Development Matters THE MAGAZINE OF THE OXFORD DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HOUSE - Oxford ...
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Issue 6 | 2020
Development Matters
Oxford
THE MAGAZINE OF THE OXFORD DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HOUSE
Inside this issue:
PHILOSOPHER QUEENS
QEH – THE MIDDLE YEARS
RESPONDING TO COVID
SAFE DISTANCING
ADDIS ABABA'S NEW URBAN AESTHETIC
Welcome
Welcome to the 2020 issue of Oxford Development Matters –
my first as the new Head of Department. I write from an Oxford
that would be quite unrecognisable to you as former students.
Departments and libraries closed, students scattered, and
academics and support staff all working from their homes.
The QEH building itself is locked up and silent, with only
occasional visits from Gary, our caretaker, to water the plants.
Despite the disruption, you may have read that Oxford University as a whole
has been a leading force in efforts to address the pandemic. Much attention
has rightly focused on medical advances, including promising progress on the
development of a vaccine against COVID, but in the social sciences we too have
Table of an important contribution to make. You can read about the exciting ways in
which our academics are reshaping their research to help understand the impact
Contents of the pandemic and global lockdowns within their own fields on pp 6–9.
While QEH may now be experiencing one of the most dramatic periods in its
history, our past has of course been eventful too; on pp 4–5 Valpy FitzGerald
Philosopher queens
continues his history of the department with a survey of the turbulent middle
A new book bringing women
philosophers to the fore........................... 3 years, during which QEH narrowly escaped closure as it moved away from
its original purpose, as a place of training for colonial officers, to emerge as a
QEH – the middle years leading centre for research in development studies.
The department’s turbulent
reformulation.......................................... 4 As always, the magazine also features interesting research and activities by our
current and former students. On p 10 you can read about a new app developed
Responding to COVID by DPhil student Alex Barnes. Alex was working on an app to enable safe
How our research is addressing the navigation in conflict zones when the pandemic struck. He and his colleagues
pandemic................................................. 6
quickly spotted a potential new use for similar technology, this time to help
Safe distancing with social distancing. On p 3 alumna Rebecca Buxton also spotted a gap in
A repurposed app to help avoid the market and filled it: for a popular philosophy book that shifted the focus
crowds.................................................. 10 away from white men to highlight the contribution of women and people of
colour. And finally on pp 11–12, DPhil Biruk Terrefe draws on his research
Addis Ababa’s new urban aesthetic
to discuss new urban development projects in Addis Ababa and how changes
Understanding the Ethiopian
capital’s changing cityscape�������������������11 in the capital’s cityscape have reflected the fluctuating political priorities of
different regimes.
Alumni updates
Our latest cohort of students are as vibrant and accomplished as ever, but
Our former students’ achievements...... 13
as they complete their courses and emerge into the world of work, they do
News so under exceptionally difficult circumstances. In recognition of this, we
The latest from the department������������ 14
have launched a new all-ODID networking group on Linkedin, The Oxford
Development Network, in a bid to bring together all our current and former
students to share experiences, opportunities, and advice. You will find a flyer
about it enclosed with the magazine – we would be delighted if you would join
the new group so we can harness the power of our extended network to help
Edited by: Jo Boyce each other through this tough time. And, as always, please complete the Keep
in Touch form, either by returning the paper copy or following the link, to
Designed by: Simon Minter, Nineteenpoint Ltd
www.nineteenpoint.com ensure we can contact you about new initiatives (hopefully some on-site soon)
in the future.
Thank you to the students, academics and alumni who Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
have contributed to this magazine. Head of Department
ALUMNI
The
Philosopher Queens
Frustrated by the predominance of white men in most histories of philosophy, alumna Rebecca Buxton joined
forces with a friend and crowdfunded to get a different kind of book written – one about women philosophers,
by women philosophers.
N
early two years ago, Philosophers, for example, offers chapters we both embarked on the A-Level. But as
my friend and co-editor on individual philosophers throughout philosophy undergraduates we both noticed
Lisa had a day off work history, each written by philosophers of the distinct lack of diversity. I assumed,
and went looking in a the modern day. All of these chapters are ignorantly, that women philosophers got
bookshop for something about men and all of the philosophers little attention because there weren’t any
to read on women philosophers. Perhaps who wrote the chapters are men. Even worth paying attention to.
in retrospect it was unsurprising that she last year the trend continued, with A Diversity in the curriculum is important
found almost nothing. Most philosophy C Grayling publishing The History of – fortunately, this no longer seems to be a
departments in bookshops might carry Philosophy. No chapter in this book is controversial opinion. For one thing, it can
a few works by Simone De Beauvoir dedicated to a woman philosopher or encourage new generations of philosophers
or Hannah Arendt, but they usually even women philosophers as a group. to take up the subject; this is very
showcase the history of philosophy almost But with so many books coming out in difficult when they don’t see themselves
exclusively as a discipline of white men. popular philosophy, why is it that women reflected in the history of the discipline.
When researching afterwards, Lisa philosophers are still being ignored? But what people often miss is that most
and I found an embarrassing number of As there seemed to be an obvious of us do not campaign for diversity for
books on the history of philosophy that gap, Lisa and I began to look into this reason alone, but also because the
mentioned either only one woman or no publishing a book exclusively on women history of philosophy was diverse. Women
women at all. The book The Great philosophers, written exclusively by and people of colour have been doing
women philosophers. And so, the idea philosophy all along, but the histories that
for The Philosopher Queens was thought we share and learn do not recognise that.
up, over several cups of tea and some This book is only a tiny step in the
emails to friends who knew far more right direction and, of course, no single
about the world of publishing than we book can encompass the histories that
did. We were lucky enough to find our have been ignored for thousands of
publisher, Unbound, early on in the years. But we hope that, in the future,
process. Unbound might seem like an when a young girl walks into a
unusual choice – they are a crowdfunding bookshop she
publisher. As an author or editor, you might now see a
have to run a campaign for your book book that does
and ask people to pre-order it before justice to women
it even exists. Of course, we thought in the history of
this would be a hard sell, and Unbound philosophy.
warned us to expect the process to take
up to six months. Once we launched the
campaign, our book was fully funded The Philosopher
within 26 days. After two years of Queens will be
working on this project, The Philosopher published by
Queens – featuring women from Unbound on
17 September. The Angela Davis
throughout the history of philosophy and
chapter is now available free of charge
from diverse backgrounds, from Diotima at thephilosopherqueens.co.uk to raise
and Ban Zhao, to Iris Marion Young and money for the Black Lives Matter
Angela Davis – will be published this year. movement.
Finally, there will be something on those
dusty philosophy bookshelves about the
lives and legacies of women philosophers. Rebecca Buxton completed the MSc in
Lisa and I both studied philosophy at Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
university. In fact, we fell in love with in 2017. She is now studying for a
doctorate at ODID.
philosophy together at the age of 16 when
Oxford Development Matters | 3
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Queen Elizabeth
House and the
Development Pivot
Continuing his series on the history of the department, Valpy FitzGerald expands on the turbulent period
from the late 1960s to the early 1990s during which QEH sought to define its structure and purpose.
T
he history of Queen Elizabeth So instead the University and the William Beinart) and income distribution
House (QEH) reflects QEH Governing Body appointed Paul and basic needs (Jeffrey James and
Oxford’s conflicted and Streeten, a senior Oxford development Ashwani Saith), and to establish a Food
convoluted journey through economist from Balliol with extensive Studies Group. Regrettably, Griffin soon
the British colonial aftermath. experience of international institutions, left QEH to head Magdalen College.
The Conservative leadership of Winston as both Warden of QEH and Director of
Despite this promising start, this new
Churchill’s postwar administration a rival Oxford research unit, the Institute
vision of development studies at Oxford
believed that even though the formal of Commonwealth (formerly Colonial)
proved to be financially unsustainable
Empire was contracting, new economic Studies (ICS), in 1968, bringing the two
because the University did not see fit to
and defence ties would enable Britain under one roof.
provide core funding or establish teaching
to maintain indirect influence over the Under Streeten’s leadership and with posts beyond those already at the ICS.
newly independent nations. So QEH had the support of his mentor, Balogh, Meanwhile support from the ODA, which
been established in the early 1950s by QEH underwent a radical pivot in its had provided core funding for QEH since
the Colonial Office as an Oxford training focus. While some of the old activities its foundation, remained very modest.
centre for civil servants from these remained, including a Foreign Office-
countries. financed course for young diplomats A loss of momentum
However, by the late 1960s it was from newly independent countries and a
clear that QEH had not succeeded in this visiting programme for senior Indian civil The Governing Body and the University
mission (see ODM 2019), which was servants, Streeten moved QEH away from appointed Arthur Hazlewood as Warden
taken up by the Institute of Development the British neo-colonial project, engaging in 1979, a Pembroke economics tutor
Studies at Sussex University, founded by intellectually with the emerging field of and expert on East African economies
the Labour government in 1966. development studies and institutionally in the tradition of the founding aims of
with the United Nations. This entailed QEH. However, Hazelwood lacked the
The University would have preferred to academic heft, international standing,
an explicitly post-colonial view of
wind down QEH at his stage: the original or administrative energy needed to
economic development, based on national
endowment from South African mining
independence, state-led industrialisation, maintain the newly acquired momentum.
magnate Ernest Oppenheimer had run out
and poverty reduction. In addition, the ODA (under Margaret
and the government was unwilling
Thatcher’s second, more radical
to provide core funding, Having set QEH on this
administration) finally withdrew its
while the University’s new trajectory, Streeten
remaining support to QEH in 1983.
Social Studies Board left Oxford in 1976,
felt that their teaching to be succeeded by In consequence, the University was
and research priorities another distinguished finally forced to come to terms with its
lay elsewhere. progressive Oxford financial and academic responsibility
Fortunately, economist, Keith for what had become a significant yet
progressive Oxford Griffin (after an still ‘semi-detached’ Oxford institution
academics led by interim administration without a clear teaching or research
Thomas Balogh by Peter Ady). mission. In 1986, when Hazlewood
of Balliol College Griffin maintained retired, QEH was fully merged with the
(economic adviser to the new direction of ICS and the Institute of Agricultural
the then-Prime Minister) Paul Streeten travel, securing external Economics (which had become unviable
were becoming interested funding from the Overseas due to falling student numbers) to create
in development, while the Development Administration (ODA) the International Development Centre
traditionalists did not want Oxford to and others for several limited-term (IDC), nominally a department of the
close down a body with a Royal Charter research posts, in refugee studies (Barbara University within the Social Studies
and named after the reigning sovereign. Harrell-Bond), African history (including Faculty.
4 | Oxford Development Matters
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Robert Cassen, a development economist at Oxford from the 1970s onwards where weekly seminars at QEH on gender
specialising in ‘aid’ and population studies creative and critical research could flourish. and development issues since 1972 and
with a previous career at the London Streeten had attracted a group of was formalised as the Centre for Cross
School of Economics, the Overseas younger scholars as students and research Cultural Research on Women by Shirley
Development Ministry and the World associates, including Keith Griffin, Ardener and Helen Callaway in 1983.
Bank, was appointed as IDC Director. He Sanjaya Lall, Deepak Nayyar, QEH did not originally
came to Oxford with a commitment to and Frances Stewart. have its own taught
generating major external research funding Their contributions in courses, although staff
from international development agencies the 1970s included members did provide
and creating an endowment to support analysis of foreign undergraduate lectures
teaching posts. Unfortunately, this did not direct investment and tutorials in
occur. Nonetheless, policy research activity (Lall and Streeten), development economics
expanded rapidly at QEH (which became, technological learning and colonial history.
in Cassen’s phrase, a sort of ‘research and capabilities (Lall), Streeten, Balogh and
hotel’) — and so did staff numbers, albeit employment and Ady held a weekly
on short-term contracts. appropriate technology development economics
Cassen secured support for a number of (Stewart), and the impact 20 St Giles seminar at QEH through
research and consultancy centres created of aid (Griffin, with John the 1970s which became
under his predecessors, including the Food Enos). QEH came to spearhead the Oxford focus for critical
Studies Programme (initiated as the Food research into the important equity analysis in this field. In 1965 a Diploma
Studies Group by Griffin), the Refugee dimension of basic needs and employment in Development Economics had been
Studies Programme (founded in 1982, in economic development policy, established by the University, mainly for
during Hazlewood’s directorship) and which was to evolve into the ‘human Commonwealth civil servants, and this was
a newly established Finance and Trade development’ approach adopted by the upgraded to an MSc in 1982 under the aegis
Policy Research Centre. This reflected the United Nations. of the Sub-Faculty of Economics, although
rising UK and international interest in the management and most of the teaching
Clearly, development economics was the
development issues as the Cold War drew was at QEH. The Agricultural Economics
dominant discipline at QEH in the 1970s
to a close. However, there were problems MSc also came to QEH in the 1986
and 80s, although there were a number of
with this model from a University merger. Last, but not least, QEH academics
ICS scholars working on colonial history,
perspective. Too few of the activities supervised a growing number of doctorates
such as Colin Newberry and Stanley
produced academic research of a high in the emerging field of development studies.
Trapido. Moreover, a multidisciplinary
standard, while financial sustainability approach began to emerge. On the one
remained unattainable. hand, these development economists took The final refoundation
Thus, by the early 1990s, the University a broad view of their subject, integrating In sum, although in 1993 the University
felt obliged to intervene once again, creating political, social, and ethical issues into did once again consider closure as an
a directorial triumvirate to replace Cassen, a policy-oriented approach. Their focus option, by now there was a strong feeling
effectively suspending the independence was very different from that of more in Oxford that the potential for an
of the IDC as an academic department. A ‘mainstream’ Oxford colleagues, mainly academically viable development studies
University commission was established in located at Nuffield, whose theory was centre would thereby be lost. Moreover,
1992 chaired by Colin Crouch (an eminent neoclassical and whose policy views the (now merely advisory) Governing
sociologist from Trinity College) in order were conservative. One the other hand, Body used the residual aura of the Royal
to ‘review the future of Queen Elizabeth a number of highly creative groups from Charter one last time to dissuade the
House’, which concluded: other disciplines including history, politics, University from committing lèse-majesté.
and anthropology found a supportive Fortunately, after this third threat of
… [t]he problems of QEH can be home in the QEH building on St Giles.
summarised succinctly: while there has closure in four decades, the outcome was at
been considerable growth and diversity One such group was composed of last positive. The University finally assumed
of activity in a number of interesting and historians and anthropologists from full financial and academic responsibility
important areas, there has been too much across the University working on for QEH and installed a scholar from
periphery, too little internal cohesion, Southern Africa (including Terry Ranger, among the staff as Director. In 1993 Frances
too little connection with the rest of Stan Trapido, William Beinart, Megan Stewart (who had been a doctoral student
the University, too much work that is Vaughan and Gavin Williams) who had of Paul Streeten) started the arduous process
not strictly academic, too little sense of changed the focus of the ICS with their of turning QEH into the research-led
radical critique of apartheid. The Food postgraduate teaching department with
direction and leadership.
Studies Programme focused on food a strong commitment to the developing
security and nutritional poverty while world that we know today, a period we will
‘Growth and diversity of activity in a
the Refugee Studies Programme, led by explore in ODM in 2021.
number of interesting and important
Barbara Harrell-Bond, brought together
areas’
anthropologists and lawyers in an activist
Despite the loss of government support approach to policy advocacy and was to Valpy FitzGerald is Emeritus Professor
and the Commonwealth training role to become the world-leading research and of International Development Finance
at ODID and was Head of Department
Sussex, which had seemed a blow to QEH training centre in this subject. A group of
between 2007 and 2012.
at the time, in the event a space emerged feminist anthropologists had been holding
Oxford Development Matters | 5
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Responding to
COVID-19 at ODID
Diego Sánchez-Ancochea sets out how the department is making sense of the coronavirus pandemic through
commentary and new research.
T
he COVID-19 pandemic collects some of the many contributions and the creative combination of policy-
has renewed attention on made by our students and researchers focused research and more critical
academic expertise. This is through interviews, op-eds, and briefs. approaches. Some of my colleagues
particularly the case in health From proposals to extend a child support are informing macroeconomic policy
science: epidemiologists have grant in South Africa to criticisms of responses at the national and international
led discussions on social distancing and the way Africa is depicted in global level, while others are questioning the
lockdowns, while teams of doctors and conversations about the pandemic, from ways states have constrained migration
other scientists are working non-stop to evaluations of the lockdown in India to or failed to respond to the urgent needs
find a vaccine. The University of Oxford warnings about socio-political impacts, of indigenous peoples. Together all this
has been at the forefront of these efforts the various pieces highlight ODID’s work demonstrates the contribution
and some trials have already shown multidisciplinary approach as well as that high-quality research can make to
promising results. our common commitment to equitable confronting the social, economic, and
Finding a vaccine (as well as effective change. political challenges we are facing, while
treatments) is obviously the most urgent Many colleagues are also launching placing those suffering most at the heart
task. Yet it is increasingly evident that new research on COVID-19 in the global of our analysis.
the consequences of the current crisis South and the following pages showcase None of us can predict how much the
will be multifaceted and that social some of the new directions our academics world will change after these strange and
scientists have important roles to play. We are taking. Some of this work focuses on complicated months. Will we have other
need to better understand the economic international dimensions, considering, for waves that force us into new lockdowns?
and social impact of the virus and the example, the changing patterns of global Will the economic crisis last for a few
policies adopted to respond to it. We value chains or the evolution of the global months or for several years? Which
have to consider the potential political Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). countries will be most affected? How can
consequences of the lockdown in different Others evaluate the impact of the virus we make sure that those suffering most
contexts. We must explain the interactions and the lockdown on specific countries, – in each country and in the world as a
between the virus, health systems, and hoping to draw lessons for others. This whole – are properly supported? Will the
domestic economies as well as identifying is the case for the phone survey that crisis create new opportunities to envisage
those communities that are most at risk. Young Lives is currently implementing in a different future? I have no doubt that
Researchers at ODID have actively Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, for many of my colleagues will be at the
participated in public debates on example. centre of all these debates.
COVID-19 in the global South from The diversity of ongoing research
early on. On our website, a section on illustrates one of the strengths of our Diego Sánchez-Ancochea is ODID Head
of Department.
Development in the time of coronavirus department: the variety of our interests
6 | Oxford Development Matters
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Simukai builds on an existing stream of work
using calibrated macroeconomic models
Chigudu to understand how economies adjust
to various forms of shocks, including
For the historian
natural disaster shocks, and to what
of medicine
extent adjustment paths can be shaped by
Charles
different macroeconomic policy choices.
Rosenberg,
epidemics have This framework is ideally suited
a ‘dramaturgical character’. What he to add to our understanding of the
meant is that epidemics are rendered macroeconomic effects of COVID-19 in
intelligible as social phenomena through developing countries. The COVID-19
stories or narratives that follow a familiar shock for such countries is, at least at
pattern. The COVID-19 ‘outbreak present, as much an economic crisis as
narrative’ begins in the wet markets of it is a health crisis. The effects of widely
Wuhan. From here, the drama intensifies implemented lockdown measures and
as the virus spreads through the circuits scale-up in social protection measures
of global modernity – economy, trade, have been magnified by the effects of the
finance, and tourism – becoming an global recession, through the collapse of
international security threat as well primary commodity prices, the collapse of
as a parable about the dangers of our key sectors such as tourism, the seizing-
interconnected world. The narrative, up of international capital flows, and the
of course, is never fully coherent. It severe contraction in remittances.
elicits contradictory reactions about the Against this background, we then
obsolescence and tenacity of borders, explore alternative macroeconomic
the threat and benevolence of strangers, policy responses, both for governments
the failures and redemptive potential of themselves and from the perspective of
medical science. But this is part of the international financial institutions and
outbreak narrative’s potency in setting donors. A central element of this work
the terms of social dialogue and political is that it allows for normative as well
debate. as a positive analysis as we are able to
Africa, in the COVID-19 outbreak explore the distributional consequences
narrative, has been placed as the virus’s of alternative macroeconomic policy
final frontier where, we are assured, it responses to shocks.
will yield untold damage. Numerous
headlines by journalists, policy-makers,
and scientists have warned that the virus
RSC
is a ‘ticking time bomb’ on a continent The COVID-19
‘woefully ill-equipped to deal with pandemic has
COVID-19’. Legitimate concerns about substantial
weak health systems, densely populated implications for
urban centres, and a history of devastating forced migrants
epidemics mingle with racist ideas across the world,
about the primordial nature of African affecting not only
poverty and about the inability of African their ability to move to safety, but also
peoples and governments to respond their health, access to work and income,
with ingenuity to a crisis. Contrasting and interaction with family and networks
the horror of COVID-19 in the global of support.
North with its presumed trajectory in At the RSC, one strand of our COVID
Africa offers an important yet ignored work follows on logically from existing
political question – one that will guide research, under the auspices of the
my future research – about how and why Refugee Economies programme, into how
Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash
the suffering induced by communicable refugee-led organisations and initiatives
diseases is treated as unthinkable in one can act as providers of social protection.
place and inevitable in another. NGOs have been forced to pull back
from front-line activity as a result of the
Chris pandemic, and refugee organisations
have stepped in to fill the gap. We are
Adam following up with our networks of refugee
organisations to see how they are coping
I have started
with these new demands.
some work
exploring the In linked research, Marie Godin and
macroeconomic Evan Easton-Calabria have won funding
dimensions of for a small project to examine the role
the COVID-19 pandemic and post-crisis of digitalisation in the provision of such
recovery in low-income countries. This refugee-led support – exploring the
Oxford Development Matters | 7
RESEARCH
bay. The Brexit referendum, election of
Donald Trump, and COVID-19 are all
cases in point. In a battle for the hearts
and minds of the people, governmental
and populist actors send fear and anger
signals, respectively. At the start of the
pandemic, we theorised this dance of
fear and anger as the fear-anger cycle
and we are now testing it in concrete
manifestations.
By way of example: in the case of
COVID-19, governmental actors sent fear
signals related to real and constructed
danger, which resonated with mainstream
media and translated into more support
for governmental actors. Once fear-driven
policies have induced enough dislocation
(economic recession, job losses etc.), we
expect the politics of anger to be back
with a vengeance.
OPHI
Persons designing
COVID-19
response face
a need for
immediate data as
well as projections
or simulations, in
order to seek to mitigate the emergence
of ‘new poor’ and to reduce poverty even
during the current crisis.
existence of, potential for, and barriers
OPHI is undertaking user-
to digital information and assistance for
responsive research on COVID-19 and
refugees.
multidimensional poverty of three kinds.
Meanwhile, Cory Rodgers is working First, we will rapidly re-analyse existing
with refugee monitors living in the data on the global MPI which is online
Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to assess in order to provide briefings on COVID
the response to COVID-19 there and in risk and vulnerability for more than 100
the nearby Kalobeyei settlement, in order countries and over 5.7 billion people.
to provide practical feedback and rapid Second, we will respond to countries who
information to the UNHCR’s COVID-19 are seeking just-in-time studies on the
task force throughout the crisis, along ‘new poor’ for their emergency responses,
with in-depth documentation and critical and share emerging good practices with
analysis of the response after the crisis has our 60-country South-South network
passed. focused on multidimensional poverty
reduction. Third, we will post a section
on our website featuring these outputs
Joerg and including interactive maps where
Friedrichs users can select different kinds of
COVID-19 risks at the same time, and
Public intellectuals select whether to view the number or
like Michael proportion of people affected. OPHI
Moore and are already in active contact with many
academic scholars governments and actors shaping pro-poor
like Martha COVID-19 emergency responses. This
Nussbaum claim work will help us to meet their expressed
that populists thrive on fear of minority demand.
groups, but in our new research project,
Niklas Stoehr and I suggest that what they
thrive on is anger against governmental Young
actors.
It is governmental actors who
Lives
increasingly rely on fear, be it to pursue Young Lives
policy objectives or to keep populists at recently received
8 | Oxford Development Matters
RESEARCH
£9.4 million in funding from DfID for a preparing to roll out our 1,800-person of the UK and other major economies in
new round of work focusing in particular survey when conditions allow. Our work the world? How does the impact vary
on transitions to work. With the onset of will explicitly incorporate questions on across different sectors; and how will
the pandemic and the resultant disruption how frustrated mobility and uncertainty supply chains respond?
to planned fieldwork, we rapidly revised shape local and diaspora engagements and
our planned research activity, launching a the spatial and temporal scales of people’s
new phone survey to investigate the short- political mobilisations. Laura
term impact of the pandemic on young Rival
people in our study countries.
Xiaolan I am working
The phone survey focuses on impacts on with Brazilian,
health and well-being, and on transitions Fu Peruvian,
to the labour market and higher education My proposed Ecuadorian
for the young people in the study. We research aims and Colombian
will publish headline outcomes after each to examine colleagues, as well
round of calls, providing rapid analysis to the impact of as colleagues from various research-in-
policy-makers. COVID-19 action networks, to support indigenous
We are in a particularly strong position mitigation measures on trade and ‘global demands for appropriate and culturally
to inform policy because of our long- value chains’ (GVCs). respectful health and education provision
term relationship with participants, According to the WTO and UNCTAD, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
which enables us to collect high-quality world trade is likely to fall by 20% and in the Amazon.
information with significantly fewer foreign direct investment may shrink This forms part of my ongoing work
refusals than is usual in a phone survey; by 40% in 2020 due to the impact of with indigenous communities of the
the pro-poor nature of the samples, which COVID-19. This will result in Amazon and my current collaboration
enables us to focus on those families significant reductions in job with a British Academy-GCRF research
that are likely to be most affected by the opportunities and income growth and project on ‘“Sustainable” Development
crisis; and the four-country structure, increases in income inequalities within and Atmospheres of Violence: Experiences
which can show the differential impacts of and between countries. of Environmental Defenders’.
COVID-19 according to varying contexts
and related strategies implemented by The research will use an integrated We are studying how ‘land-grabbing’
governments. ‘Epi-Economic model’ bringing within indigenous territories, which
together economic and epidemiological has accelerated under President Jair
Our planned in-person Round 6 modelling approaches to understand Bolsonaro, is propagating the spread of
household survey will take place in 2021, the varying impact of different COVID-19 among indigenous peoples
enabling us to explore the medium- and countermeasures – such as national or within their own demarcated territories.
long-term impacts of COVID-19 too, and local lockdowns, closure of international
the impact on outcomes not measured in The situation is especially complex
or national transportation, and because many native Amazonians move
the phone survey. restrictions versus re-opening while back and forth between their remote
requiring face-coverings. communities and crowded peri-urban
Loren The research team, which will include neighbourhoods around jungle towns
scholars from social science, computer and large cities such as Manaus, Belem
Landau science (big data and machine learning), or Iquitos, where life conditions are
Even as the engineering (systems modelling) and very precarious, and adequate health
pandemic medical science, will assess the impact infrastructures deficient or lacking.
has delayed a of various countermeasures on the In particular, the young scholars I
comparative way in which GVCs are organised am working with have highlighted
survey on urban and on participation in GVCs, using concerns that some indigenous people are
mobility and Africa’s future politics, it a combination of econometrics and slipping through the cracks of healthcare
draws into high relief the centrality of simulation. coverage. For example the Indigenous
movement and uncertainty in people’s Unlike existing studies, our research Health Secretariat (SESAI) of Brazil’s
lives. will place special emphasis on the Ministry of Health has indicated that
Rather than promote solidarity and sector-specific characteristics of different it is responsible only for what it terms
an inclusive social contract, states across industries and how contact intensity, ‘village Indians’, an anachronistic phrase
sub-Saharan Africa have intensified proxied by the level of inter-personal that excludes indigenous peoples living
restrictions on poor residents and interaction or collaboration required to in cities and in voluntary isolation. One
migrants in ways furthering spatial, class, accomplish production or the delivery demand being expressed by indigenous
and other social divisions. Families and of services; the degree of fragmentation leaders in Manaus is that urban residents
communities relying on mobility are within the industry; and levels of be registered as indigenous citizens by
weakened as are possibilities for planning digitisation interact with COVID-19 the city’s health secretariat so that they
a life beyond the local. countermeasures. can be included in the city’s vaccination
As I monitor these developments The findings will outline implications campaigns.
and work to strengthen research for policy: what economic and In addition, in Oxford, we are trying
collaborations around these themes epidemiological information should to get connected with the medical school
as part of a new Oxford-Wits Lab on inform decision-making related to to support hospitals in the Amazon,
Mobility Governance (OWL), partners lockdown? How badly is trade collapsing particularly in Iquitos, where the situation
in Johannesburg, Accra, and Nairobi are and what are the supply chain fragilities is particularly dire.
Oxford Development Matters | 9
STUDENTS
From the Conflict Zone to the Supermarket
Lur Alghurabi reports on Crowdless, a new app helping users avoid queues and crowds during COVID-19,
co-founded by ODID DPhil student Alex Barnes.
A
s lockdown restrictions ease
and retail businesses reopen
in the UK and across the
world, social distancing
remains critical to controlling
the transmission of COVID-19. Now a
smartphone app, originally designed for
conflict zones, is helping by showing users
how busy a place is before they leave
home.
Alex Barnes, who is studying for a
DPhil in International Development,
launched Crowdless with his colleagues in help NGOs, development companies, and their communities by sharing information
April 2020. anyone who needed it.’ and uploading data to the platform,
‘We were keen to see what we could do Alex’s lived experience in Afghanistan and even volunteering for the app’s
to help in the current circumstances, and where he worked with the Australian Community Ambassador Programme,
we came up with Crowdless,’ Alex says. Department of Defence showed him where they brainstorm ways of improving
‘We believe it will be extremely useful first-hand how friends and colleagues the quality of the data and store coverage.
for people who need to travel to shops were at risk. He joined forces with Yohan Crowdless now has 90,000 downloads
and grocery stores but are trying to meet Iddawela, a PhD student at the London and is available in eight languages, with
social distancing regulations effectively School of Economics, in January 2019 to most users in the UK and Germany. The
to protect themselves and the wider address the issue and promote security for team is currently working with the satellite
population.’ humanitarian workers. company AstroSat to help community
The app uses existing open-source data ‘We were planning to start developing organisations and local authorities
alongside crowd-sourced information Lanterne for Colombia first, in part support vulnerable populations across the
from users, who can report how busy the because it is more accessible and has UK as distancing restrictions ease.
venues they visit are. By enabling people greater smartphone penetration than The app doesn’t store any of its users’
to pick the best time to shop, Crowdless Afghanistan,’ Alex explains. personal data – there is no login screen,
also helps supermarkets optimise footfall; But when COVID-19 hit, Colombia for example – so users can rest assured
the vision is for retailers and shoppers went into full lockdown and the team that their data privacy is protected.
to work together to create a safe and were stopped in their tracks. So they The app was recently chosen as one of
convenient shopping experience. started adapting the technology they the winners of Innovate UK’s ‘Business-
Following a successful launch, had to the lockdown that was being led innovation in response to global
Crowdless is now looking to expand introduced throughout the world. disruption’ competition, providing
coverage to other places, such as parks, Crowdless became one of four Crowdless with a grant to underpin
beaches, and pubs. enterprises selected by the Oxford product development. The main focus will
When the pandemic started early this Foundry’s COVID-19 Rapid Solutions be to integrate crowd-sourced and third-
year, Alex and his colleagues were already Builder programme, which provided party data, upgrade the user experience
working on a navigation app, albeit for funding and mentoring support for and integrate additional features, such
a different purpose: ‘Lanterne’ aimed to two months to help accelerate the app’s as forecasting crowded times – allowing
help people navigate safely in conflict development. They received mentoring people to plan their trips ahead of time.
areas by showing them the safest routes to from experts in sales, leadership, and You can download Crowdless for iOS
their destinations. product design, all of which have been and Android via crowdlessapp.co/app,
‘Our original idea was to create a extremely useful for continuing to build or join the community as a volunteer
detailed database of incidents which Crowdless, Alex says. ambassador via crowdlessapp.co/
would update in real time,’ Alex says. A key element of Crowdless’s success volunteer.
‘We would use this to create an app has been its ability to tap into the
which would alert people about security community spirit engendered by the Lur Alghurabi is ODID’s Communications
incidents immediately, so they would lockdown, according to Yohan. Users on and Administrative Assistant.
be able to avoid the area. We wanted to the ground have been eager to support
10 | Oxford Development MattersRESEARCH
Addis Ababa’s
Changing
Cityscape
U
rban investments across Since coming to power in 2018, Prime
the African continent are Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has
Biruk Terrefe draws on his at an all-time high. Yet the initiated several urban megaprojects. These
doctoral research to write nature of these investments include LaGare, a 36-hectare real estate
about the Ethiopian capital’s differs starkly across cities. project, and a 56-km riverside renewal
changing urban aesthetic, and Many of them are driven by political scheme dubbed Beautifying Sheger.
what city redevelopments can considerations. For example, in Addis Both projects are intended to give Africa’s
Ababa, a city that has made enormous political capital a facelift and generate
tell us about the political priorities
strides in the past two decades, a new revenue through higher land values and
of successive regimes. urban aesthetic is emerging. It targets urban tourism. They are the latest additions
urban elites, the Ethiopian diaspora and to a skyline that has undergone dramatic
international tourists. changes in the past 20 years.
Oxford Development Matters | 11
RESEARCH
The projects are new but their delivery
remains the same. The manner in which
they are being implemented is reminiscent
of previous Ethiopian regimes.
This includes the sidelining of local
stakeholders and the lack of coordination
with the relevant bureaucracies. Decision-
making continues to be highly centralised.
In new research, I use these urban
megaprojects to analyse this period
of political change. Urban spaces are
sites of ‘continuous renewal’. New
administrations use them to stamp
their mark on cities. My research aims
to identify how this is playing out in The old station building, which will be
Ethiopia’s capital city. part of the LaGare redevelopment
Addis Ababa’s latest urban endeavours
new buildings, and it will create jobs for As one city administration official stated:
A unique characteristic of Addis Ababa’s me and for my children. It is going to be We plan to start our bus rapid transit
urban development is that successive a wonderful project.
in the next two years and the transport
Ethiopian regimes have used new urban
But the outcome might not be quite as hub in LaGare is a major interchange
projects as manifestations of their political
rosy. for our routes. I am not sure now what
priorities. Even today, we can find
LaGare and Beautifying Sheger the plan is because of this new Dubai
architectural remnants of past regimes.
represent a new era of urban development project, but we have been planning the
The grand projects that different new transport system for years. I hope the
in Ethiopia and raise fundamental
governments have undertaken over the city administration fights back to keep
questions about spatial justice. These
decades are layers of political history our plans in place, otherwise we have a
projects cater to a growing urban elite
woven into the city’s urban fabric. big problem.
that includes international tourists and
Marred by the fascist Italian the country’s vast diaspora in the US This is reminiscent of former prime
occupation and domestic secessionist and Europe. Such elite enclaves lie in minister Meles Zenawi’s imposition of
movements, Emperor Haile Selassie’s stark contrast to the pro-poor focus the light rail transit system despite vocal
regime (1930–1974) reproduced its of the previous administration. While opposition from urban planners at the time.
assimilationist politics through multiple the EPRDF’s light-rail transit system The recent decimation of Meskel Square,
squares and statues commemorating the and social housing scheme faced many one of the city’s biggest public spaces,
Battle of Adwa and Yekatit 12. Then challenges and failures of their own, their illustrates this lack of transparency and
there’s Meskel Square, the city’s most ethos targeted the city’s poorest. inclusivity in the decision-making process.
iconic landmark, which was re-purposed These new megaprojects are intended
for military parades by the Derg, a A dedicated Megaprojects Office has
to generate revenue through increased
communist junta which ran the country been established in the city administration
urban land values. But this will inevitably
between 1974 and 1991. to manage LaGare and Beautifying Sheger,
make the city less accessible. Addis Ababa
as well as a number of other major urban
And finally, a major social housing already faces major transport, sanitation
projects. These include the development
scheme and sub-Saharan Africa’s first and housing shortages, as its population
of a multicomplex residential village in
urban rail system are the legacy of continues to increase. Now, dancing
Gotera and hiking trails, viewpoints and
the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary water fountains decorate the main plaza
recreational spaces on Entoto Mountain.
Democratic Front (EPRDF), the coalition of Beautifying Sheger, while a large
that was in power between 1991 and 2019 proportion of the city still has no reliable We are at a critical juncture, in which the
with a pro-poor developmental agenda. access to water. accessibility and affordability of the city’s
future is in doubt. As one of the fastest
Abiy Ahmed’s focus on luxury real
What’s not changed urbanising nations in the world, Ethiopia
estate projects and urban tourism schemes
represents a clear ideological break from the needs to ensure that its urban investments
The planning and decision-making process
past. The plans are reminiscent of the grand provide adequate infrastructural and social
of these projects follows the long history
structures put up in Gulf emirates such as services to its most vulnerable citizens.
of centralised planning in Ethiopia.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They promise flashy The creation of elite enclaves and
Both LaGare and Beautifying Sheger
skyscrapers and hyper-modernity. singular focus on urban tourism, while
were initiated by the prime minister’s
These images have enchanted some office in a top-down manner, sidelining important, is unlikely to trickle down to
Ethiopians. As part of my research I spoke city administration officials, excluding the majority of the city’s residents.
to numerous residents affected by these urban planners, and partially ignoring This article is republished from The
projects. Regarding LaGare, this 70-year- Addis Ababa’s Structure Plan (2017–27). Conversation (www.theconversation.com/
old woman commented: For example, the 36 hectares on which uk) under a Creative Commons licence.
They are going to build a world-class LaGare is to be built was initially set aside
mall here and they also will not remove for a transport hub to house one of the
Biruk Terrefe is a DPhil student at ODID.
anyone. We’re going to get modern and city’s new bus rapid transit line stations.
12 | Oxford Development MattersALUMNI
Benny Juliawan appointed leader of Indonesian Jesuits
Father Benny Juliawan, who completd complete his DPhil at ODID, writing his Jakarta, during which
the MPhil and DPhil at ODID, has dissertation on the labour movement in time he became actively
been appointed leader of the Jesuits in Indonesia. involved in the
Indonesia. ‘Politics of the poor and marginalised, country’s Reformasi
Father Benny was named Provincial that’s what I learned at QEH,’ Father movement.
of the Indonesian Province of the Benny said. ‘Plus the camaraderie and He went on to study
Society of Jesus in May. He is currently diverse backgrounds that fellow students Sociology at Warwick
a lecturer at Universitas Sanata Dharma brought to the class and pubs! QEH University and then spent time in
and the Superior of the Robertus helped shape my perspective of the Betun, West Timor, with the Jesuit
Bellarminus community in Yogyakarta. world.’ Refugee Service Indonesia, helping East
Father Benny came to Oxford to Father Benny entered the Society of Timorese refugees. After completing
study for the MPhil in Development Jesus in 1994 and then studied at the theological studies he was ordained a
Studies in 2005, then went on to Driyarkara School of Philosophy in priest in Yogyakarta in 2005.
Annette Idler book features in New book seeks
International Affairs top ten to bridge US
A book by Annette Idler, who fluidity of armed political divide
completed the DPhil at ODID, actors and the
featured in a list of the top ten books blurry and shifting A new book co-authored by former
by women reviewed in International relationships among MPhil student Chris Haugh reflects
Affairs in the previous 12 months, them. Perhaps most on a road trip he took across
compiled for International Women’s strikingly, Idler presents America with a friend whose politics
Day 2020. radially diverge from his own, and
the communities that are
what the experience taught them
Borderland Battles: Violence, Crime often overlooked when the focus is on
about the country.
and Governance at the Borders of the people with guns. Her impressive
Colombia’s War was published by research unflinchingly shows how Union: A Democrat, a Republican,
Oxford University Press in 2019. prolonged, multidimensional insecurity and a Search for Common Ground
reshapes and often sunders the social was published on 21 July by Little
Reviewer Tom Long said of the
Brown.
book, ‘Idler shows the diversity and fabric.’
Chris, a Democrat, travelled nearly
20,000 miles of North American
roads across 44 states and three
Felipe Roa-Clavijo wins countries in the company of his
friend and co-author Jorden Blashek,
top Colombian prize who votes Republican.
The two spent time with a long-haul
Recently completed DPhil in Colombia: Examination of Competing trucker, driving from Las Vegas to
Felipe Roa-Clavijo has Narratives During the Agrarian Strikes Louisiana, women working through
won one of the most and Negotiations 2013–2016’. an addiction treatment programme in
prestigious social science Tulsa, Oklahoma, migrants in Tijuana
The judges said of his work: ‘The waiting to cross the US-Mexican
prizes in Colombia for his
research proposes a new look at border, men and women entangled in
doctoral thesis.
long-term agricultural trends and the criminal justice system in Detroit,
The award was made by the a new approach to analysing the Michigan, and a lobsterman
Alejandro Angel Escobar Foundation, main demands from agrarian named Willis in Portland, Maine,
which has awarded prizes to movements. It goes amongst others.
recognise and support research that beyond describing a The book draws out
contributes to science and innovation simple phenomenon; it some of the lessons these
in Colombia since 1964. The proposes an innovative encounters taught them,
foundation awards three prizes approach that explores the including the endurance of
annually: in the social sciences; in future of rural development many shared values despite
mathematics and physics; and in and agriculture in Colombia the great chasm between
sustainable development. from the perspective of food red and blue in the US,
Felipe’s thesis, supervised by Laura provisioning. This is thought- and the importance
Rival, is entitled ‘Rethinking Rural provoking research for the of continuing mutual
Development, Food and Agriculture social sciences community.’ engagement.
Oxford Development Matters | 13
NEWS
Greening ODID Sánchez-Ancochea and Laura Rival,
on Climate Change and the Purpose New programme
on structural
of Development to help us articulate a
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic distinctive approach to development in
brought the issue into the sharpest the context of climate catastrophe.
possible relief, ODID had been
grappling with the question of how to We have taken steps on the practical transformation
fundamentally adapt – both its teaching side too – giving ODID-branded Keep
Cups to incoming students; introducing Douglas Gollin is
and its everyday practices – in response research director for
to the climate crisis. food waste collections; installing
water saving taps; moving to duplex a new programme
In September 2019 we set up an printing by default; and using 80% to support research
Environmental Sustainability Group sensor lighting, to name some of our that provides a deeper
to help explore the problem and achievements. understanding of the
chart a way forward. The group ran fundamental economic
a consultation in November soliciting Travel remains a thorny issue for a processes of structural change
suggestions from across the department department whose research is focused and productivity growth in low- and
for changes we could make in five main in the global South. The pandemic has middle-income countries.
areas: waste; food; energy and water accelerated plans to explore the use
of remote conferencing – we have all The research programme on
use; travel; and teaching and research. Structural Transformation and
We were very clear that we need to find rapidly become familiar with Zoom and
Economic Growth (STEG) is funded by
ways to link our everyday practice to our Teams and we will surely continue to
the UK Department for International
own research and teaching on the global make use of them once social distancing
Development, with a budget of £12
South. We have already made a number becomes a thing of the past. But in-
million in its first five years.
of improvements and more are planned. person fieldwork is likely always to be a
key component of our research; we are ‘Low-income countries now face
On the teaching side, Nikita Sud will therefore investigating the possibility of a huge challenge,’ said Professor
convene a new option course for the introducing a carbon offsetting scheme at Gollin. ‘The global pandemic will
MPhil from Michaelmas Term 2020 either the University or department level have a tragic impact, especially on
on Climate Questions from the Global to reduce the impact of our air travel. the poor. But low-income countries
South. The course will focus on We would like to find ways to make also face the prospect of a severe
issues such as the role of markets; the carbon offsetting meaningful, supporting global economic slowdown, and
interaction with inequality; agriculture, creative ways to protect some of the many of them will need to rethink
food security and rural policy; the role most important forests on the planet. their growth strategies. Our research
of cities and urban environmentalism; programme will pose fundamental
As we emerge from the pandemic
pandemics in the Anthropocene; and questions about the nature of long-
there is a growing awareness that we
non-human agency in global change. run growth and the transformation
cannot go back to our old ways; at
out of quasi-subsistence agriculture.
We will also be running a new ODID we are determined to introduce The answers to these questions
seminar series, convened by Diego change. will guide low-income countries in
choosing effective policies as they
emerge from the pandemic.’
Tom Scott-Smith named STEG will be carried out by a
consortium led by the Centre for
New Generation Thinker Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
and including ODID, the University
of Notre Dame, the African Center
Tom Scott-Smith is one of ten to a broad audience through for Economic Transformation, the
researchers to be selected from across media and public engagement.’ Yale Research Initiative on Innovation
the UK as 2020 ‘New Generation and Scale, and Gröningen University's
‘Now, more than ever, we need
Thinkers’ by BBC Radio 3 and the Growth and Development Center.
to share the rich and diverse array
Arts and Humanities Research Council Professor Joe Kaboski of Notre
of research in the world of arts and
(AHRC). Dame and CEPR will lead the STEG
humanities with the public and open
The New Generation Thinkers the window to a world of research that Academic Steering Committee.
scheme offers a chance for early career will amaze and engage.’ STEG is committed to making
researchers, with support and training top-quality academic research in
provided by AHRC and the BBC, Previous New Generation Thinkers
have gone on to become prominent public development economics directly
to cultivate the skills they need to relevant to the concerns of policy-
communicate their research findings to figures in their field, as well as the face of
makers. It will help developing
those outside the academic community. major documentaries and TV series, and
country governments, non-
regular commentators in public debate.
Professor Andrew Thompson, governmental organisations, and
This year’s successful ten were selected
Executive Chair of the AHRC, said: the private sector to design and
from hundreds of applications.
‘Since 2010 the New Generation implement policies that promote
Thinkers scheme has developed ten Dr Scott-Smith specialises in the productivity gains, structural change,
groups of academics to bring the best of ethnographic and historical study of and economic growth that are both
university research and scholarly ideas humanitarian relief. sustained and sustainable.
14 | Oxford Development MattersYou can also read
