PUBLIC EVENTS - ACADEMIC YEAR 2009/10

Forthcoming:

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Previous events:

Thursday 6th May 2010 -  Public Debate at 18.30 in the Old Theatre, LSE
The question of whether foreign aid undermines statebuilding in fragile states has come to the forefront of the development cooperation agenda.  The OECD DAC International Network on Conflict and Fragility recently published a report on the topic, entitled "Do No Harm: International support for statebuilding" authored by a team from LSE and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP led by Prof James Putzel, Director of the CSRC.   Together with Jon Lomoy,  newly appointed Director of OECD DAC and Dr 'Funmi Olanisakin, Senior Research Fellow with the Conflict, Security and Development Group at KCL, Prof Putzel discussed the report at this Centre debate.   Broadly outlining how the interventions of OECD countries may risk undermining positive statebuilding processes, the panel highlighted the issues around the 'dual public sector', economic production and political trade-offs, making recommendations on how to avoid negative impact in the future by developing a more complex understanding of these issues.

To access the full text of the Do No Harm publication, click here.   Podcast of the debate.
 

Friday 12th February - 'The Fiction of Development'

As part of the LSE 2010 Literary Festival, the Crisis States Research Centre in conjunction with the Department of Social Policy and DESTIN hosted a panel discussion with three leading literary figures: Giles Foden (author of The Last King of Scotland), Jack Mapanje (Malawian poet and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newcastle University) and Sunny Singh (Indian writer and journalist).  They were joined by David Lewis (Social Policy and Development, LSE) and Dennis Rodgers (Senior Visiting Fellow, CSRC and Senior Research Fellow, Brooks World Poverty Institute).

 

The concept of the event was based on a paper co-written by David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock in which they argued that fiction could be 'a source of authoritative knowledge'. The speakers discussed this idea of how fiction can highlight aspects of development overlooked by more conventional forms of knowledge such as policy papers and research reports.

 

David Lewis noted that amongst the benefits of fiction is its ability to capture the messy reality of development issues and crucially to convey development ideas to a much wider audience than more conventional mediums.

 

As a journalist and author of the award winning 1998 novel 'The Last King of Scotland', which focuses on the rise of Idi Amin in Uganda and his reign as dictator from 1971-1979, Giles Foden was no stranger to the idea that the novel is a useful medium for getting across important ideas, commenting that his own novel could be seen as a 'chronicle about governance'. He stressed in particular its ability to conjure up an image far more realistically than data alone could do.

 

Whilst agreeing that fiction can be an important source of knowledge about development, Sunny Singh made the point that we should be wary of overemphasising it since fiction is inherently biased and often sensational.  She pointed to ‘'Slumdog Millionaire' as an example, arguing that this hit movie gave a highly skewed picture of slums in India and failed to represent the voices of those dwelling in the slums.

 

The prize-winning Malawian poet, Jack Mapanje, sees poetry as a voice of dissent in more senses than one. Having been imprisoned without trial for his collection of poems 'Of Chameleons and Gods', his work looks critically at those in power as well as at contemporary development discourses. Indeed, he agreed with the ideas in the 'Fiction of Development'  paper to such an extent that he found it "a little obvious", highlighting for example the attention that has already been paid to post-colonial literature. 

 

 

Wednesday 3rd February - lunchtime discussion 'Burquas aren't always blue: Kandahar 1968-2010'
Public lecture with Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, chaired by Antonio Giustozzi

The Crisis States Research Centre hosted Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn (co-editors of 'My Life With the Taliban'), who presented an insight into Kandahar: the birthplace of the Taliban movement and focal area for the recently announced military surge.

As residents of Kandahar, and founders of AfghanWire – a website which provides alternative views of Afghanistan - the speakers were well placed to provide an unconventional and nuanced account of Kandahar.

 

Having recently co-edited My Life with the Taliban, the memoirs of a former Taliban high commander, the speakers drew on this unique account not only to provide an insight into the psychology and motivations of a former Taliban leader, but also to shed light on the organisation’s complex history, its purpose and the relationships which underlie its network. 

 

They went on to explore the current situation in Kandahar. Contrary to the recently published BBC report, they described how the Taliban are winning the propaganda war in provinces such as Kandahar. Their presentation was also a critique of much of the research emerging from Afghanistan. Since Afghanistan is too dangerous to conduct random polling, interviewed groups are often biased towards the urban and educated. Trust is also crucial in receiving honest answers to questions and short term researchers are therefore likely to receive inaccurate information.

 

The talk was followed by a lively question and answer session with questions from an audience which included policymakers and representatives from NGOs, as well as academics and students. Listen to the PODCAST

 

Monday 18 January 2010
The War on Drugs: an upper or downer for development?
Public lecture with Misha Glenny and Michael Hartmann, chaired by James Putzel

Crisis States Research Centre hosted two prominent speakers, Misha Glenny (author, McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime) and Michael Hartmann (manager and senior adviser of the Criminal Justice Programme at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kabul). They debated the controversial issue of the legalisation of the drug trade, with particular emphasis on the under recognized but important perspective of production, as opposed to trade or use, focusing on fragile states.

 

Misha Glenny is an award winning journalist who has spent years in Eastern and Central Europe, as correspondent for the Guardian and later the BBC. His latest of three books focuses on the detrimental effects of organised crime and how it is funded by the trade in illegal drugs. Legalising the drugs trade, the book argues, would be a blow to organised crime.

 

From this background, Glenny argued that 80 years of 'prohibition' style drug policy had failed. Whilst 'producing' countries have been left with 'rivers of blood' as a result of an aggressively pursued war on drugs, 'consuming' countries cannot research the health effects of these drugs, nor can they regulate their quality.

 

Michael Hartmann, having worked as manager of the Criminal Justice Programme at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kabul, argued from a very different perspective. Were drugs legalised, regulation of this market would be necessary, and this would create another potential black market. Moreover, legalising the trade in drugs would lead to a dramatic increase in consumption and consequently a rise in associated health and social problems in rich countries. Alternatives to legalisation and regulation including education, social services and crop diversification, as currently pursued by the UNODC are therefore preferable. This event was followed by a lively question and answer question session, with questions coming from a diverse audience of academics, policymakers and the media. Listen to the PODCAST.
 

 

Tuesday 19 January 2010
Seminar and book launch :'Youth Violence in Latin America' (G.A. Jones and D.Rodgers, eds)
Dennis Rodgers is an Associate Fellow with the Crisis States Research Centre and has undertaken extensive research on youth gangs, particularly in Nicaragua.  Gareth Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Development Geography at LSE.   The seminar and book launch took place at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Russell Square and was co-sponsored by the Crisis States Research Centre and the Institute for the Study of the Americas. 

 

Wednesday 2 December 2009
Book Launch: 'Empires of Mud' and 'Decoding the New Taliban'

Antonio Giustozzi has spent more than a decade visiting, researching and writing on Afghanistan. The first book launched, 'Empires of Mud', is focused on warlords, charismatic military leaders who exploit the weakness of central authorities to seize control of and autonomously rule a sub-national area.  These have earned much notoriety in recent years on account of the excesses of civil wars in Liberia, Somalia and Afghanistan. Yet notwithstanding their bad reputation, warlords have often participated in state formation. In 'Empires of Mud' Giustozzi analyses the dynamics of warlordism in Afghanistan within the context of such debates.

While the 'New Taliban' looms large in the global media, little is known about how it functions as an organisation. How united is it? Are its structures relatively strong, or surprisingly brittle? Are personal relations and networking based on traditional ties of kin and ethnicity the sum total of its organisational capabilities, or are efforts underway to build more institutionalised chains of command? These are among the questions answered in this book by a renowned cast of practitioners, journalists and academics, all of whom have long field experience of the latest phase of the New Taliban's insurgency in Afghanistan.

Thursday 29 October
What now for Sudan?
A lunchtime discussion with Ashraf Qazi, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan

On 28th October 2009 SRSG Qazi briefed the UN Security Council on the current situation in Sudan and his prognosis on the forthcoming fourteen months before the planned 2011 referendum. On 29th October 2009 SRSG Qazi gave the same brief in discussion with an LSE audience. Special Representative to Sudan since 2007, Mr Qazi is the senior UN envoy to a situation termed by Lise Grande at LSE last week as a ‘perfect humanitarian storm’. He brings to this role his breadth of experience in the Pakistani diplomatic service and as UN Head of Mission in Iraq (2003-06).

Wednesday 21 October
Book Launch: Reconstructing Development Theory

This new book by Teddy Brett of DESTIN provides a systematic assessment of the evolution of development theory, its relationship to orthodox social science analysis and the liberal pluralistic orthodoxy that now dominates the mainstream approach to international development, showing how we can transcend its failure to address some key problems of late and uneven development.

'By reasserting the centrality of development theory to understanding and, more importantly, countering the current dismal realities of global poverty and inequality, this breathtakingly erudite book constitutes a much-needed antidote to the superficiality of much that is currently written about development policy and practice.'  - David Lewis, London School of Economics.

Wednesday 7th October 2009
How to be humanitarian? UN Intervention in Post-Conflict Societies
Public lecture with Lise Grande, Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, UN Southern Sudan.

Ms. Grande gave a stimulating presentation on the challenges of humanitarian intervention in post-conflict societies.  Humanitarian assistance is uniquely provided when states are failing.  Through the provision of public and household goods, it responds to needs rather than entitlements and often pushes the frontiers of state support. Yet, Ms. Grande noted, post-conflict states need to regain control, and to be seen to do so. Focusing specifically on the experience of the UN, Ms. Grande defined the situation in Southern Sudan as 'the perfect humanitarian storm'.  The spiralling inter-tribal violence, food deficit and budget crisis combine towards 'inevitable catastrophe'.  Rather than 'building back better', the UN has no choice but to concentrate on an emergency response. A first priority now must be a focus on evidence based security sector reform.

Listen to the PODCAST

Monday 14th September 2009
Policy seminar with Laurie Nathan: Building mediation capacity in Africa
Laurie Nathan is a research fellow with the Crisis States Research Centre and at the University of Cape Town.  He presented research findings and policy recommendations to members of the DFID Conflict and Humanitarian and Security Affairs team from his extensive experience of conflict mediation and current academic work.  He particularly drew on his experience as Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution at UCT, as policy advisor to the Minister of Defence, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, and member of the African Union's mediation team for the Darfur conflict.  Following a well-received discussion on mediation initiatives in Africa with DFID Mozambique and presentation at the CSRC workshop in Tanzania, Laurie spoke at Palace Street on his insights into what works and what does not.

Friday 4th September 2009
The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on African Economies
Public panel debate with Dr Gabriel Palma, Professor Moshi and Dr Jonathan Di John. Chair: James Putzel (CSRC)

Members of the economic policy community in Dar es Salaam gathered for a public discussion with a high profile panel in Dar es Salaam.  Dr Gabriel Palma (University of Cambridge), Dr Jonathan Di John (CSRC) and Professor Moshi (IFM Dar es Salaam) presented three different perspectives on the impact of the global financial crisis on African economies.  The opening speech by the Deputy PS from the Ministry of Finance gave rich insights into the specific impact of the global crisis in Tanzania.  Gabi Hesselbein responded to these presentations and a lively discussion ensued with significant inputs from representatives of the Ministry of Finance and IMF Tanzania.