News Archive

New volumes edited by CSHS team now available

Two collections of essays compiled and edited by ID academics have been published recently. Subterranean Politics in Europe, edited by Mary Kaldor and Sabine Selchow, examines the tensions caused by uprisings across Europe in 2011 and 2012. Find out more here >>

Public Policy Making in the Western Balkans, edited by Margo Thomas and Vesna Bojicic-Dzelilovic, analyses the attempts by Eastern European governments to maintain political stability, generate growth, and tackle sustainability issues.

Film Screening of 'Nowhere to Call Home' for Chinese New Year

The Department of International Development celebrated Chinese New Year by screening the riveting documentary, 'Nowhere to Call Home: A Tibetan in Beijing', followed by a Q&A session with director Jocelyn Ford.

For more details, and images of the evening, click here >>

New monograph by Dr Tasha Fairfield published by Cambridge

Dr Fairfield's latest book, Private Wealth and Public Revenue in Latin America: Business Power and Tax Politics, has been published by Cambridge University Press. The book develops a theoretical framework that refines and integrates the classic concepts of businesses' instrumental (political) power and structural (investment) power to explain the scope and fate of tax initiatives targeting economic elites in Latin America after economic liberalization.

Click here for more information >>

Former PhD student and Open Society Fellow publishes on Democracy in India

Prashant Sharma, a former PhD student of the Department, has published a new book on Democracy and Transparency in the Indian State. This monograph, which forms part of the Routledge South Asian Studies Series, looks at the underlying factors behind the national Right to Information Act (RTI) enacted in 2005.

More information and a publisher's discount are available here >>

Visiting Fellow Dr Tang Lixia talks on development in China

On Wednesday 4th March, Dr Tang Lixia, a visiting research fellow from the China Agricultural University, Beijing, will speak about her views on the pace of change in China. Dr Tang was born in 1979, so her life has coincided with the reform period. She has lived and worked in both rural and urban China, and will share her experiences with staff and students in International Development. Find out more >>

Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch presents at LSE on employment

On Wednesday 11 February, Kirsten Sehnbruch, Professor of Public Policy and the Director of the Centre for New Development Thinking at the Universidad de Chile, will present on employment in middle-income countries. The seminar will take place between 2:30pm and 4pm in OLD 3.28. Find out more >>

Felix Salmon lectures on sovereign debt

The prominent financial journalist, Felix Salmon, gave a public lecture in January 2015 on the sovereign debt crisis in Argentina. A summary of the evening, together with a Storify timeline, slideshow, and information about the podcast, can all be found here >>

Former student wins $20,000 essay contest

Susannah Robinson, a former MSc Development Studies student, has been awarded a grant of $20,000 after being named a winner of the 2014 Global Development Network Next Horizon essay contest. Her prize-winning essay, 'What goes up, must come down: the role of open data in improving aid accountability', was selected as one of 13 winning entries from 1,470 submissions. Read more on our blog >>

Research Excellent Framework results in - LSE tops tables

The latest Research Excellence Framework results confirm that since 2009, the LSE's Department of International Development has become established as one of the leading departments of International Development study in the UK. Read more on our blog >>

Alyson Smith awarded PhD

Alyson Smith, a fellow in the department since 2011, has been awarded her PhD for the doctoral thesis 'Post-conflict in Rwanda: uncovering hidden factors in the gender policy context'. Her work examines the integration of gender policies into post-conflict policies and the political impact of international aid within post-conflict settings.

Thandika Mkandawire receives prestigious Africa-America Institute award

The Africa-America Institute (AAI) presented Professor Thandika Mkandawire with the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award during a gala in New York. Read more and watch a video of the ceremony >>

Cedric Smith Prize 2014 - Conflict Research Society

Dr Mareike Schomerus was named runner-up for the Cedric Smith Prize 2014 for an extract from her LSE PhD thesis ‘The Lord's Resistance Army in the Juba Talks: Syncopated rhythms in conflict resolution’. The prize is awarded by the Conflict Research Society for the best piece of peace and conflict research.

The panel of judges said: "[This work] concerns itself with a field of literature which is well developed, but it does add value both in the analysis and in the narrative around the case study. The distinction between the connect-disconnect modes of engagement on the one hand and the ‘galvanic surge’ on the other is an important and original insight with wider significance, as the writer ably suggests in the conclusion. The ‘alternating current’ metaphor is powerful and useful."

The thesis was also nominated for the Peace Science Society's 2014 Walter Isard Award for the Best Dissertation in Peace Science. Read the thesis here >> 

Visiting fellow is named runner-up for 2014 Audrey Richards Prize

Dr Holly Porter, Visiting Fellow and Lead Researcher for JSRP, been named as one of three runners up for her doctoral dissertation in 2014's Audrey Richards Prize. This year the judges presided over an unprecedented 22 nominations and the standard was remarkably high.

Dr Porter's research focuses on gender, sexual violence, social healing and justice, particularly on women’s experiences after rape in northern Uganda, where she has lived and worked since 2005.

In announcing Dr Porter's award, the judges said: "It is of enormous credit to you that your research should figure among the final four dissertations. The judges very much enjoyed reading your work."

Read the thesis >>

Ruben Andersson wins Maria Ioannis Baganha Dissertation Award

Dr Ruben Andersson, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, has won the 2014 IMISCOE award for his thesis, Clandestine migration and the business of bordering Europe, an ethnographic study of the ‘industry of illegality’ at the Spanish-Moroccan border.

The award, awarded to the best dissertation in the field of migration, integration and social cohesion in Europe, will be presented in August at the IMISCOE 11th Annual Conference. Read more at IMISCOE >>

Frank-Borge Wietzke awarded for innovative research

Dr Frank-Borge Wietzke, a fellow in the Department, has received the 2014 Weber Award for the best paper in religion and politics presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA). Read more >>

Professor Mary Kaldour receives Ludwig Quidde Award

Professor Mary Kaldor, Professor of Global Governance at LSE, has been awarded the Ludwig Quidde Award by the German Foundation for Peace Research.

Professor Kaldor is only the second academic to win the prize, which recognises an individual whose outstanding academic achievements continue the lifework of the Ludwig Quidde, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927. Read more >>

World Bank Interview: Decentralizing the Bolivian Way

Dr Jean-Paul Faguet gave an interview at The World Bank recently on the subject of his award-winning book, Decentralisation and Popular Democracy: Governance from below in Bolivia.

Watch the interview on YouTube.

'Unsere beste Waffe ist keine Waffe'

A German edition of Mary Kaldor's 'The ultimate weapon is no weapon' is now available!

Read more on the Security in Transition website here >>

Dr Jean-Paul Faguet wins W.J.M. Mackenzie Book Prize

Decentralization and Popular Democracy: Governance from Below in Bolivia (University of Michigan Press) by Jean-Paul Faguet has been awarded the Political Studies Association’s W.J.M. Mackenzie Book Prize.

The judges described the book as: "an outstanding and exemplary piece of research that teaches us how properly devolving power and money leads local government to be more responsive to local interests".

Find out more about the book, and the judges' decision, here >>

PhD exchange with China

Up to 3 students, in each academic year, enrolled on MPhil/PhD studies at the Department of International Development, have the opportunity to spend between 3-6 months on research/fieldwork at Fudan University, Shanghai.

New ID Department Blog!

We've just launched a new department blog. We hope to publish topical articles and general news regularly so please take a look to keep up to date with our staff research, events, and current affairs.

Find the International Development Blog here >>

Lalji PfAL Scholarships - Apply before 13th May

Through the generous support of the Lalji family and the Programme for African Leadership (PfAL) Foundation, LSE is delighted to announce that it is making available a scholarship fund equivalent to 15 full scholarships to students from selected African countries for the MSc Development Management or the MSc International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies (IDHE) starting in the academic year 2013/14.

Meeting the Challenges of Crisis States Report Released

A major new report by James Putzel underlines that aid and other forms of external intervention need to be better directed in the so‐called “fragile states” of the developing world. 

Professor Putzel and co-author Jonathan Di John argue that confusion permeates Western aid programmes in countries where states either face mounting violent challenges or are attempting reconstruction and state‐building in the wake of war.

The new Crisis States report can be found here >> 

Sabine Selchow discusses Eurozone and Democracy for the BBC

Dr Sabine Selchow joined a panel to discuss ‘The Eurozone and Democracy’ in BBC World Service’s programme ‘In the Balance’. Dr Selchow drew on a report that came out of a recent collaborative research project based at LSE, entitled ‘The Bubbling Up of Subterranean Politics in Europe’.

The BBC programme can still be accessed here (first broadcast on 29 September 2012), while the report can be found at GCS Knowledge Base.

New book by Jean Paul Faguet 

Decentralization and Popular Democracy, Governance from Below in Bolivia

The book examines the factors that determine the outcomes of national decentralization on the local level.

Download this flyer for a 60% discount on the book's cover price.

Dr Faguet will be giving a series of lectures in Bolivia to mark the publication of his new book. Find out more here.

Recent awards in the the Department of International Development

We are please to announce five new research funding awards for members of the Department of International Development.

Follow the link above to read more.

LSE academic awarded NUS-Stanford University Distinguished Fellowship

Dr Tim Forsyth (pictured), reader in the Department of International Development, has been awarded the Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford University Distinguished Fellowship on Contemporary Southeast Asia for the 2012-13 academic year. Find out more >>

Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

In this public lecture, Muhammad Yunus describes a visionary new dimension for capitalism which he calls "social business". By harnessing the energy of profit-making to the objective of fulfilling human needs, social business creates self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth even as they produce goods and services that make the world a better place.

Find out more, and download a podcast here >>

"We don't know how to solve global poverty, and that's a good thing" 

Professor William Easterly's latest lecture argued that occasions when development economists were more certain about 'the solution to global poverty' have often led to harmful consequences for the world's poor in the long-run. Sceptical criticism is a creative force that redirects attention and effort away from centrally-directed expert solutions towards effective decentralised problem-solving.

Download a podcast of the event here >>

New initiative by DESTIN alumni - The Global Urbanist

The Global Urbanist is a news portal reviewing urban policy issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world. It connects to a professional audience of government policymakers, organisations such as UN-HABITAT, Cities Alliance, Shack/Slum Dwellers International, NGOs and civil society leaders, urban planners, researchers, and urban development businesses.

Download the flyer here >>

International Development alumni listed in World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Honourees 2010

We are delighted to announce that Sangeeth Varghese, MSc Development Management 2004/5 is included in the WEF's Young Global Leaders list for 2010. The WEF said, "Mr Varghese's nomination is in recognition of his record of professional accomplishments, his commitment to society and his potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through his inspiring leadership."

Sangeeth is the founder of Leadcap.org and also regularly contributes to Forbes magazine.

New work on intellectual property and late development

Kenneth Shadlen has three new publications on the politics of intellectual property. The work is part of his ongoing research programme on Intellectual Property and Late Development.

Read abstracts of these new papers here >>

Muhammad Yunus presents on building social business

Professor Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, will give a public lecture to celebrate the publication of his new book. The lecture is entitled "Building Social Business: the new kind of capitalism that serves humanity's most pressing needs'.

Professor Yunus will show how social business has gone from being a theory to an inspiring practice, adopted by leading corporations, entrepreneurs and social activists across the world.

Find out more >>

Download the podcast here >>

Watch the lecture on YouTube here >>

Beyond Accra conference papers

Conference papers are now available for Beyond Accra: Practical Implications of Ownership and Accountability in National Development Strategies.

Download the 'Beyond Accra' conference papers >>

Fighting the Banana Wars

Only 14 years ago you couldn't buy a Fairtrade product in Britain. Today almost £500m worth of goods bearing the Fairtrade mark are sold annually. At the heart of this revolution in our shops is the Fairtrade Foundation, which has transformed the lives of over seven million farmers, workers and their families.

Here, Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2011, discusses her latest book, Fighting the Banana Wars, in which she epxoses an often unjust system. Dr Teddy Brett joins Adam Brett, director of Tropical Wholefoods.

Find out more about the event here >>

Download the podcast here >>

Professor Robert Wade awarded Leontief Prize

Robert Wade has been awarded the 2008 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. The prize, in honour of Wassily Leontief, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, recognizes "the exceptional contributions... to theoretical and practical understandings of equity and development, at global and local levels".

Earlier winners of the Leontief Prize include J.K. Galbraith, Amartya Sen, Sam Bowles, Robert Frank, Paul Streeten, Juliet Schor, Herman Daly, Richard Nelson and Dani Rodrik. The award ceremony will take place in November at Tufts University, Boston.