Politics research at the School of International Development (DEV) engages with form and function at a number of different levels of the state as well as grassroots institutions.
Examining core issues of structure and agency, and discourse and power, politics research in DEV reflects its vibrant interdisciplinary intellectual environment through four key themes:
State practices and reconfigurations
Study of the state both as a set of institutions and a discursive construct. Crucial issues include how the relationships amongst state actors and agencies are continuously reconfigured and how state practice at macro and micro levels, informs developmental, welfare, disaster relief, crisis prevention, mitigation and rebuilding roles (Chhotray, McAvoy, Newell, Pattenden and Gilberthorpe).
Social and political institutions
The study of wider networks of political and social institutions ranging from local government institutions to key civil society actors like churches, faith based bodies and NGOs. Recent work includes the examination of the thinness of the state, and the significance of religious and “traditional” institutions in determining how development is articulated. Building on debates on social justice there is also new research on institutional access for the poor and marginalised (Jones, Gilberthorpe, Chhotray, Pattenden and Sikor).
Marginalisation and empowerment
Changing patterns of marginalisation, labour relations, social protection and social movement are analysed through a political economy framework; whilst the politics of empowerment, forest rights and tribal oppression, and disaster recovery are tackled through a political ecology lens (Pattenden, Springate-Baginski, and Chhotray).
Identity and conflict
Our research on key signposts in identity examines the construction of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender (masculinity and femininity) and ‘otherness’ more generally. This includes the politics of the western media as an important facilitator in mediating such constructions. Questions about the micro-level relationships between gender identities, especially masculinities, conflict and state/civil-society actors, and the role of religion are linked to the macro politics of the state and other global actors (Fincham, Harris, Scott and Jones).
Photo: Group meeting in the sub-parish of Oledai, eastern Uganda
State practices and reconfigurations
Study of the state both as a set of institutions and a discursive construct. Crucial issues include how the relationships amongst state actors and agencies are continuously reconfigured and how state practice at macro and micro levels, informs developmental, welfare, disaster relief, crisis prevention, mitigation and rebuilding roles (Chhotray, McAvoy, Newell, Pattenden and Gilberthorpe).
Social and political institutions
The study of wider networks of political and social institutions ranging from local government institutions to key civil society actors like churches, faith based bodies and NGOs. Recent work includes the examination of the thinness of the state, and the significance of religious and “traditional” institutions in determining how development is articulated. Building on debates on social justice there is also new research on institutional access for the poor and marginalised (Jones, Gilberthorpe, Chhotray, Pattenden and Sikor).
Marginalisation and empowerment
Changing patterns of marginalisation, labour relations, social protection and social movement are analysed through a political economy framework; whilst the politics of empowerment, forest rights and tribal oppression, and disaster recovery are tackled through a political ecology lens (Pattenden, Springate-Baginski, and Chhotray).
Identity and conflict
Our research on key signposts in identity examines the construction of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender (masculinity and femininity) and ‘otherness’ more generally. This includes the politics of the western media as an important facilitator in mediating such constructions. Questions about the micro-level relationships between gender identities, especially masculinities, conflict and state/civil-society actors, and the role of religion are linked to the macro politics of the state and other global actors (Fincham, Harris, Scott and Jones).
Photo: Group meeting in the sub-parish of Oledai, eastern Uganda
