Debating Development Research

14/01/2025

Navigating France’s Political Landscape: Implications for International Development Aid

By Hugo Pilkington / Part of the European Development Policy Outlook Series

Amid a welter of political drama, and after having successfully hosted the Summer 2024 Olympic games, France is struggling to find a stable government. The country still has no budget for 2025. This is not the norm (the last time anything roughly similar happened was in 1979) but can be said to proceed from the unusual events of Mid-2024. The current political conundrum arose on the heels of a snap election called, in a surprise move, by Emmanuel Macron, following disastrous results for his own political movement – Ensemble pour la République – during the European elections of June 9, 2024.

07/01/202507/01/2025

In Defense of Development Studies: Why “Global Development” Falls Short

By Alfredo Saad-Filho

There is a growing debate in academic circles about the merits of shifting from traditional Development Studies to a broader concept of “Global Development”. While proponents argue that this shift would better reflect the interconnected nature of our world, I believe that such a move would be detrimental to our field, our understanding of global differences and inequalities, and our ability to understand the dynamics of development.

19/12/2024

Story-Telling: A Method to Support Decolonising Knowledge for Development

By Peter Taylor

I have recently been working closely with a group of EADI members reflecting on the importance of “decolonising knowledge for development”. This is in response to our acknowledgement that social divides are driven by race, gender, religion, class and financial inequities. We know that knowledge is crucial in tackling multiple, intersecting crises grounded in, and amplifying, these divides. Yet, knowledge processes themselves are underpinned by historic, structural power asymmetries, inequities and inequalities. These inequalities are perpetuated through exclusion of many groups, communities and individuals from knowledge creation processes.

10/12/202414/01/2025

Where is UK Development Policy Headed Under the New Government?

By Andy Sumner / Part of the European Development Policy Outlook Series

Chancellor unmoved by cuts of aid budget

The headline is that the UK aid budget was cut by £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). Despite the flags, it seems the Chancellor was unwilling or unable to provide additional funds to offset the billions of pounds of the UK’s aid budget spent on supporting refugees inside the UK. This makes her the first Labou r chancellor to cut aid below levels of a prior Conservative government.

05/12/202409/12/2024

Amidst Post-Colonial Continuities and Global Power Shifts: What Role for the IDOS Postgraduate Programme for Sustainability Cooperation?

By Simone Christ / part of our “Share your Decolonising Story” project

How can international cooperation ensure social, political, and economic transformations to shape sustainable futures in the context of geopolitical tensions? One crucial approach is to equip young professionals with competencies needed to become transformative change makers. The recent overhaul of the IDOS postgraduate programme reflects also broader efforts to decolonise knowledge.