What we’re reading on governance & conflict – Covid-19 edition, 17 April

This week's edition is entirely down to my colleague, Alisha Patel, along with other DFID colleagues, as I've been trying to be 'on holiday' this week with my family. As always, DFID Research & Evidence Divison-funded research teams designated with a 🌟, and a running list of useful sites to bookmark at the bottom. Threads/News/Blogs/Thought …

TWP blast from the past: Birmingham, 2007

Lockdown 'holiday' activity includes all sorts of fun activities - baking banana-chocolate chip muffins, taking our usual family walk and cleaning out my computer folders. The latter can be a bit like career archaeology, and I found this beauty buried deep in a folder. In January 2007, I organised a conference called 'Making Politics Practical: …

What we’re reading on governance & conflict – COVID-19 edition, 3 April

Week 2 of our special ‘What we’re reading’ email focused on emerging thinking on Covid-19 and the potential implications and insights from a governance and conflict perspective. DFID Research & Evidence Division -funded research teams designated with a 🌟. The list is compiled with my DFID colleague Alisha Patel and includes contributions sent in by …

What we’re reading on governance & conflict – COVID-19 edition, 27th March

(Image courtesy of Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash) My colleague Alisha and I are pausing the normal ‘What we’re reading’ email in order to focus on emerging thinking on Covid-19 and the potential implications for governance and conflict. The structure for this is slightly different to reflect the pace we’re working at – just a link …

Bringing serious & organised crime into development research

In keeping with our new tradition, I did a 'Friday Thread' on some of the work I've been doing for DFID, beginning to think through what a research offer on SOC might look like. It's early days, with a lot more work to be done, and this thread shares some of this thinking. LOOK BOTH …

What I’m reading this month: May 2019 version

Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Explain ZA, State capture: three reasons why no one is in jail yet This short video from South Africa looks to explain to the general public why they’ve not seen any ‘big names’ convicted of corruption since President Ramaphosa came to power, but why we shouldn’t lose hope just yet. For …

What I’m reading this month: November 2018 edition

Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Guardian, Teenagers around the world share their fears and dreams This is an uplifting, fascinating way to spend a few minutes, even if some of the kids featured face real challenges in their lives (including the ones from the UK and other ‘rich’ countries). I have a 14 year old and …

What I’m reading this month: December 2018 edition

Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts)  Annie Kelly, British paedophiles target children in poor countries for online abuse This article looks at the NCA’s work investigating and prosecuting the estimated 80,000 UK nationals (just let that number sink in for a minute…) targeting children in poor and war-torn countries for cyber-assisted sexual abuse, including live streaming. Just …

What I’m reading this month: March 2019 edition

 Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Kanisha D Bond et al, The West needs to take the politics of women in ISIS seriously On the back of controversy here in the UK surrounding the decision to strip 19-year old Shamima Begum of her citizenship, this article argues that narratives about women and conflict can strip women of …

What I’m reading this month: January 2019 edition

Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Rema Hanna & Vestal McIntyre, New possibilities for cutting corruption in the public sector This short article deftly pulls together some recent experimental research on public service values and ‘corruptibility’ (including this research on Zambia, funded by DFID). While more research in a variety of contexts is clearly needed, the article …