Ajoy Datta draws five lessons from an analysis of how an international membership organisation influenced the 2023 High Seas Treaty.

Our Blogger Emeritus Duncan Green on a new guide that draws on work in the US to influence policy on tobacco and health to identify five roles for research in policy change.

‘One male former government minister said he felt like an imposter a lot of the time… a government minister!’ Duncan Green reflects on how a recent conversation with LSE leadership students revealed widespread feelings of imposter syndrome.

What are the lessons for activists from the cut in the UK development budget? Did big agencies get their messaging all wrong? How much damage did the closure of DFID do? Or the departure of David Cameron as PM? Katy Chakrabortty unpacks the implosion of UK aid…

Whatever finally emerges from the Trump Administration’s assault on USAID (and other governments such as Switzerland jumping on the bandwagon), surely the status quo ante is unlikely to return. What to do? Yes we can keep making the case for aid, hoping that the political tide will turn, but the political consensus around aid had been under assault since long

Gave a lecture at York University recently on how activists can sharpen up their act. Nothing much new here, but the sound quality is good, and the Q&A was fun, so thought I’d repost here. Feel free to nick/copy/download etc. Best new line, IMO was towards the end: ‘Effective activism = analysis + anger + empathy, but in practice people find

Next up from my amazing LSE activism students, Fatima Aysha, a Syrian student with over five years of experience working with INGOs in Syria, including Action Against Hunger and the Aga Khan Foundation.  I wrote this blog on 23 October 2024 and decided not to publish it because of the phrase “walls have ears”, thinking that it might cause problems

This year’s students on the LSE course on activism, which I teach with Tom Kirk, are amazing. Recently ran a blogging workshop, and quite a few of them went on to produce lovely posts. Will stick my favourites up here over the next few weeks. First up, Salma Saleh  on music and politics, first published on the LSE International Development

Guest post by Tom Judd, one of my LSE activism students The tale of advocacy goes as far back as we can look. In ancient Egypt, around 1850 BC, a story known as the Eloquent Peasant emerged. It tells the story of a peasant who is cheated out of his land and has to use his eloquence to win justice.

Cycled across a freezing London recently to hear community organizing guru Hahrie Han launch her new book Undivided (review to follow) at an event organized by Act Build Change. It was well worth the cold ears and frozen feet. Han is US-based, the daughter of Korean immigrants and granddaughter of refugees from North Korea. She teaches at Johns Hopkins and

Another big book in international development just landed. Not in terms of size (330 pages) but significance. Naila Kabeer’s Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox is a monumental achievement, literally: something the rest of us will be learning from, citing and pointing our students to for years to come. It’s even Open Access (viva LSE Press!). In a

As he climbs the greasy pole He fears for losing his soul It all ends in tears Betrayed by his peers Now Rory reflects on his role Think that’s my first limerick executive summary – hope you like it. I was a bit late to Politics on the Edge (my copy came via the local Oxfam shop), but was hooked