Global Development Institute podcast

Nick Jepson talks to Ilias Alami and Adam Dixon about their recent talk at the Global Development Institute. The talk blurb is below:The talk contributes to the development of state capitalism as a reflexively critical project focusing on the morphology of present-day capitalism, and particularly on the changing role of the state. We bring analytical clarity to state capitalism studies by offering a rigorous definition of its object of investigation, and by demonstrating how the category state capitalism can be productively construed as a means of problematising the current aggregate expansion of the state’s role as promoter, supervisor, and owner of capital across the world economy. Noting some of the geographical shortcomings of the field, we outline an alternative research agenda – uneven and combined state capitalist development – which aims at spatialising the study of state capitalism and revitalising systemic explanations of the phenomenon. We then offer a geographic reconstruction of the current advent of state capitalism. We identify the determinate historical-geographical capitalist transformations which underpin contemporary state capitalism. Such processes include: the accelerating unfolding of the new international division of labour; technological modernization and industrial upgrading culminating in the Fourth Industrial Revolution; an unprecedented concentration and centralisation of capital; and a secular shift in the centre of gravity of the global economy from the North Atlantic to the Pacific rim. The political mediation of these processes results in new geographies of intervention, which develop in combinatorial and cumulative forms, producing further state capitalist modalities. This is a particularly potent dynamic in contemporary state capitalism, and its tendency to develop in a spiral that both shapes and is shaped by world capitalist development.Transcript available here: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/research/transcripts/uneven-combined-state-capitalism.pdf

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Inequality is the crisis of our time. The growing gap between a few at the top and the rest of society damages us all. No longer able to deny the crisis, every government in the world is now pledged to fix it – and yet it keeps on getting worse.This talk focuses on his new book, and Ben Phillips has shown why, in looking for answers, we need to move the spotlight away from the famous faces; how every time inequality has been successfully tackled it has been because of people pushing from below.Most books on inequality are about what other people ought to do about it – this book is about why winning the fight needs you.Sometimes students can feel like they are “preparing” for helping bring change when appointed to a role later. But can they in fact play a transformative role now? Phillips says yes - and explains how.This is not just a bold new historical and sociological study about the politics of inequality - it is a practical action guide for people working for a more equal world.Ben Phillips is co-founder of the Fight Inequality Alliance, civil society activist, and writer. He is the author of the book How to Fight Inequality: (and Why That Fight Needs You) published by Wiley press.Transcript available here: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/research/transcripts/how-to-fight-inequality-ben-phillips-transcript.pdf

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How did Western imperialism shape the developing world? In Imperialism and the Developing World, Atul Kohli tackles this question by analyzing British and American influence on Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America from the age of the British East India Company to the most recent U.S. war in Iraq. He argues that both Britain and the U.S. expanded to enhance their national economic prosperity, and shows how Anglo-American expansionism hurt economic development in poor parts of the world.Atul Kohli is the David K.E. Bruce Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University. His principal research interests are in the area of political economy of developing countries. He is the author of Imperialism and the Developing World: How Britain and the U.S. Shaped the Global Periphery; Poverty amid Plenty in the New India; State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery; Democracy and Discontent: India's Growing Crisis of Governability and The State and Poverty in India. He has also edited or co-edited ten volumes and published some sixty articles. Through much of his scholarship, he has emphasized the role of sovereign and effective states in the promotion of inclusive development.

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Using case studies from research conducted in Nepal, Bangladesh and Uganda, this webinar will reveal how powerful women are critical actors in securing policy change and consolidating policy gains. The webinar explores the different strategies women’s movement actors and women inside the state use behind the scenes to bypass the political gatekeepers and overcome resistance in policy spaces. In all of the case study countries, there is a push-back against women’s rights and the civic space is shrinking. How does the rise of conservative forces also offer insights into how women leaders may continue to matter?Dr Sohela Nazneen is a Research Fellow at IDS and a Principal Investigator for ESID on women’s empowerment. She has 17 years of experience in working on gender and development issues.

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Catch up with our webinar which introduced the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) and outlined how the ACRC and its international partners is planning to tackle complex, political and systemic problems in some of Africa’s fastest-growing urban areas.ACRC has been awarded a contract of £32 million from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) over the next 6 years. Building on the political settlements analysis established by the Effective States and Inclusive Development research centre, ARCR will adopt a city as systems approach to addressing complex urban problems. Through engaged action research, we aim to catalyse progress for disadvantaged communities in a number of focus cities and beyond.SpeakersProfessor Diana Mitlin, The University of ManchesterProfessor Sam Hickey, The University of ManchesterDr Martin Atela Partnership for African Social and Governance Research, NairobiChaired by Dr Admos Chimhowu

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India and China have responded very differently to the lives and livelihoods threats created by Covid-19 and they have experienced very different outcomes. This webinar explores the different ways in which political factors have shaped policy responses to Covid-19 in China and India and the relationships between scientific/technical analysis of the ‘crisis’ and political forces. Can the different policy choices and outcomes be explained by broad-brush concepts, such as democracy and autocracy, or are the explanatory factors more nuanced and more deeply rooted in the specificities of domestic politics?Prof Prerna Singh, Mahatma Gandhi Associate Professor of Political Science & International Studies at Brown University, USAProfessor Yanzhong Huang, Director, Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall, & Senior Fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, USA

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What kind of politics help to secure inclusive development? After 9 years of research across 26 countries, summing up ESID findings hasn’t been simple. But Three Cs kept cropping up: Context, Capacity, Coalitions.Listen to the a lecture on the Three C’s with ESID’s Research Director Professor Sam Hickey

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In this special podcast we sat down for a chat with Chrissie Wellington OBE, who was the 2020 recipient of The University of Manchester Outstanding Alumni Award.The four-time World Ironman Champion and current Global Head of Health and Wellbeing at Parkrun, talked about her time at Manchester, what attracted her to International Development, her remarkable sporting career and why her current work is, even more so since Covid-19, so important.Chrissie Wellington graduated in 2001 with an MA in International Development. She is now the Global Head of Health and Wellbeing at Parkrun.

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Mark Anner will share findings from his survey data on the impact of March 2020 order cancellations by major apparel brands and retailers with global supplier factories (USD 40 billion), which left millions of low-income workers (mostly young women) without income. A subsequent campaign to pressure these corporations to ‘#payup” was largely successful.Dr. Anner will then draw on his October 2020 research report to examine how, in the context of new lockdowns, current orders are drying up, factories are being squeezed by buyers on price and payment terms, and more than 10 million garment workers could face dismissals or layoffs.The talk will emphasize how this crisis did not begin with Covid-19, but rather that the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated dramatic, GVC structural power imbalances that have had deleterious consequences for workers, the environment, and social protection for decades.

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Intro music Anna Banana by Eaters