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Inclusive Economies

Our work explores what characterises inclusive economies and how these can be achieved, particularly in a world where new technologies, rural to urban migration, and growing youth populations are disrupting and putting new pressures on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Our research looks at the impacts of business and markets on development and inequality and explores the potential for novel market-based solutions to work for the poorest and most marginalised based on gender, ethnicity and disability.  It explores alternatives that enable workers, consumers and communities to have a real voice.

It continues to revitalise debates on agriculture as a key pathway out of poverty and towards inclusion, particularly for young people. Our work is focused on identifying what opportunities exist in a period of agricultural commercialisation and rural transformation and how far different groups are able to access them.  It also understands how new technologies such as drones or blockchains pose risks, but can also be harnessed to improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people.  In a rapidly urbanising world where cities have become focal points for economic growth, jobs and innovation but also for poverty, inequality, vulnerability and conflict, our work explores what this means for both urban and rural people, and the opportunities and challenges they face in living safe and fulfilling lives.

People

Jodie Thorpe

Research Fellow

Philip Mader

Research Fellow

Richard Jolly

Emeritus Fellow and Research Associate

Ana Pueyo

Research Fellow

Carlos Fortin

Emeritus Fellow and Research Associate

Rachel Sabates-Wheeler

Research Fellow

Keetie Roelen

IDS Honorary Associate

Giel Ton

Research Fellow

Programmes and centres

Projects

Recent work

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Showing 1177–1188 of 15397 results

Opinion

“Boğatepe Charter of Futures”: Learnings from the exhibition and speculations from pastures

The leading artist of the project, also a shepherd from the pastoralist community of Northern Spain, Fernando Garcia Dory, installed on the wall the plants brought from pastures of Boğatepe, along with lyrics of a local artistic verbal expression, bayatı or mani. Boğatepe Environment and...

M. Fatih Tatari

26 May 2023

Working Paper

Between God, the People, and the State: Citizen Conceptions of Zakat

ICTD Working Paper; 167

The global pool for zakat – one of the five pillars of Islam mandating an annual payment typically equivalent to 2.5 per cent of an individual’s productive wealth – is estimated to make up between USD 200 billion and 1 trillion. States have long sought to harness zakat for their own...

Max Gallien
Max Gallien & 2 others

25 May 2023

Opinion

Learning from a people’s agenda for pandemic preparedness

Now that Covid-19 has officially become an established health issue, and no longer a public health emergency of international concern, this is an important time to act, learn lessons and collate knowledge gained from our experiences. Together with 50 researchers from 25 countries, across six...

25 May 2023

Brief

Key Considerations: Community-Based Surveillance in Public Health

This brief offers key considerations for CBS programming to guide policymakers, public health officials, civil society organisations, health workers, researchers, advocates, and others interested in health surveillance. It is based on a rapid review of CBS guidance and social science literature.

24 May 2023

Past Event

Youth employment and political representation in Africa

The population in sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing and the youngest in the world, yet the politicians ruling them are typically among the oldest. In some East African countries, the current rulers are yesterday’s rebels. Some have developed a range of authoritarian practices to stay...

24 May 2023

Working Paper

Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration: Concepts and Assumptions

Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration Working Paper 1

This working paper is the product of the Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration. It is designed to bring together our thinking on how infrastructure can shape the food and nutritional security of urban marginalised populations. Infrastructure assemblages include the material...

Jane Battersby
Jane Battersby & 13 others

23 May 2023

Opinion

Knowledge translation in the Global South: A language perspective

Anywhere in the world, knowledge translation (KT) is facilitated through a process of communicating messages to an audience, who will ultimately use that information to inform their own opinions and actions. However, the way that information is perceived, digested, discussed, and passed on is...

23 May 2023

Report

Conflict-Sensitive Social Protection: Somalia Country Report

In a context of weak central political authority and persistent conflict, Somalia’s fledgling social protection sector continues to lean heavily on humanitarian actors for its delivery. It is also largely externally driven and financed, with consequences for the calibre of sector coherence.

23 May 2023

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).

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