This year’s Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking and Practice series kicks off at the LSE this Friday – 1st October. After that it’s every Friday from 4-6pm UK time (except for reading week on 5th November, when we all have a lie down). So why not bunk off work a bit early and start your weekend with some great great brainfood?
As last year, we are really benefitting from doing this online, rather than in person. That means it’s open to all, and persuading some of the most interesting development thinkers on the planet to speak on Zoom is a lot easier than forcing them to schlep down to an LSE lecture theatre on a cold, dark Friday afternoon.
If you’re busy or in a different time zone, don’t worry – this year every lecture will go up on YouTube, and as a podcast.
James Putzel and I will be chairing (that’s our reward for organizing the series). After each lecture, we have some great discussants (see below), before we move on to Q&A with the audience.
That’s enough from me – just skim through these speakers and stick them in your diaries!
1st October: Panel: The implosion of the Afghan State: what next for women and the nation?
Antonio Giustozzi, KCL; Deniz Kandiyotti, SOAS; Graeme Smith, ICG; Orzala Nemat, SOAS
and Pashtana Durrani, LEARN
8th October: The Political Economy of Parasite (the movie)
Ha-Joon Chang, Cambridge
Discussant: Francisco Ferreira, LSE
15th October: Why the Rich Stay Rich (no matter what)
Gabriel Palma, Cambridge
Discussant: Branko Milanovic, CUNY
22nd October: What’s wrong with Aid?
Clare Short, Former UK Secretary of State for International Development
Discussant: James Putzel
29th October: Making Anti-Corruption Effective: A New Approach
Mushtaq Khan, SOAS
Discussant: Uche Igwe, Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, LSE
12th November: Access to vaccines and the limiting role of intellectual property rights and pharma monopolies
Jayati Ghosh, Amherst
Discussant: Kevin Watkins, LSE and Former chief executive of Save the Children UK
19th November: Paradigm shifts in food systems
Agnes Kalibata, AGRA
Discussant: Ian Scoones, IDS
26th November: COVID-19, Corporatisation and Closing Space: The Triple Threat to Civil Society in India
Ingrid Srinath, Ashoka
Discussant: David Lewis, LSE
3rd December: Panel: Disability, Development, Rights and Inclusion
Terhas Clark
Catholic Relief Services
Mosharraf Hossain
Global Inclusion Consulting
Cool, eh? We’ve got an equally stellar line-up for the Spring Term, but I know memories are short, so I’ll post separately on that nearer the time.