West Africa Civil Society Institute. In the episode, Deborah, Niki, and Nana discuss current challenges within…

In this episode, GDI's Armando Caroca and Rose Pritchard speak with Joan Martínez-Alier, an economist and emeritus professor of economics and senior researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Throughout his career, Joan has made important contributions to ecological economics and political ecology in his work on environmentalism of the po…

In this episode, GDI PhD researcher Anna Thurlbeck speaks with Dr Portia Roelofs, lecturer in politics at Kings College London. Dr Roelofs provides an unmissable deep dive into the background and key themes of her new book 'Good Governance in Nigeria: Rethinking Accountability and Transparency in the Twenty-First Century'. Listen now! ---- Dr Roelo…

In this episode, PhD researcher Mariana C. Hernandez-Montilla continues a new series of podcasts linked to the GDI's Sustainable Forest Transitions project. Mariana chats to Dr Pooja Choksi, Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Minnesota and co-founder of Project Dhvani, about her work monitoring the impacts of ecological restoration, includ…

In this episode, One World Together's co-founder Nicola Banks and Community Space Development Lead Asma Bham speak with one of their community partners: Lwanga Bwalya of Play it Forward Zambia. Lwanga dives into the complexities of navigating projects within the current funding system, as well as his own experiences with community-led initiatives b…

Following the launch of the Sustainable Forest Transitions project at Manchester Museum on the 6th March 2024, we bring you a new episode featuring the event's opening remarks and the incredible panel discussion that took place. In this episode, you will hear from Kieran Dodds, Polyanna da Conceição Bispo, Felipe Melo, Adithya Pradeep and Rose Prit…

Oliver Bakewell, Impact Director at GDI, discusses migration practices along the Ethiopia-Sudan border with Kiya Gezahegne, an ethnographic researcher from the University of Addis Ababa. Kiya and Oliver have worked together on multiple projects exploring local migration realities and policy effects. In this episode, they draw interesting observatio…

In this episode, PhD researcher Sandy Nofyanza kicks off a new series of podcasts linked to the GDI's Sustainable Forest Transitions project. Sandy chats to Dr Sreeja Jaiswal, Humboldt Foundation’s International Climate Protection Postdoc Fellow at the University of Heidelberg, about challenges associated with forest restoration efforts and debates…

In this episode, Francisco V. Ayala discusses his new book, Cash Transfers for Poverty Reduction: An International Operational Guide (Routledge, 2023), co-authored with GDI’s David Lawson. The book offers the first systematic discussion of the design and implementation of cash transfer programmes, including practical guidance for students and key s…

Selim Iyidirli hosts a conversation around One World Together and its model for Global Citizenship with Jon Alexander, author of Citizens: How the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, and Nicola Banks and Chibwe Masabo Henry, Co-Founders and Chief Stewards of One World Together. Have a listen, and then come and join their wave of change! More abo…

The division of the world into ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ countries has grown increasingly problematic in the past decades. Nonetheless, it remains embedded in legal documents, foreign policy discourse, and colloquial use. In this lecture, Dr Deborah explores this complexity by unpacking the different ways in which the ‘developing’ label is used …

This episode comes from the African Cities Research Centre, based at the Global Development Institute. Urban reform coalitions can play a critical role in building inclusive, sustainable and productive cities. Made up of diverse stakeholders who collaborate to achieve common goals, these coalitions can work to strengthen relationships between disad…

The latest episode of our podcast brings together Sam Hickey, President of the Development Studies Association UK, Heloise Weber, President of the Development Studies Association Australia and special guest Winnie Mitullah from IDS, University of Nairobi. The three discuss the relevance of development studies in the current climate. Sam Hickey is P…

In this episode Elisa Gambino is joined by Kathy Dodworth. They discuss Kathy’s new book, Legitimation as Political Practice, her transition from working at an NGO to academia and the idea of the non-state Dr Kathy Dodworth is a Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for African Studies. Her current fellowship cr…

People in South Sudan have experienced decades of forced displacement and cross-border mobility, resulting in families split across the country and neighbouring Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. According to the United Nations as of 2021, more than four million South Sudanese citizens were displaced either internally or internationally. Samuel Hal…

In this episode Tanja Müller talks to Lisa Ann Richey about her career and her recent book, Batman Saves the Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt the Politics of Development. Lisa Ann Richey is Professor of Globalisation and Development Studies at the Department of Management, Society and Communication Copenhagen Business School. Her research looks at va…

In this episode Tom Goodfellow and Pritish Behuria discuss Tom's career and his new book, Politics and the Urban Frontier: Transformation and Divergence in Late Urbanizing East Africa. Despite the rise of global technocratic ideals of city-making, cities around the world are not merging into indistinguishable duplicates of one another. In fact, as …

This episode comes from the African Cities Research Consortium podcast. Diana Mitlin talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about her new paper on how reform coalitions can contribute to inclusive equitable urban change in the global South, her experiences of working with coalitions in Africa and Asia, the future of the urban reform agenda in African …

This episode comes from the African Cities Research Consortium podcast. “It’s not our data as SDI, it’s not ACRC data, it’s not their data. It’s the community’s data. So you have to have that understanding that, at the end of the day, it has to benefit the community.” In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Charity Mumbi and Jane Wairutu from SDI-Ke…

In the latest Global Development Institute podcast Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner in charge of infrastructure, energy and ICT, talks to Seth Schindler about energy security and infrastructural development in Africa. Ahead of COP27 in Egypt, they reflect on Africa’s energy “evolution” in relation to climate change, why integration is ke…

Development studies often focuses on the negative: constraints, challenges, negative impacts, etc. But what if we could use new digital datasets to identify positive deviants: outlier individuals, households, districts and others that outperform their peers in achievement of development goals? In this episode, Basma Albanna and Richard Heeks discus…

In this episode, Stefano Ponte talks to Aarti Krishnan about his research into sustainability, the wine and seafood value chains in South Africa and his recent book Business, Power and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains Dr Stefano Ponte is a Professor of International Political Economy at Copenhagen Business School. His research looks…

In the second of our Shifting South series, Stephanie Barrientos talks to Margareet Visser and Maggie Opondo. They reflect on the project and their research into horticultural value chains. Shifting South investigated: the rise of South-South trade through regional and domestic markets what this means for decent work – especially women in precariou…

In the first of our Shifting South series, Stephanie Barrientos talks to Khalid Nadvi and Shane Godfrey. They reflect on the project and their research into regional garment value chains, and decent work in Southern Africa. Shifting South investigated: the rise of South-South trade through regional and domestic markets what this means for decent wo…

In the latest episode of the GDI podcast, Professor Stefan Dercon talks to Dr Sophie van Huellen. They discuss Stefan's new book, "Gambling on Development: why some countries win and others lose", his recent departure from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and his advice to academics wanting to work with civil servants and policymak…

GDI’s Resources, Environment, and Development research group have recently organised a series of talks on ‘Red Talks: on the Politics of Resources, Environment and Development' The first event welcomed Dr Maria Christina Fragkou, an environmental scientist currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University …

While the Covid-19 pandemic has caused enormous devastation and disruption in health, social and economic terms, the remarkably quick development of Covid-19 vaccines is an enormous achievement. Yet despite frequent statements that “it's not over anywhere, until it’s over everywhere”, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines has been grossly inequitab…

Yeling Tan discusses her book, Disaggregating China, Inc: State Strategies in the Liberal Economic Order. China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 represented an historic opportunity to peacefully integrate a rising economic power into the international order based on market-liberal rules. Yet rising economic tensions between the US …

This podcast focuses on development politics at the United Nations, particularly the period of the so-called New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the 1970s. The NIEO was an effort by Third World countries to pursue a reform agenda that combined global redistribution from North to South with state-led developmentalism at the national level. By…

To mark the launch of The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, we have recorded 3 podcasts with the core editorial team.In the final episode, core-editor Kearrin Sims sat down with Albert Salamanca and Pichamon Yeophantong, section editors for the book’s section ‘Sustainabilty and Environment’.Kearrin Sims is a lecturer in Development Studies …

In this second podcast to mark the launch of The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, Professor Jonathan Rigg sits down with Dr Nicola Banks, the section editor of 'Game Changers of global development?', to find out what makes a 'game changer' and how development pedagogy can learn from them.Jonathan Rigg is Professor of Development Geography …

To mark the launch of The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, we have recorded 3 podcasts with the core editorial team.In this first episode, core-editor Kearrin Sims sat down with co-editors Susan Engel, Paul Hodge and Naohiro Nakamura, to discuss their motivations behind the book, what makes this volume so special, and how it deals with 'gl…

In the latest episode of the GDI podcast Professor Shuaib Lwasa talks to Dr Seth Schindler. They discuss the recent COP in Glasgow, urban development, African cities and the Urban Action Lab. Shuaib Lwasa is a Professor of Urban Sustainability at Makerere University, Uganda. He has worked extensively on interdisciplinary research projects focused o…

Social unrest is on the rise once more. A surge in discontent in the wake of the global financial crisis was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic but is resuming in many places and in many different forms as the pandemic begins to recede. The causes, manifestations and consequences of this discontent is the subject of Perspectives on Global Develop…

In this podcast, Kristen Hopewell, Canada Research Chair in Global Policy, presents research from her new book analyzing the impact of the growing US-China conflict on the multilateral trading system. Hopewell argues that China’s ascent has significantly weakened American control over the governing institutions of the trading system and its power t…

In this new mini-series three GDI academics talk to The University of Manchester’s Dr Nic Gowland about how their research is helping to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals for global health, equality and sustainability.More than 80% of South Asia’s farmers are cultivating under two hectares, usually in scattered plots. Most lack access to…