Governance Uncovered: Local Politics and Development

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT In this episode, Oliver Harman , Cities Economist for the International Growth Centre's Cities that Work initiative based at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and Riccardo Crescenzi , Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science, will be discussing their book " Harnessing Global Value Chains for Regional Develop...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT In this episode of Governance Uncovered, we focus on refugee migration and integration as we're approaching World Refugee Day , which falls each year on the 20th of June. World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to acknowledge the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.&nb...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT In this episode, we'll focus on gender activism and women's political participation in three different countries. First, we'll talk to Minglu Chen about the current state of women's representation in politics in China; where some progress has been made in recent years, but Minglu now fears that the country is taking a step back. Minglu has extensively written on women's represen...

It’s a mashup! GLD's Jeffrey Paller join up with the  Ufahamu Africa  podcast to talk to Prince Guma, Astrid Haas, and Patience Mususa. Each is an expert on the urbanization of the continent.  The episode responds to Jeffrey’s recent article in This Week in Africa, “ Five Trends that will Shape Urban Africa in 2023 ,” which highlights: Innovative forms of affordable housing Gentrify...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT In times of crisis, societies are forced to confront difficult challenges and make tough decisions. This episode delves into the complexities of crises, exploring different aspects of how they impact societies and the ways in which communities can recover and rebuild. Our first guest, Will Todman, discusses his research on how energy infrastructure is affected during conflicts....

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT We'll start by covering the political crisis in Tunisia since president Saeid seized absolute power in 2021. Mohammed Dhia Hammami , PhD student in Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, joined GLD's founding director Ellen Lust to discuss the low voter turnout after the first round of Tunisia's parliamentary elections in...

This episode covers political participation and activism among youth, focusing on local perspectives from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Iraq. And also, an interview with Senior lecturer Hanna Leonardsson, whose book on local peacebuilding in Lebanon was recently published. This fall semester, GLD held its first policy roundtable in Arabic. The topic was youth engagement in the Middle East and North Af...

This 43rd episode of Governance Uncovered reflects on COP27, the UN climate summit held between the 6th and 18th of November in Cairo, Egypt. Researchers Rabab El-Madi and Nadim Farajalla discuss the Loss and Damage fund, climate justice, and the future of fossil fuels. All with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa region. Then we'll hear an interview with Professor Jillian Schwedler on her...

We are excited to let you know that GLD is introducing a new podcast format this month! From now on, you'll hear three shorter segments from three different guests on current events, academic publications, new research, and policy-targeted content. So, in this episode, we'll hear from Rouzbeh Parsi on the protests in Iran: is it a revolution happening or not? Then, I spoke to my GLD colleagues Gha...

The podcast guest of the month is the GLD associate Dr. Adam Harris. Adam is an Associate Professor in Development Politics at the Department of Political Science, University College London. He is also an associated researcher at the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg. Adam's research focuses on development, ethnic, and African politics, and his work has been published in s...

In this episode, we have no less than three guests with us to discuss traditional authorities in Malawi, Ghana, and Latin America. We have Dr Boniface Dulani from the University of Malawi, Afrobarometer, IPOR Malawi. John-Paul Adjadeh, Registrar at the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs under the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs in Ghana. And finally, we have Christoper Carter, an Acade...

In this episode, host Ellen Lust talks to Kelsey Norman , who is a Fellow for the Middle East and Director of the Women's Rights, Human Rights & Refugees program at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Kelsey and Ellen discuss Kelsey's new book " Reluctant Reception ," in which she asks, "How do host states respond to refugees?". In doing this, she moves beyond the traditi...

In this episode, Ellen Lust talks to Ukrainian scholar Tymofii Brik from the Kyiv School of Economics at Ukrainian Global University about local governance taking place in Ukraine today. They do so by first taking a step back to discuss governance before Russia's invasion. Namely, how Ukraine moved from centralization towards decentralization after 2014 - when local communities started to take pow...

In the 36th episode of Governance Uncovered, Marcia Grimes and Agnes Cornell joins us to talk about clientelism. More specifically, their paper " Brokering bureaucrats: How bureaucrats and civil society facilitate clientelism where parties are weak ", which focuses on bureaucrats and how their links to civil society can shape clientelism in Peru. Marcia and...

We apologize for the lowered sound quality in this episode. This month, we are pleased to be joined by Mona Harb and Sami Atallah to talk us through what can be called the "triple crisis of Lebanon." Mona is a Professor of Urban Studies and Politics at the American University of Beirut. She is also the co-founder and research lead at the Beirut Urban Lab - a collaborative and interdisciplinary res...

Guests: Lena Wängnerud and Valeriya Mechkova , both from the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. In the episode you are about to hear, host Ellen Lust talk with Lena and Valeriya about women's political representation. Both in terms of female members in political parties, parliaments and councils, and also in terms of the priority of political issues that apply more to...

In this episode, we talk to Himanshu Jha - a faculty in the Department of Political Science at South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany. Himanshu's most recent research explores the processes of institutional change, the Indian State, and bureaucracy. However, it was Himanshu's recently published book with the Oxford University Press that we spoke to him about. The book is called " Cap...

Episode 33: This episode discusses Bogazici University's struggle to maintain academic independence since Turkish President Erdogan decided to directly appoint the University's Rector. Joining us to talk about the events at the Istanbul-located university is Mine Eder . Mine is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bogazici University...

Episode 32: Joining us in this episode to talk about local politics and the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan is Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili. Jen is the Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets and Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2020, Jen's book " Informal Order and the State in Afghanistan ," rece...

In this month's Governance Uncovered, we talk to the political scientist Liv Tønnessen about the recent military coup in Sudan and the economic, cultural, and political history leading up to it. Liv is a senior researcher at CMI and Director of the Center on Law and Social Transformation. She has a track record from the Middle East and Northern Africa, with long-term stays in Sudan, Leba...

Episode 30: This month, we are joined by Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs in the Department of Government, and chair of the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies at Harvard. Melani also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. In this episode, we discuss Health Care quality in Lebanon, both within the Lebanese...

Episode 29: This month, we were joined by Taima Al Jayoush - a lawyer specializing in human rights and international law. Taima is a member of the Barreau du Quebec, a legal councel in Syrian legislation based in Montreal. She has defended and helped dozens of women and children in Syrian and European courts and was the first woman to defend political prisoners in Syria's supreme state security co...

Episode 28: This month, we talk to Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, Assistant Professor of Politics and Global Studies at the University of Virginia. Gabrielle’s research examines citizenship practices and local governance, with a regional focus on India. In this episode, we discuss the problems that citizens face in Northern rural India, a setting noted for variable public administration and often callous...

Episode 27: This month, we talk to Adam Auerbach (American University) and Tariq Thachil (University of Pennsylvania) about COVID-19 challenges in India’s so-called “slum settlements”. They argue that the landscape of service delivery is increasingly centralizing, and the lack of property rights in the slum settlements shape relations between the citizens and the state. Most residents feel that th...

Episode 26: This month, we discuss the handbook on Safer Field Research in the Social Sciences with two of its authors Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg) and Jannis Grimm (Freie Universität Berlin). We discuss the need for available guidance on preparing and conducting safe research within the social sciences and the new challenges to conducting safe research that Covid-19 has brought...