Professor John Gaventa is a political sociologist, educator and civil society practitioner with over 40 years of experience in research, teaching and organisational leadership in North and South.
Professor Gaventa is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies. He previously served as Director of Research at IDS (2015-2019), and as Director of the Coady International Institute and Vice President of International Development at StFX University in Canada (2011-2014). He has been a Fellow at the IDS since 1996, where he has led several large scale research programmes, including the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) research programme (2015-2021) and the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (2000-2010). He is currently a member of the Power and Popular Politics cluster.
Linking research and practice, he has written and/ or edited a dozen books and some 100 articles, book chapters and research reports related to issues of citizenship and citizen engagement, power and participation, governance and accountability, inequality and social change, participatory action research, and just climate transitions. His most recent work is Power and Just Transitions: Struggles for a post-coal future in an Appalachian Valley (co-authored with Gabe Schwartzman 20226), which revisits and follows on from his award-winning book, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in Appalachian Valley (1982). Other books include Citizen-Led Innovation for a New Economy (co-editor with Alison Mathie), Globalizing Citizens (co-editor with Rajesh Tandon) and Citizen Action and National Policy Reform (co-editor with Rosemary McGee).
John has also consulted extensively with a number of international donors, as well as with international NGOs. He has given numerous public seminars and invited lectures around the world.
A former Rhodes Scholar and MacArthur Prize Fellow, in 2011 he also received the Tisch Civic Engagement Research Prize for his distinguished scholarship on civic learning, citizen participation and engaged research. In 2012, he was awarded an OBE for his service to Oxfam Great Britain, where he was chair from 2006 – 2011. He holds a DPhil degree from Oxford University.
Teaching.
John lectures and supervises in several masters’ programmes at IDS, including the MA in Development and the MA on Power, Participation and Social Change.
He is currently supervising two PhD students:
Catherine Angai, whose PhD is titled ‘Understanding the intersection of behavioural science and power: A case study of the application of behavioural change approaches to anti-corruption projects in Nigeria’ (co-supervised with Rosie McGee).
Endah Tri Anomsari, whose work is titled ‘Towards Participatory Citizenship in Indonesia: An Analysis of Participation in Village Governance Spaces’ (co-supervised with Jo Howard).
He has previously supervised over a dozen PhD students, served as internal and external examiner for many more. He also currently serves as the external examiner for LSE’s Postgraduate Certificate in Social and Economic Equity.
