People
CDS Researchers
Our researchers include anthropologists, economists, geographers, political scientists and theorists, and sociologists.
Dr Susan Johnson
Director of CDS - Senior Lecturer in International Development (DSPS)
Susan Johnson's main research interest is in investigating the means through which social and cultural factors influence the economy and in particular how these factors influence the operation of markets in developing countries. Her priority is research that engages theory with policy and practice, and her main focus has been on microfinance and the wider financial markets it operates within.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion
Dr Graham Brown
Reader in International Development (DSPS); Head, International Development Group; Research Associate at Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford
Graham Brown’s research is primarily concerned with the nexus of inequality, identity, and political mobilization, including violent conflict, with a focus on the Southeast Asian region.
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Aurélie Charles
Lecturer in Global Political Economy (DSPS)
Aurelie Charles’ research interests are related to income distribution and inequality, identity wellbeing, social norms and beliefs, stratification economics and cointegration analysis.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion
Prof James Copestake
Professor of International Development (DSPS); Director of Postgraduate Teaching
James Copestake’s research interests include rural development and agrarian change; development finance, microfinance and aid management; definition and measurement of well-being and poverty; and the global political economy of development.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion
Ms Lucia da Corta
Research Officer (DSPS), Extreme Poverty in Bangladesh
Lucia da Corta’s main research interests include political economy, agrarian change, labour and unfreedom, gender, economic mobility and chronic and extreme poverty. Her areas focus include South India, Tanzania and Bangladesh. She has a longstanding academic interest in research methodology, particularly the conceptual, ideological and ontological basis of methods used and their influence on structuring findings and politics in development research. Currently, she is supporting a DFID challenge Fund called SHIREE in Bangladesh with Joe Devine, and has designed a qualitative monitoring system using life histories as a dynamic baseline, and follows through tracking beneficiaries' experiences bi-annually in order to understand processes of extreme pauperization and destitution and processes governing escape therefrom in 12 regions across Bangladesh.
CDS research themes: Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion; Wellbeing and Human Development; Gender, Childhood and Youth
Dr Séverine Deneulin
Senior Lecturer in International Development (DSPS); Director of Studies, MSc in Wellbeing in Public Policy and International Development
Séverine Deneulin researches in development ethics. She specializes in the ethical framework of the capability approach, and Latin America. She has also researched the role of religion in international development. Her current research activities include writing a book on 'Wellbeing and Justice: Development from a Capability Perspective', and exploring the ethical and justice issues, which arise from the extractive industry.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Dr Joe Devine
Senior Lecturer in International Development (DSPS); Director of Studies, MRes programmes
Joe Devine’s main research interests lie in well-being, poverty and inequality. Country Coordinator (Bangladesh) for the ESRC research group on Wellbeing in Development Countries (WeD) from 2002-7, his subsequent research has focused on the everyday politics of civil society organisations, as well as on faith and religion, and governance and the dynamics of policy processes.
CDS research themes: Wellbeing and Human Development; Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Ana Cecilia Dinerstein
Senior Lecturer in Political Sociology (DSPS); Director of Studies, MRes (Sociology, Social Policy, European Social Policy and Social Work)
Ana Cecilia Dinerstein’s main research interests lie in globalisation, social protest and mobilisation, non-governmental public action, global movements, social and labour movements and the state; collective autonomy; the politics and policy; governance; Argentina and Latin America; social theory; Marxist theory (Open Marxism); and theories of the state, social class, labour, identity and subjectivity.
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Jason Hart
Senior Lecturer in International Development (DSPS); Director of Studies, Postgraduate Research
Jason Hart’s work integrates perspectives from anthropology and political economy to explore the experience of young people on the margins of society and the global economy. He is particularly interested in children living in situations of political violence and forced displacement. Geographically his main area of interest is the Middle East, particularly Israel/ occupied Palestinian territories and Jordan.
CDS research themes: Gender, Childhood and Youth; Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Palash Kamruzzaman
Teaching Fellow in International Development (DSPS)
Palash Kamruzzaman’s research covers approaches to development, international aid, and social policy, with a particular focus on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. His regional focus is on social development in South Asia, with special reference to Bangladesh.
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Roy Maconachie
Lecturer in International Development (DSPS); Director of Studies, MSc International Development and MRes in International Development.
Roy Maconachie conducts field-based, empirical research in Sub-Saharan Africa that explores the social, political and economic aspects of food production and natural resource management, and their relationships to wider societal change. He is particularly interested in the politics around natural resource management and conflict in West Africa.
CDS research themes: Gender, Childhood and Youth; Insecurity and Conflict
Ms Nina Marshall
Research Communications Officer (DSPS), Wellbeing and Poverty Pathways
Nina Marshall is a research communications professional with a background in both journalism and academic research on international development policy.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Dr Ajit Mishra
Senior Lecturer in Economics and International Development (Department of Economics)
Ajit Mishra’s research interests cover a wide range of topics in the broad areas of development economics. These include the economics of corruption, the economics of the informal sector, measurement of vulnerability and the design of delivery mechanisms.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion
Dr Shahid Perwez
Research Fellow in International Development (DSPS)
Shahid Perwez's research interest is in studying the trajectories of development in postcolonial India, which included undertaking ethnographic fieldworks on issues of gender, health, programming by state and non-state actors, child death, religion, caste, and social mobilisations. His current research focus is on the role of district-level informal brokers in the 'development' of Bihar - a north Indian state.
CDS research themes: Gender, Childhood and Youth; Wellbeing and Human Development
Ms Fiona Remnant
Research & Communications Officer (DSPS), Assessing Rural Transformations (ART)
Fiona Remnant's role is to communicate ART research findings and connect the project with academic and practitioner debates on impact assessment protocols in international development.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Dr Scott Thomas
Senior Lecturer in International Relations and the Politics of Developing Countries (Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies)
Scott Thomas’ research centres on how the global resurgence of culture and religion have transformed international relations. It challenges the existing constructions of culture, religion and identity, and examines the impact of culture and religion on key areas in international relations - conflict, cooperation, diplomacy, peace-making, inter-religious dialogue, and economic development.
CDS research themes: Wellbeing and Human Development; Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Oliver Walton
Lecturer in International Development (DSPS)
Oliver Walton's research focuses on the ways in which NGOs and civil society organisations generate and maintain legitimacy, and on the political implications of NGOs' engagement in peacebuilding. He has also conducted research on liberal peacebuilding, third-party mediation, and conflict prevention, with a focus on South Asia (especially Sri Lanka).
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Dr Sarah White
Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Development (DSPS)
Sarah White specialises in social and cultural dimensions of development. She is currently heading the Wellbeing and Poverty Pathways research project in India and Zambia. She has previously worked on gender, child rights, and religion, mainly in South Asia, especially Bangladesh.
CDS research themes: Wellbeing and Human Development; Gender, Childhood and Youth
Prof Geof Wood
Emeritus Professor (DSPS)
Geof Wood is a sociologist, specialising in international development, with a regional focus on South Asia and a track record of strong interdisciplinary work throughout his 40 plus years career. His overall research interests are: social development; agrarian change in South Asia; irrigation and water management; urban livelihoods; social policy in development contexts; and wellbeing and socio-economic security.
CDS research themes: Wellbeing and Human Development; Markets, Microfinance and Inclusion; Insecurity and Conflict
Visiting Fellows
Dr Laura Camfield - Lecturer in International Development, University of East Anglia
Arnim Langer - Director, Centre for Research on Peace and Development, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Dr Julie Newton - Research Associate, Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society, University of Cardiff
Dr Elizabeth Fortin - British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Bristol Law School
Dr Stanley O. Gaines, Jr. - Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Brunel University
Dr Santosh Mehrotra - Director-General, Institute of Applied Manpower Research, India
MPhil/PhD Students
Asha Abeyasekera-Van Dort
Asha Abeyasekera’s doctoral research explores how marriage norms, family structures, and kinship relations amongst the middle-class in Sri Lanka are being transformed by social change in order to find out in what ways modernity is reconfiguring how people conduct their intimate relationships and is shaping women’s sense of self. She is specifically interested in exploring women’s narratives of agency and how, despite the younger generations’ claims of having more “freedom”, their choices in marriage continue to be structured by social norms and class and caste concerns. She also looks at how women’s narratives of their own agency are shaped by the "contexts" in which they are told.
CDS research theme: Gender, Childhood and Youth
Roger Merino Acuña
Roger's doctoral research focuses on the conflict between indigenous land rights and the expansion of the extractive industry in Latin America. He explores the divergence between different views of development, and how these views generate social conflicts. He is particularly interested in the tensions and dynamics between politics and policies; law and development; local economies and global political economy; and the emancipatory potential of indigenous social protest and social mobilisation.
CDS research themes: Insecurity and Conflict; Wellbeing and Human Development
Gabrielle Davies
Gabby's PhD research is focused on the ways that landmines and explosive remnants of war affect the wellbeing of mine contaminated communities in Cambodia. She is particularly interested in multi-dimensional perspectives of wellbeing, socioecological relationships and the use of participatory and visual research methods.
CDS research themes: Insecurity and Conflict; Wellbeing and Human Development
Daniela Bressa Florentin
Daniela’s doctoral research explores the dynamic of social-political transformation in Latin America by analysing in particular the complexities of the Ecuadorian political process. It focuses on the understanding of the production of counter-hegemonic actions in the context of the relationship between social movements and the state. The empirical focus is placed on Buen Vivir (the good life), analysing in particular three key dimensions: the socio-political meanings underpinning the concept; the competing and contradictory narratives within the dominant discourse; and the tension between Buen Vivir as a grassroots, indigenous discourse, on the one hand, and its adoption as state discourse and policy in Ecuador, on the other.
CDS research themes: Insecurity and Conflict; Wellbeing and Human Development
Tigist Grieve
Tigist is a postgraduate researcher in international development currently doing her PhD based at the Dept of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, UK. Her research specialisms include child wellbeing, education, and rural development, with a particular interest in gender issues and child schooling.
CDS research themes: Wellbeing and Human Development; Gender, Childhood and Youth
Julie Humberstone
Julie's research interests include microfinance; development and aid management; and the definition, measurement, and management of organisational performance in a development context.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Social Inclusion
Shreya Jha
Shreya is a doctoral candidate, and a research officer on the Wellbeing and Poverty Pathways project. Her current work focuses on measuring 'wellbeing' through a mixed-methods approach, and in understanding how each type of research encounter mediates the narrative of wellbeing that emerges from it. She is interested in how the qualitative and quantitative data reveal divergences in the ways that people give voice to their ideas of wellbeing and the implications that this has for our understandings of it. She is also interested in how the social and relational contexts affect people’s narratives of their wellbeing.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development; Gender, Childhood and Youth
Sung Hee Lee
Sung Hee's research aims to integrate gender perspectives into the policy making process. Themes include work-life balance and caring for dependent people within a family. She is particularly interested in gender politics, how to bring gender issues into politics and how to investigate these competing discourses in political debates.
CDS research themes: Gender, Childhood and Youth; Insecurity and Conflict
Ricardo Velazquez Leyer
Ricardo's research explores the political economy of Latin American welfare systems and the redistributive potential of social policy changes. He is particularly interested in the social, economic and political arrangements that triggered and shaped neoliberal and post-neoliberal reforms in the region and their effects on families from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Markku Malkamäki
Markku’s research interests include institutional analysis of financial sector development, financial inclusion and the way different underlying social institutions, cultural, economic and political contexts affect the ways in which financial inclusion takes place in Kenya. The focus of the Markku’s doctoral research is to examine how savings group (SG) approaches are being adopted and used in practice. His thesis seeks to understand and explain their functionality by employing recent approaches to the analysis of institutional change.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Social Inclusion
Luke Martinelli
Luke's doctoral research focuses on the implications of global trade and investment rules for industrial capability development, in the context of the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures. He is particularly interested in processes of 'cumulative causation' that arise from liberalisation and the ways that national and regional policy and institutional configurations can attenuate such processes.
CDS research theme: Markets, Microfinance and Social Inclusion
Viviana Ramirez
Viviana is an economist specialising in wellbeing and human development. Her research focuses on Wellbeing, Development, and Relationships. She is particularly interested in issues of measurement and conceptualisation of wellbeing, as well as the role of relationality and culture in the definition and evaluation of individual wellbeing.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Ben Tantua
Ben's doctoral research focuses on the ethnic minority of IJAW in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He is interested in 'an analysis of the construction of militia actions' from the perspective of militants in the Niger Delta. His research Interests include studying participatory development, indigenous peoples and minority rights, resource conflicts.
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Jason Tucker
Jason is a political scientist who is interested in studying 'statelessness'. His PhD looks at the relationship between global citizenship and those addressing statelessness in the context of Lebanon.
CDS research theme: Insecurity and Conflict
Oscar Garza Vazquez
Oscar is an economist by training, and his doctoral research focuses on issues of development and theories of justice. According to his research, development policies cannot be detached from discussions about justice. Towards this, he is currently developing a framework of justice which should be able to counteract the legitimisation of social policies based on solely economic principles. His other research interests include subjective wellbeing, wellbeing and human development, capabilities approach, theories of justice, ideal and non-ideal justice, and institutional economics.
CDS research theme: Wellbeing and Human Development
Timothy Williams
Tim's research focuses on childhood, education, and 'the capacity to aspire' in the context of rural Rwanda. His thesis ethnographically explores how young people come to think about themselves and their futures, and the role of school-based education in this process.
CDS research theme: Gender, Childhood and Youth
