Wavering between optimism and pessimism: Covid–19, corruption and organised crime

This was first published by the European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on Organised Crime's special Covid-19 blog - Controcorrente. The series has an excellent range of authors and perspectives and is certainly well worth a follow. The original post can be found here. Friends and colleagues have heard me banging on about the …

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 …

What I’m reading this month: September 2019 edition

Delayed trains or heavy traffic (papers/journal articles/longer thought pieces) Patrick Porter, Why Britain doesn’t do grand strategy This paper from 2010 came up in my Twitter feed recently, and it’s well worth a (re)read. Porter argues that Britain’s lack of ‘grand strategy’ is due in part to not having clear enemies, to ‘delegating’ strategy to …

What I’m reading this month: July 2019 edition

Quick reads for short journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Ali Breland, The bizarre and terrifying ‘deepfake’ video that helped bring an African nation to the brink I read a lot of stuff about corruption, crime and conflict (the 3Cs troika), but I have to admit that little I’ve read recently has freaked me out as much as …

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: June 2019 edition

Tube journeys (blogs/policy briefs/podcasts) Rim Turkmani, Devolution of power or decentralisation of power in Syria? This blog from the DFID-funded Conflict Research Programme looks at how fragmentation of the previously highly-centralised state in Syria has led to the rise of regional and local elites drawing legitimacy from ethno-sectarian narratives, the use of violence and control …

What can Line of Duty tell us about corruption?

This blog originally featured on the College of Social Science blog, University of Birmingham. Like over 10 million people in the UK, I have been glued to my tv for the past six Sunday evenings for Line of Duty season five. Since 2012, Superintendent Ted Hastings, DI Kate Fleming and DS Steve Arnott from the …

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 …