What makes ID unique?
A creative space of invention firmly rooted in the disciplines
We publish not only in leading development and area studies journals, but also in highly visible and selective disciplinary journals, as well as books with leading academic presses and other leading book publishers. Many colleagues occupy prominent roles in the main professional organisations of those disciplines.
Why have a department of International Development at all? For the same reason universities with good natural science departments invest in engineering schools. Disciplinary departments tend to focus on questions, methods, and theories that are defined by the norms and boundaries of those disciplines. In International Development, our objects of study are shaped more by the needs of the world.
ID is a problem-oriented department focused on specific questions given by the world, clearly contextualized in time and place, with the best theoretical and methodological tools available across the social sciences. We choose concepts and methods according to our questions, and not vice versa. And we combine qualitative and quantitative methods (‘Q2’), and draw on theory from across disciplines, to develop new approaches that can loosen the constraints holding back developing countries.
Bridge-building offers a relevant analogy. The engineer is tasked with designing a bridge for a particular place and time. A disciplinary response might be, ‘Build it downstream, where conditions are better suited to current methods.’ To which the engineer responds, ‘The road segments that need connecting are not downstream. They are here. Hence we choose methods to suit the site.’
This happened to a PhD student of ours studying the effects of Christian missionaries in Madagascar. Some suggested he switch to far better Indian data. This was a good suggestion… for someone not too interested in Madagascar. But he was. So we helped him design an innovative Q2methodology that identified important effects of missionary activities on human development. His work won APSA’s Max Weber Best Paper Award, and was published in World Development. His name is Borge Wietzke, and he’s now a tenured Associate Professor at IBEI-Barcelona.
In sum, we view development as a creative space of invention that lies above the disciplines, and interacts critically and intensely with them. We don’t conceive of the field in negative terms – ‘that which is noteconomics, norpolitical science, noranthropology…’. Rather, we believe in a positive-sum approach that reaches deep into the disciplines for theories and methods, and then returns to them cutting-edge insights in a constructive cycle of collaboration and growth.
Photo credit: Daniel Jamme. Source: https://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/en/millau-viaduct/discover-millau-viaduct. Bridge credits: French engineer Michel Virlogeux, English architect Norman Foster, and CEVM.