Paper short abstract:

The paper will explore the politics of co-production in all the labours associated with research in critical development studies, and set out some parameters for a sustained, critical exploration of responsibility along this journey.

Paper long abstract:

The paper will explore the politics of 'co-production' in all the labours typically associated with research in 'critical development studies'. In doing so, it will set out some parameters for a sustained, critical exploration of responsibility along this journey. The journey invariably starts with the seeding of an idea for a research project, its germination in discussions with others, the recruitment of trusted (or simply expediently located) research partners, along with the harnessing of intellectual capability and institutional/reputational capacity into an (invariably interdisciplinary) 'team' that will go on an often emotionally fraught journey together. The early stages of the journey frequently include last minute revisions to budgets and the eleventh hour tweaking of 'work packages'. With funding secured, the nuts and bolts of the endeavour must be thoroughly visibilised, contracts signed and responsibilities to 'deliver' outputs cemented in place. But deliver what exactly? on what basis? and ultimately, to whom is it a benefit? What, in the final analysis, are these many things that we seek to 'co-produce' in the course of multi-institutional, multi-locational research? Can an explicit, sustained and critical consideration of 'responsibility' assist us to do these things in qualitatively better ways?