We’re the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester: where critical thinking meets social justice. Each episode we will bring you the latest thinking, insights and debate in development studies.

Global Development Institute podcast

Professor David Hulme, Executive Director of the Global Development Institute discusses his book, Should Rich Nations Help the Poor?
This podcast was recorded as part of the Global Development Institute Lecture Series.

Lecture: Should rich nations help the poor? - David Hulme

Lord Jim O'Neill spoke as part of the Rising Powers Conference held at The University of Manchester in June 2017.

24/07/2017

Lecture: Lord Jim O'Neill on are the Rising Powers are really rising? -

Dr Saleemul Huq from International Center for Climate Change and Development, Dhaka discusses the power of Least Developed Countries at UN climate talks.

25/07/2017

Lecture: Saleemul Huq on the least developed countries negotiating climate change

Professor Richard Heeks spoke as part of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission lecture series. The event was entitled Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Development.

Richard Heeks is Professor of Development Informatics in the Global Development Institute, at The University of Manchester. He is Director of the Centre for Development Informatics, which is also based at The University of Manchester.

01/08/2017

Lecture: Richard Heeks on from ICT4D to digital development

In this episode, Prof Diana Mitlin, Managing Director of GDI, and Dr Mercedes González de la Rocha, an anthropologist and sociologist at CIESAS and an alumna of the University of Manchester, discuss inequalities, clustered disadvantages, urban social isolation, why Mercedes loves Immanuel Wallerstein's definition of income. They also discuss Dr González de la Rocha’s research on poverty and vulnerability in Mexico, including the ten-year research project she led to evaluate the impact of Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme Oportunidades (now called Prospera).

In conversation: Poverty and vulnerability in Mexico Mercedes González de la Rocha & Diana Mitlin

Dr Pablo Yanguas, Research Associate at ESID, sat down with GDI's Communications and Impact Manager Chris Jordan, to talk about the politics of aid and whether DFID fund Obamacare if the US was a developing country. They also chat about Trump, the Daily Mail, internationalism, pedagogy of aid, political courage, and of course Dr Yanguas's upcoming book, Why We Lie About A

In conversation: Trump, the Daily Mail & aid with Pablo Yanguas & Chris Jordan

In August 2017 Prof Uma Kothari, Global Development Institute, spoke at the EADI NORDIC 2017 conference on ‘Contesting Reconfigured Boundaries: Migration and Development’. The conference was a joint partnership between EADI (European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes), NFU (Norwegian Association of Development Research), the University of Bergen (UiB) and the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI).

Lecture: Uma Kothari on migration and development

As part of the Global Development Institute Lecture Series Prof Diana Mitlin discusses urban development and inequalities.
"Housing in the Global South faces a number of challenges, including poor construction quality, citizen exclusion, and (in)appropriate standards, leading to significant inequalities. 
What lessons emerge for tackling urban shelter inequalities from experiences in the Global South? Prof Mitlin will share findings from research in India where civil society organisations have been working with municipal and state governments to address housing needs through innovation."

05/10/2017

Lecture: Diana Mitlin on urban development and inequalities

To coincide with his recent Development Informatics Working Paper Professor Richard Heeks discusses the decent work and the digital gig economy. In this seminar he provides a developing country perspective on employment impacts and standards in online outsourcing, crowdwork and other areas.

Read the DI Working Paper: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/publications/di/di-wp71/

Lecture:  Richard Heeks on the digital gig economy

Prof Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, gave the Global Development Institute Annual Lecture.

Populism seems to have come out of nowhere, but economic history and theory provide ample grounds for anticipating that globalisation will produce political backlash. But while the backlash may have been predictable, the specific form it took was less so. 

Prof Dani Rodrik will distinguish between left-wing and 
right-wing variants of populism - the first predominant in Latin America and the second in Europe - and how and why these reactions differ.

27/10/2017

Lecture: Dani Rodrik on the economics of populism

Be a fly on the wall as GDI's Executive Director, Prof David Hulme, interviews Prof Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, about globalisation, the sociology of economics and economists, how the decay of liberal norms in the West might impact the rest of the world, what to be concerned about for India, and why China is always a surprise. They also discuss how Prof Rodrik's research has led to examining populism, how populism differs in the developed and developing worlds, and how in most of the latter, populism is not populism in its historical sense or definition.

03/11/2017

In conversation: Globalisation, inequality and trade with Dani Rodrik & David Hulme

Prof Diana Mitlin talks to Kenyan representatives of Shack/Slum Dwellers International who recently visited Global Development Institute

In conversation: Community organising in informal settlements with SDI & Diana Mitlin

Effective States and Inclusive Development’s Dr Pablo Yanguas engages Grinnell University’s Professor Bill Ferguson in a thought-provoking discussion about the role of economics in both creating and addressing collective action problems. Bill, the Gertrude B. Austin Professor of Economics, delivered this year’s Adrian Leftwich memorial lecture on a Political Economy approach to collective action, inequality and development. Having begun his career as a neighourhood community organiser in Seattle, Bill believes that, “Economics is fundamentally a social science. It’s fundamentally an attempt to understand human behaviour,” and is a strong advocate for rethinking the way the discipline is understood and taught – in order to deepen its contribution to addressing social ills like poverty and inequality.

In conversation: Economics and collective action problems with Bill Ferguson & Pablo Yanguas

As part of the Global Development Institute Lecture Series Dr Irene Guijt, Head of Research at Oxfam GB, delivered a lecture entitled: Evidence for Influencing: Balancing research integrity and campaign strategy in Oxfam

When using evidence to influence, what compromises have to be made in different contexts due to practical, political and strategic reasons?
Dr Guijt presents on challenges and successes, using examples of Oxfam research and campaign strategies from across the world.

Lecture: Irene Guijt on Oxfam's use of evidence for influencing

As part of the Global Development Institute Lecture Series and in collaboration with the Post-Crash Economics Society Dr Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, delivered a lecture entitled: Are some countries destined for under-development?

Lecture: Ha-Joon Chang on are some countries destined for under-development?

Listen to Ha-Joon Chang, The University of Cambridge, in conversation with David Hulme, Executive Director of the Global Development Institute, and Mihai Codreanu, Chair of the Post-Crash Economics Society. They discuss pluralist economics, the need for a curriculum revolution, the future of economics and Ha-Joon Chang’s influential works including 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism and Economics.

In conversation: The future of economics with Ha-Joon Chang,  David Hulme & Mihai Codreanu

Diana Mitlin interview Pablo Yanguas about his new book Why We Lie About Aid which is out now on Zed books. They discuss the aid sector, accountability and the Department for International Development. 

Professor Diana Mitlin is the Managing Director of the Global Development Institute. Dr Pablo Yanguas is a research fellow with the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre

Order your copy of his new book here: bit.ly/lieaboutaid

In conversation: Why we lie about aid - Pablo Yanguas & Diana Mitlin

A growing body of research points to the ‘Rise of the South’ and the growth of South–South trade. Rory and Khalid consider the implications of the shifting dynamics of global trade and the greater prominence of Southern actors for the conceptualization of global value chains and global production networks.

In conversation: The new face of global trade with Khalid Nadvi & Rory Horner

What limits the impact of foreign aid programmes? If frontline workers had freedom to experiment could aid effectiveness be improved? What in the aid bureaucracy and political environment constrains flexibility? David Hulme & Nicola Banks lead this exciting discussion with ESID’s Pablo Yanguas, author of new book 'Why we lie about aid' and Daniel Honig of Johns Hopkins University, author of new book 'Navigation by judgement: why and when top down management of foreign aid doesn’t work'.

In conversation: What makes aid effective with Pablo Yanguas & Daniel Honig

This week BBC Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur interviews leading Russian economist Sergei Guriev, for the latest in the Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures podcast series.
They talk about the problem that Russian economy is facing with corruption and the need for deep structural reform, alongside the potential Russia has given its educated citizens and natural resources.