International development is a field in which expert knowledge, drawn primarily from the social and natural sciences, has long been dominant. We know that complex global problems require multidisciplinary approaches and solutions, but how and where do the arts and humanities fit in?

In their new open access book New Mediums, Better Messages: How Innovations in Translation, Engagement & Advocacy are Changing International Development (OUP), co-editors David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock present twelve wide ranging contributions that suggest that we need to further broaden our ideas about what constitutes valid development knowledge. Themes include alternative media such as literary fiction, films, theatre, radio, photography, blogging, and music. Not only do we need to widen our frame of reference about what constitutes valid knowledge, but we also should question how that knowledge is created and valued, and by whom.

Speakers: Dennis Rodgers (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva), Michael Woolcock (World Bank), Emily LeRoux-Rutledge (UWE Bristol)
Discussant: Mariz Tadros (IDS Sussex)
Chair: David Lewis (LSE)

Eminent anthropologist Keith Hart draws on the humanities, popular culture and his own experiences to help us explore our own place in history.

We each embark on two life journeys – one out into the world, the other inward to the self. With these journeys in mind, anthropologist, amateur economist and globetrotter Keith Hart reflects on a life of learning, sharing and remembering to offer readers the means of connecting life’s extremes – individual and society, local and global, personal and impersonal dimensions of existence and explores what it is that makes us fully human.

The crisis in Ukraine is a rapidly growing humanitarian emergency. How is the humanitarian community responding to this crisis, and what are the implications for humanitarian studies more broadly? Gathering together a range of researchers and practitioners with experience across the breadth of humanitarian assistance, this panel seeks to explore the implications of the Ukraine crisis on the principles, policies, and practices of humanitarianism.

Please note that this is a recording of a live event, so the sound quality may be slightly compromised.

Speakers:
Sir Mark Lowcock, Professor in Practice, LSE ID, Previously Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator for the United Nations (2017-2021) and Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development (2011-2017)
Dr Stuart Gordon, Associate Professorial Lecturer in Managing Humanitarianism and Programme Co-Director International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, Department for International Development, LSE
Dr Eiko Thielemann, Associate Professor in Political Science and Public Policy, Department of Government and European Institute, LSE
Anna Landre, The Partnership’s for Inclusive Disaster Strategies' Ukraine Crisis Focal Point and Disability Justice Activist, Department for International Development, LSE

Chair:
Dr Ian Madison, LSE Fellow and Programme Co-Director International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, Department for International Development, LSE

A recording of the event, 'More Than Money? How Anthropology Can Offer Richer Analysis For Economists' at LSE, Thursday 07 October 2021.

Anthropology has often been seen as an academic version of Indiana Jones – namely a discipline devoted to exotic travel that does not have much relevance for the modern world.

However, anthropology-trained Financial Times journalist and author Gillian Tett argues that this image is completely wrong today, and anthropology can make a vital contribution to public policy, corporate and financial life, as well as our communities as we try to 'build back better' after COVID-19. Indeed, she argues that a world drowning in artificial intelligence and other digital innovations desperately needs a second type of 'AI' – Anthropology Intelligence – to enable us to flourish.

But what does this mean for the economics profession? Could economists benefit by embracing this new type of AI? Gillian Tett explores this question in this talk, and her new book Anthro-Vision; A New Way To See In Business And Life. Deborah Rowland, a leading global thinker, speaker, writer, and coach in the field of leading big complex change also shares her perspective on an anthropological approaches to business and other complex systems.

You can also watch the video recording of the event on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCVwhaCfS4.

This podcast is a recording from a panel discussion on Tuesday 27 July hosted by the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa and the Department of International Development on 'Decolonising development studies: Practical steps in course designing, reading selections and classroom discussions'. The event was chaired by ID's Dr Eyob Balcha Gebremariam and featured panelists Dr Rosalba Icaza, Associate Professor, Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University; Dr Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Curtin University, Centre for Human Rights Education; Dr. Althea-Maria Rivas, Department of Development Studies, SOAS.

The discussion covered many complex questions around how to decolonise development studies, considering the various layers of this debate which address epistemological questions, methodological issues, diversity of authors, curriculum designing, and classroom discussions with and among students. The event built on the lessons and challenges of teaching African Development using decolonial perspectives in the current academic year at the LSE, International Development Department, and what this may mean for other disciplines.

For related podcasts, you can check out the Citing Africa podcast, hosted by the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, which explores the global construction and imbalances of knowledge production, taking a critical look at the wider context affecting the African continent.

This event celebrated the launch of Overcoming Boko Haram: Faith, Society & Islamic Radicalization in Northern Nigeria. The book looks beyond the details of the insurgency to examine the wider social and political processes that explain why Boko Haram emerged when and where it did, and what forces exist within society to contain it. Drawing on the detailed fieldwork of specialist Nigerian and Nigerianist scholars from Nigeria, connecting the worst of Boko Haram violence to the wider realities of the present, the book offers new insights into the drivers of Islamic extremism in Nigeria - poverty, regional inequality, environmental stress, migration, youth unemployment, and state corruption and human rights abuses - with a view to charting more sustainable paths out of the conflict. #LSEbokoharam Speakers: Dr Kate Meagher, Co-Author and Associate Professor in Development Studies Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King's College London Aoife McCullough, PhD candidate and Former Research Fellow at ODI Chair: Professor Catherine Boone, Professor of International Development

The lecture analyzes the phenomenal transformation of Asia, which would have been difficult to imagine, let alone predict, fifty years ago. In doing so, it provides an analytical narrative of this remarkable story of economic development, situated in the wider context of historical, political and social factors, and an economic analysis of the underlying factors, with a focus on critical issues in the process of, and outcomes in, development. The analytical conclusions drawn contribute to contemporary debates on development, and highlight some lessons from the Asian experience for countries elsewhere. Deepak Nayyar is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.

Speakers: Maitreesh Ghatak, Dr Gharad Bryan, Deoborah James, David Graeber and Kathryn Hochstetler * Chair: Professor Jean-Paul Faguet The Great Development Dialogue is a yearly event sponsored by the LSE’s Department of International Development, with two purposes: (1) to explore some of the deepest and most vexing questions in development from an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective; and (2) to shine a light on what the disciplines can and cannot tell us about economic and social development. Past dialogues have featured speakers like Ha-Joon Chang, John Sutton, Danny Quah, and Robert Wade. This year’s event began with the political economy of land, and then moved onto broader issues of what economics, anthropology and political science can and cannot teach us about development. The event featured more speakers from more varied perspectives than in the past: Deoborah James and David Graeber (anthropology), Maitreesh Ghatak and Gharad Bryan (economics), and Kathryn Hochstetler (international development). Join the discussion on Twitter here: #LSEDevDialogue