Institute of Development Studies

IDS at the Brighton Festival Fringe 2010

On Wednesday 19 May the Institute of Development Studies hosted a panel discussion as part of the Brighton Festival Fringe. The Brighton Festival, held annually in May, is England’s largest arts festival, and IDS took the opportunity to interact with members of our local community. On this occasion we asked them to 'reimagine development', and wonder what development might look like if we could start from a blank slate?

The panel consisted of IDS' Director, Lawrence Haddad; Kate Harrison, International Grants Manager at Comic Relief; and Christopher Davis, International Campaigns Director at The Body Shop. Lawrence Haddad, in his introduction, set the scene, in which crises of fuel, food and finance are set against the 'ongoing rumble of climate change… which is coming to a crescendo'.

The event began with each speaker naming a couple of radical changes they would make in order to change development. Kate said she would like to see a 're-drawing' of the economic rules that 'keep the poor poor and the rich rich'. Christopher said he thought that 'business is good, and getting better'; he also, somewhat controversially, said that all businesses are looking at ways to be more sustainable and ethical – driven by consumer pressure. He also, somewhat unexpectedly, stressed the need for more government regulation. His suggestion for a radical change was that those who buy shares should not be allowed the sell them for at least five years – giving businesses the stability to take risks and build long term relationships with suppliers. The discussion was then thrown open to questions, reflections and challenges from the audience.

A lively and wide ranging discussion ensued; subjects covered included everything from trade rules to climate change, biodiversity to gender issues, and much else besides. The role of business came up again and again; the positivity displayed by Christopher Davis in his introduction was challenged by many people. Some saw it as structurally impossible for business to do anything other than maximise profit, and cited examples such as the recent oil spill in the Atlantic or the poisoning of the land in the Niger Delta as examples of the worst business could do.

Christopher did not argue with these points but emphasised the crucial role of government in regulating and overseeing so that businesses could be as effective a possible in generating growth and diminishing poverty. This, too, was questioned, and doubt shared about the capacity or willingness of government to make decisions that will be unpopular with their electorates.

Kate, in her comments, at one point mentioned the 'TINA' problem: the argument commonly thrown at critics of free trade and the global economic system, that 'There Is No Alternative'. The need for a fundamental re-drawing of economic rules and systems, so that the industries and lifestyles of the developed world are no longer protected at the expense of poorer countries, was stressed by many.