Paper short abstract

Many development institutions are promoting deepening financialisation through new and evolving forms of financing, partnerships and narratives. This paper will critically assess these trends and their implications for critical development studies, and for sustainable and inclusive development.

Paper long abstract

In this paper we explore the ways in which the 'formal' international development community is increasingly enabling and supporting 'financialisation for development'. The close interlinkages with neoliberalism (causality remains debated) mean that financialisation and its underlying institutions and logics are by no means new in development. From Structural Adjustment Programmes to the huge wave of household financialisation in the global South through, most notably, microfinance and land/property titling, development studies has long critically engaged with various forms, sites and scales of financialisation. However, we suggest that a deepening, accelerating and intensifying roll out of financialisation is now openly being pursued by various parts of the development industry, with concerning implications.

Paper short abstract

The paper reviews the emerging policy discourses in the Arab region around social protection programming. It assesses the political ideas and governance structures underpinning this policy shift and examines to what extent they can contribute to greater social justice outcomes in the Arab region.

Paper long abstract

Since 2011, policy discourses in the Arab region have intensified around the provision of social protection programmes, partly due to donor influence and the Syrian crisis but also in response to the Arab spring. This paper offers a critical mapping of the full range of social protection policies which are currently in place in the Arab region in order to assess: (i) the direction which the emerging social protection policy discourses are taking; (ii) the impact of existing social protection policies on poverty and inequality in individual Arab countries. The discussion is placed in the context of other social protection policy experiences in developing countries. The paper is based on extensive ESRC-funded research by the author. It makes the following arguments: (1) social protection discourse in the Arab region is narrowly defined in risk management and consumption-smoothing terms; (2) Arab countries have an overreliance on social assistance and social safety net programmes, particularly to food and fuel subsidies; (3) social protection policies have limited coverage and impact on poverty and inequality save for very few countries like Gaza and West Bank; (4) though there is no established discourse of social citizenship in the Arab region, traditional Islamic principles of social justice and charity could be better managed to support a broader framework for social protection; (5) Arab countries are now in the process of creating fiscal space to reform social protection policies but these efforts remain hampered by clientelism and weak governance structures.

Paper short abstract

This paper examines how food aid has become part of Sudan’s political economy over a period of fifty years. It traces the evolution of food aid from geopolitics and Sudan’s unequal development to the changing ways in which emergency food aid has been manipulated for political and economic ends.

Paper long abstract

Inequality is a major determinant of access to food in Sudan, with power, wealth and services concentrated within central Sudan, leaving much of the country marginalised, impoverished and suffering repeated emergencies. The country has been at war with itself for most of its independent history. This paper discusses the evolution of three food aid regimes of practices in Sudan and how food aid both contributed to the state's exclusionary development process and tried but failed to assist crisis-affected population in its peripheries. Food aid first explicitly supported the state. From the late 1980s, emergency food aid bypassed the state but its manipulation led to economic and political benefits for the Sudan government and its closely aligned private sector. By the 2000s, the Sudan government controlled international food aid and established its own food aid apparatus, which it could use to further its political and military goals. New food technologies developed in the aftermath of the 2008 food crisis, and applied in Darfur, have enabled the withdrawal of aid, make politics and conflict invisible and create profits for private food corporations. The paper argues for the careful analysis of the social and political determinants of access to food in protracted emergencies.

Paper short abstract

The aim of the paper is to show that in spite of progress in integration at global and regional level, economic nationalism continues to play significant role in regional development in East Asia. The paper aims at presenting nationalistic policies of both individual countries and the whole region.

Paper long abstract

East Asian economies constitute an example of unprecedented economic growth and development. East Asia is also a region where development of regional and global economic linkages have been accompanied by rise of economic nationalism at the local and regional level. East Asian developmental states linked capitalist development with state intervention and extensive regulation and planning. Simultaneously they called upon protection of national interest and identity in order to justify their actions.

Yet in spite of reliance on national identity, East Asian economies seem to be building a specific regional economic nationalism based on enhanced economic integration. They have managed to achieve strong economic interdependence through external liberalization, and domestic structural reforms. Regional integration is also seen as means of protection against economic crises threatening development of individual countries. Initiatives such as several bilateral FTAs (inclusive the ASEAN + China), establishment of a regional surveillance mechanism and liquidity management system (CMI) or Asian bond market contribute to economic development both of the region and individual countries.

The aim of the paper is to show that while integration at global and regional level has dominated East Asian economic policies, economic nationalism continues to play significant role in regional development. It displays itself through state involvement in promotion of national actors and industries.

Paper short abstract

Student: You’ve been to other African cities, haven’t you? Me: Yes. Student: Are all African cities as disgusting as this one? (Fieldtrip, 2013) This paper asks what do students really learn from a fieldtrip? And, reflects on the unintended learning of fieldtrips to places normatised as ‘developing’.

Paper long abstract

The fieldtrip to a 'developing' country is a ubiquitous part of many postgraduate development studies programmes. In 2013 and 2014 I led a two-week trip to Ethiopia with 60-70 students on a UK masters programme. In 2013, a worrying yet fascinating conversation with a student (recounted above), prompted me to reflect on epistemologies of 'the field' in international fieldtrips (especially to countries normatised as 'developing'), particularly the expectation among students and instructors that 'the field' is a place of difference punctuated by "exotic" encounters. To better comprehend the effects of 'the field' on students' learning, in 2014, I introduced an assessed reflexive field diary to understand what the fieldtrip experience teaches students about themselves and their relationship to the field. In this paper I present critical reflections on 'the field' in development studies fieldtrips drawing upon students' diary entries and geography literature that speaks to a provocative concept - 'the tropics'. These reflections illuminate prevailing challenges in the study and practice of development - and the politics of our teaching - and suggests a way forward.

Paper short abstract

Home-Based Enterprises (HBE) account for 100 million employments around the world. Using a mixed method approach, this paper suggests that strong government support can enhance HBE performance on economic efficiency, working conditions and social equity indicators, thus promoting decent work.

Paper long abstract

Home-based enterprises (HBEs) are a major and growing component of the informal sector, accounting for 100 million employments around the world. Policies towards HBEs are fundamentally based on four more approaches: dualist, which proposes repressive policies against HBEs, perceiving it as a means of preserving poverty and slowing economic growth; structuralist, which argues for weak supporting policies aimed at reinforcing HBEs associations, in order to enhance their negotiating power and ultimately avoid capitalist exploitation; neoliberal, which promotes HBEs by way of its legalisation and exposure to the free market without government intervention, and more recently, co-production, which promote strong support from local policies as a means of enhancing HBEs productivity. Both qualitative and quantitative research regarding the impact of different policy approaches on HBE performance are scarce. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by operationalizing concepts, building HBE performance indicators and evaluating the impact of competing policy approaches. A mixed-method approach is used to interpret primary data; thematic analysis to examine 30 in-depth interviews, and multiple linear regressions to analyse a random survey of 407 HBEs in Santiago de Chile. The empirical results obtained from studying HBEs in Santiago de Chile suggest a positive association between the amount of government support and HBEs performance: the higher the level of local support, the higher the indicators of economic growth and social equity, and the lower the indicators of negative externalities of the activity. Consequently, supportive government intervention is advocated as the primary policy recommendation of this paper.

Paper short abstract

This paper explains how the political discourse around equalizing inheritance rights has differed from other areas of economic empowerment for women in Bangladesh, and why this has posed such obstacles for the implementation of the country’s National Women Development Policy of Bangladesh.

Paper long abstract

Inheritance rights are among the most contentious areas of family law in countries where family matters for Muslims are guided by shari'a or Islamic principles. The National Women Development Policy or NWDP of Bangladesh includes a clause said to be promoting equal inheritance rights between men and women, with religious right wing opposition this clause, particularly from Islami Oikyo Jote and later Hefazat-e-Islam, long stifling the policy from effective implementation. And yet the clause does not exist in the policy, and the policy itself has no binding legal authority. This study analyses the reasons why this imaginary clause has posed such obstacles relative to many other of the NWDP's very real directives on women's economic empowerment. Using systematic process analysis and data drawn from government documents, expert interviews, and newspaper archives, my analysis compares the political discourse around attempts at protecting women's rights in the law and economic development policies on women to reveal why the latter has been so much more successful in enhancing women's empowerment than the former.

Paper short abstract

This presentation analyzes the political context of the challenges youth face in accessing land in rural Africa. I draw on ethnographic research in eastern Uganda to explore the multifaceted livelihood strategies employed by youth within a context of rising competition and conflict over land.

Paper long abstract

Due to the vast number of youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is increasing interest within development circles in understanding the challenges they face in acquiring rights to land. Numerous researchers argue that rural youth must gain greater access to land if there is to be a future of sustainable agriculture in Africa. Several even trace large-scale political conflicts—such as the 1990s civil war in Sierra Leone—to generational tensions between youth and elders that are deeply embedded in the politics of land. This presentation draws on ethnographic research that I have conducted in rural Teso region of eastern Uganda to explore the multifaceted livelihood strategies employed by youth within a context of rising competition and conflict over land. I draw on case studies of one young man, one young woman, and a youth-led agrarian community-based organization, each of which illuminate significant heterogeneity within the youth population. For instance, while many poor young males seek wage labor opportunities in trading centers and small towns in order to avoid agricultural work—a trend that other researchers have observed across Africa as well—there are also youth who envision agriculture as the best means to developing sustainable and prosperous livelihoods. However, clan-based land allocation and inheritance mechanisms—which reproduce gerontocratic political and patriarchal dominance—complicate efforts of young people who pursue agrarian livelihoods. Ultimately, one must ask what are the long-term political impacts of a vast youth segment in Africa that faces significant challenges in securing rights to land?

Paper short abstract

This study investigates the impact of sources of funds on the lending rates charged by microfinance institutions. Findings are based on a panel data of 493 MFIs across 75 countries over a period of five years derived from MIX market.

Paper long abstract

High lending rate charged by Microfinance institutions (MFIs) has always been at the center of ethical debate. This aspect signifies the importance of studying the determinants, impact and correlation of lending rates and sources of funds (SOF). SOFs are essential for MFIs to enhance their efficiency, productivity and outreach. Sources includes deposits, borrowings, equity, revenues and grants/donations. There are different risks, cost and benefits associated with each source and its impact on the lending rate. This study, through a panel data of 493 MFIs across 75 countries over a period of five years taken from MIX market investigates the impact of sources of funds on the lending rates in microfinance. Our results indicate that borrowing leads to charging higher interest rates even after controlling for MFI-related characteristics. However, we found no evidence of any impact of other sources of funds on lending rate. Interestingly, our research reveals that MFIs charge higher lending rates to female borrowers.

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