Our research on governance, power relations, participation and citizen engagement, informs change processes in pursuit of social justice and social change. With power and politics central to our analysis, we support the generation of new evidence that contributes to improved processes for good governance, citizen engagement, empowerment and accountability.
We pioneer new ways of working with governments, communities, activists and academics, to understand the complex relationships and processes that exist across states, markets, and citizens, and between formal and informal institutions, to tackle issues such as digital inequalities, women’s participation and empowerment, decentralisation and local governance, rapid urbanisation, migration, taxation and domestic resource mobilisation, food security and hunger and nutrition. These draw on our extensive expertise in complex approaches to how change happens. Through our research and policy partnerships we are also bringing new insights on the role that rising powers and emerging economies such as China and Brazil have in relation to global governance and tackling development challenges such as sustainability and poverty. Our world-renown participatory research has a particular emphasis on systematic social exclusion facing women, people living in extreme poverty, people with disabilities, slaves bonded labourers, indigenous peoples and others. We advance cutting edge methodological development in action research, participatory visual methods, participatory mapping, participatory statistics, participatory Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) amongst others.
In alignment with the ‘leave no one behind’ framing of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the PMA programme is working with groups of people living in poverty and marginalisation to strengthen processes of citizen-led accountability.
The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) provides research evidence that supports developing countries in raising domestic revenues equitably and sustainably, in a manner that is conducive to pro-poor economic growth and good governance.
This report introduces findings from ten digital rights landscape country reports on Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Cameroon. The country reports analyse how the openings and closings of online civic space affect citizens’ digital rights.
The global focus on recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted attention to vaccines: their availability, roll-out, and take-up. Distribution is complex with this recent IDS article reflecting on the significant inequalities and inequities associated with who actually gets the vaccine,...
This paper provides an overview of issues related to disabled children and work. It reviews the limited literature on the topic and provides some reflections on the possible involvement of disabled children in work, their routes into work, its potential causes and consequences.
Covid-19 has brought with it a host of changes for development researchers. In many cases, fieldwork has been replaced with remote research methods, ranging from third party data collection to phone interviews and SMS surveys. Whilst remote methods are improving, there are some clear gaps in the...
As African countries experience rapid urbanisation, there is a need to ensure that this process is well managed, and underpinned by strong public policy and social governance, to support economic development and social welfare. China has much to share from its experience of rapid urbanisation...
There has never been a more important moment to build bridges between social science and humanitarian practice. This principle is the very foundation of SSHAP’s inaugural Fellowship Programme, which will kick off its first round in spring of this year. Our programme aims to link future...
This paper argues for a rethinking of disease preparedness that puts incertitude and the politics of knowledge at the centre.
Through examining the experiences of Ebola, Nipah, cholera and COVID-19 across multiple settings, the limitations of current approaches are highlighted. Conventional...
Join us for an interesting discussion on the evolution of technical change in capitalist economies and its implications for the 21st century challenges of rising wage inequality and political polarisation. Professor Daron Acemoglu from the Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of...
This week research funders will be urged to take a new approach to engaging evidence with policy that values collaborations and learning. As the world continues to be gripped by a pandemic that has prompted renewed political commitment to “following the science” a report from the Impact...
More than a year after the first confirmed case of Covid-19, and almost eleven months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic, there are few areas of local, regional and global politics, policy and society that have not been impacted by the global health crisis. Peace...
The migration of African youth has been strongly associated with security issues for the continent and Europe. However, mobility is part and parcel of ordinary life and essential for finding livelihoods.
Watch the seminar
https://youtu.be/WfbTR7lAslk
This webinar addresses the trends in...
The Covid-19 pandemic, and measures to contain the spread of the virus, such as border closures, quarantine requirements, mandatory PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests, curfews, and social distancing requirements, have had a significant impact on research methods and approaches. Most of the...
Anna Louise Strachan
22 February 2021
Why learn with us.
In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).