2909, 2016

Peace in Colombia – What is it good for?

By Jo Tomkinson|September 29, 2016|Conflict, Forced displacement, Neoliberalism, Peace|0 comments

Tobias Franz completed his PhD at SOAS on the political economy of local economic development and institutional change in Colombia and has taught in the SOAS Development Studies department. The joy of the international community and the mainstream press was overwhelming when, on August 24th, after 52 years (or 70, depending on the definition) of armed conflict the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced a final

2609, 2016

Who ‘Does’ Development?

By Jo Tomkinson|September 26, 2016|Aid, Health, State in development|0 comments

Michael Jennings is a Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the politics and history of development processes in sub-Saharan Africa; governance, civil society, non-governmental organisations and faith-based organisations; and social aspects of health in Africa. Where to start with the piece by new Minister for International Development, Priti Patel, in the Daily Mail? Her assertions that too often aid doesn’t

1909, 2016

Notice – New Virtual Issue – ‘The Political Ecology of Agrarian Change’

By Jo Tomkinson|September 19, 2016|Journal of Agrarian Change|0 comments

This notice is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. Journal of Agrarian Change, Virtual Issue, April 2016: The Political Ecology of Agrarian Change Editor: Liam Campling This virtual special issue collects work on the political ecology of agrarian change. Over the last 15 years, Journal of Agrarian Change has published dozens of articles on the ecology and environmental history of agrarian

2107, 2016

Notice – Special Issue July 2016: A Festschrift for Henry Bernstein

By Jo Tomkinson|July 21, 2016|Journal of Agrarian Change|0 comments

This notice is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. Journal of Agrarian Change 16(3) Special Issue – The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: Essays in Appreciation of Henry Bernstein Guest Editors: Liam Campling and Jens Lerche This special issue of the Journal of Agrarian Change presents ﬁve essays and an interview in appreciation of Henry Bernstein. Henry Bernstein’s contributions to

0707, 2016

When Human Trafficking Becomes a Weapon of War

By Jo Tomkinson|July 7, 2016|Conflict|0 comments

Emma Saville (MSc Violence, Conflict and Development 2014) is the Education Programme Manager at PositiveNegatives. Emma’s book, Human Trafficking as a Weapon of War: Sudan a Case Study, has recently been published. She tweets from @_EmmaSaville_. An estimated 35.8 million persons are thought to be currently enslaved worldwide. Human trafficking is a fundamental violation of human rights that has been referred to by some as a form of ‘modern-day slavery’ (see

1105, 2016

A Survey of Delhi Garment Workers Suggests Poverty Comes in Many Sizes

By Jo Tomkinson|May 11, 2016|Global commodity chains, Labour, Women's rights|3 comments

Alessandra Mezzadri is lecturer in Development Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her research interests focus on globalisation and processes of labour informalisation; materialist and feminist approaches to global commodity chains and global industrial systems; labour regimes, labour standards and CSR; gender and globalisation; and the political economy of India. Three years after Rana Plaza, garment workers worldwide still endure poor working conditions. The industry has witnessed several ‘minor’ disasters

2704, 2016

Reshaping the Debate on Land Alienation in Africa: What are the Origins of Social Change?

By Jo Tomkinson|April 27, 2016|Agriculture, Neoliberalism|2 comments

Matt Kandel is a Newton International Fellow in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. One Monday afternoon last August I was seated underneath a large palm tree with my friend, Simon, in Soroti Town in rural eastern Uganda, both of us relaxing and seeking a minor respite from the equatorial African sun. The subject of our conversation was the weekend-long clan meeting that he and his family had organised

1404, 2016

Borderlands, Brokers and War to Peace Transitions in Nepal and Sri Lanka

By Jo Tomkinson|April 14, 2016|Borders, Conflict, Uncategorized|0 comments

Jonathan Goodhand is a Professor Conflict and Development Studies at the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research focuses on the political economy of conflict, war to peace transitions and increasingly on the role of borderlands, with a particular focus on South and Central Asia. Oliver Walton is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Bath in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences. His research focuses on

2303, 2016

Overthrowing Dilma Rousseff: It’s Class War, and Their Class is Winning

By Jo Tomkinson|March 23, 2016|Democracy, Neoliberalism|0 comments

Alfredo Saad Filho is Professor of Political Economy at the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the political economy of neoliberalism, industrial policy, alternative macroeconomic policies, and the labour theory of value and its applications. The judicial coup against President Dilma Rousseff is the culmination of the deepest political crisis in Brazil for 50 years. Every so often, the bourgeois political system runs into crisis. The machinery of

0203, 2016

Workshopping Borders – Going Beyond the News Headlines

By Jo Tomkinson|March 2, 2016|Borders, Migration|0 comments

Paolo Novak is a lecturer in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research develops at the intersection of borders, migration and development studies, and is concerned with the geography and spatiality of development; border management and interventions; the figures of the migrant and the refugee. Whether you agree or disagree with Etienne Balibar‘s proposition that “borders are everywhere”, border-related workshops certainly are. This is unsurprising as most, if not all,

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