Professor John Gaventa is a political sociologist, educator and civil society practitioner with over 30 years experience of research, training and organisational leadership in North and South.

Currently he is a Professor and Research Fellow at IDS, where he is a member of the Participation, Power and Social Change team and Director of the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability. He has written widely on issues of power, participatory development and governance, civil society and social change.

Before coming to IDS in 1996, John was the co-director of research and Director of the Highlander Centre, an NGO with over seven decades of experience in working on poverty and social justice issues in poor regions of the United States.