Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice

Age of Security: The rise of a global obsession

Friday 16 October 2026

Speaker: Professor Ruben Andersson, University of Oxford
Discussant: Professor David Keen, LSE

The Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice Lecture series, is hosted by the International Development Department, and provides students and guests with invaluable insights into the practical world of international development.

Link from Ad: This week in Global Development

On the role of Law in African health data futures

Speaker: Professor Sharifah Sekalala, University of Warwick
Discussant: Sonali Silva, LSE

The Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice Lecture series, is hosted by the International Development Department, and provides students and guests with invaluable insights into the practical world of international development.

Link from Ad: This week in Global Development

Between trade wars, pink tariffs and green trade: (how) can we promote the trade-environment-development nexus today?

Speaker: Silke Trommer, University of Manchester
Discussant: Kathy Hochstetler, Professor of International Development at LSE

The Parent Trap: School Choice and Majoritarian Politics in India

Speaker: Ritika Arora, PhD candidate, LSE
Discussant: Laura Mann, LSE ID 

Lives Counted: Measuring Mortality Through Revolution, Epidemic and War in Sudan

Speaker: Maysoon Dahab, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Discussant: Rosanna Le Voir, PhD candidate in Demography, LSE
Chair: Professor Laura Mann

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.

Historical Roots of the Crisis in Gaza

Speakers: Anne Irfan, lecturer in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies at UCL | Myfanwy James, Assistant Professor in International Development, LSE

Chair: Professor James Putzel

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.

A feminist agenda for social change: from deregulated markets to the wellbeing economy

Speakers: Naila Kabeer, is Professor Emeritus at the Department of International Development, LSE | Diane Elson, is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Essex | Ania Plomien, is an Associate Professor in Gender and Social Science, LSE
Chair: Professor James Putzel

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.

Infrastructure and Influence: China’s Digital Presence in the Global South  and Its Developmental Impact

Speaker: Tin El-Kadi, is a political economy researcher, Oxford
Discussant: Kenddrick Chan, Head of Technology and International Affairs project, LSE IDEAS
Chair: James Putzel, LSE ID 

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.

Rethinking the future of development aid

Speakers: Clare Short is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003
Kevin Watkins is a former CEO of Save the Children UK and is a visiting professor at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa
Deborah Doane is an ID alum and the Author of ‘the INGO Problem’ and a partner of Rights CoLab
Chair: James Putzel, LSE ID 

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.

A New New International Economic Order (NNIEO) for a New Global Economy

Speaker: Ha-Joon Chang, is an economist, author and lecturer on institutional economics and development, SOAS
Discussant: Richard Kozul-Wright, is a development economist, SOAS
Chair: James Putzel, LSE ID 

This event is part of the Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice guest lecture series hosted by the International Development Department at LSE.