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Engaged Excellence in Development Studies

By Melissa Leach

Development Studies dilemmas

In our current times, Development Studies is needed more than ever.  As global challenges – from inequality, conflict and migration, to climate change and pandemics – intensify, the established hallmarks of Development Studies have much to offer and need to be nurtured and spread. These include interdisciplinarity, problem-focus, the addressing of connections between global and national processes and the realities of people’s lives and livelihoods, critical examination of institutions and power relations (including those of the aid industry), and the seeking of progressive change. Yet in our current political times, Development Studies is also facing new demands and dilemmas. Continue reading “Engaged Excellence in Development Studies”

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What Ever Happened to Mixed Methods in Development Research (and has Star Trek got anything to do with it)?

By Andy Sumner, Laura Camfield, Keetie Roelen and Lukas Schlogl.

‘Q-squared’ is a best-selling Star Trek book from the mid-1990s (yes there are Star Trek books, not just films and TV series) about someone who has the power to tamper with time and reality resulting in three parallel universes that intersect. Just a few years later the term came to prominence in three parallel universes in development studies (spooky, eh?). Those parallel universes being qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods researchers. Continue reading “What Ever Happened to Mixed Methods in Development Research (and has Star Trek got anything to do with it)?”

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Development Studies Need Social Engagement!

By Elisabetta Basile and Isa Baud

Redefining Development Studies is necessary for two reasons. First, the complexity and urgency of world development problems require direct assumption of responsibility from the Development Studies community. This implies that scholars and practitioners explicitly engage in exploring problems and solutions in partnership with the communities and policymakers involved. Second, an epistemological and ontological change in Development Studies is required. Emerging development interests and the needs of multiple actors lead to new research approaches, themes and priorities, requiring new forms of knowledge and involving several disciplines in research. Continue reading “Development Studies Need Social Engagement!”

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Will the Future EU Budget Water Down the Consensus on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development?

By Amelia Hadfield and Simon Lightfoot

The European Union (EU)’s draft Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-27 is currently under negotiation. If approved, the EU’s development cooperation budget would increase by 30% despite Brexit. Given the possible political sensitivities around these discussions, the most recent peer review of the EU’s plans by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) did not swerve the issue and made a number of recommendations relating to the political context of the MFF negotiations. Continue reading “Will the Future EU Budget Water Down the Consensus on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development?”