18336 research outputs found
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Mining Legitimacy: Governing the Politics of Resource-Based Green Industrial Policy
No full textGreen transitions are not only technological but deeply political. They rely on resources – land, minerals, water – mostly located in low- and middle-income countries, where extraction is increasingly contested. The mineral–energy nexus lies at the heart of this tension: solar, wind, digital, and electric vehicle technologies require vast quantities of minerals, especially lithium, copper, and nickel. How these minerals are extracted, by whom, and under what governance arrangements will shape the direction and legitimacy of green industrialisation. This paper examines how socioenvironmental conflicts and civic engagement are transforming green industrial policy in resource-rich contexts, drawing on evidence from Argentina and Chile. These countries are key suppliers of transition minerals but face widespread civil society resistance. We show that civic action is not only a barrier to mining expansion but a potential driver of institutional innovation and participatory governance. By integrating insights from sustainability transitions, political ecology, and development studies, the paper underscores the need for a more inclusive vision of green industrial policy – one that recognises the political economy of extraction and the co-productive role of civil society. Our findings offer concrete design insights for policies that are not only green and growth-oriented but also socially legitimate and institutionally robust.</p
Global Leaders in Science, Technology and Innovation
No full textThis rapid evidence review collates available evidence on “Global Leaders in Science, Technology and Innovation.” The review draws upon an eclectic evidence base that includes grey literature, press announcements as well as policy documents, strategies and national action plans. The assessment of global leaders is based on a rapid review of available evidence and should be considered illustrative rather than definitive. Given the complexity of technological development, there is limited rigorous assessment of the relative dominance of particular countries. Despite these limitations, this review highlights evidence of particular countries that are considered to be dominant in specific sectors.</p
India’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Ecosystem
No full textThis review provides an overview of India’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ecosystem in the following sectors: artificial intelligence in health, energy, and climate; future telecom with a focus on AI for telecom and telecom satellite; semiconductors and biotechnology with a focus on agritech and biomanufacturing. It focuses on policies, stakeholders, investments, activities, international partnerships. </p
Ubuntu as a Valued Capability for University Students in South Africa
No full textUniversities are often described as institutions that can promote the wellbeing of their local populations. This is because they are central for advancing human development aims which support the aspirations of students and the communities from which they come. Nevertheless, we know this potential can be constrained by historical processes of oppression and negation of indigenous ways of being and doing. Applying the Capabilities Approach and Human Development paradigm as a normative framework for the outcomes of university education in the South African context, we argue for a focus on the centrality of capabilities (real freedoms) in assessing how well universities are doing to support student wellbeing. We pay special attention to one capability which we see as architectonic for other freedoms, which is Ubuntu. While Ubuntu is generally understood as a moral philosophy, in this paper we articulate it as a valued capability in the space of higher education. We also argue that it is a capability that has transformative and decolonial potential that can enable universities to promote student wellbeing if the conditions to practice it are in place.Drawing from data collected through qualitative and participatory approaches in two longitudinal research projects that were carried out between 2016 and 2021 with undergraduate students in diverse universities in South Africa, we show that Ubuntu informs students’ conceptions of humanity and their aspirations for ‘a good life’ and that it can inform the vision of transformed and decolonised university spaces that reflect indigenous ways of being and indigenous ways of seeing the world.ES/N010094/1RLO</p
Rethinking Rural Schooling in Laos: From a Deficit Perspective to Patchworked Mobilities, the State, and the Trope of Remoteness
No full textBy combining insights from mobilities studies and the anthropology of the state and development, conceptual space is created for thinking about the social effects of the diverse sets of mobilities underpinning and related to rural schooling. This includes realising the state as a social relationship. Thereby, this article goes beyond a common deficit perspective on rural schooling. Drawing on ethnographic data, I show how diverse mobilities involving different sets of actors are valued and recognised differently, in part, because of their particular relation to constructs of remoteness, the state, and visions about rural futures.ES/N01037X/1RLO</p
Data Management and Interoperability in Yemen
No full textThis paper examines the challenges of moving towards greater interoperability between humanitarian and social assistance programmes in Yemen. In a protracted conflict that has created huge humanitarian needs, international aid agencies and donors have provided a complex combination of humanitarian assistance and support to a pre-war social protection system on a large scale. In a challenging environment of insecurity, divided government, manipulation of aid and limits to the ability to engage with de-facto authorities, there has been very little progress in moving towards interoperability between different programmes’ systems. The result is fragmented assistance with little clarity on the degrees of overlap and exclusion.</p
Digital-ID in Liberia: Country Report
No full textThis report investigates the impact of biometric digital identification (digital-ID) systems on citizens’ digital rights in Liberia. As the country rebuilds post-conflict institutions, the adoption of a national digital-ID – anchored in biometrics and managed by the National Identification Registry (NIR) – is central to modernising identity management and enhancing access to public services.The study addresses the following core research questions: how does Liberia’s biometric digital-ID system affect citizens’ digital rights, and to what extent does it align with rule of law, rights-based, and risk-based principles? By focusing on Liberia, the study aims to contribute to the broader African discourse on responsible digital-ID development and digital rights protection.</p
Digital-ID in Ethiopia: Country Report
No full textEthiopia is the second largest country in Africa and has an ethnically diverse population of over 134 million people. However, over the past decade there has been ethnic conflict, political instability, digital repression, and, most recently, civil war. Leading up to peace talks, in 2022 Ethiopia introduced the first National Identification Program (NIDP). However, the programme has raised some concerns, since the government has engaged in digital surveillance (Zelalem 2023). It is therefore pertinent to critically review the national digital-ID programme to ensure that it does not lead to ‘dataveillance’ – ‘a systematic monitoring of people’s actions or communication through the application of information technology’ (Clarke 1991: 1). To address this concern, the report is guided by the following questions: what is the current state of digital-ID in Ethiopia? What legislative framework(s) are in place? And, if any, do they protect against all forms of dataveillance? To answer these questions, the report will use the Centre for Internet and Society framework for assessing digital-ID systems (Bhandari, Trikanad and Sindha 2020).</p
Targeting Social Protection in Northern Nigeria: Assessing Institutional Approaches
No full textPoverty and vulnerability remain critical challenges in Nigeria, particularly in the north where chronic poverty overlaps with conflict, displacement, and climate-related shocks. In the past decade, social protection programmes have expanded to reduce poverty and vulnerability. However, targeting benefits to those most in need remains a significant challenge and a shared priority among government officials and other actors. Unfortunately, the means by which to achieve this are not widely agreed. Research conducted by the BASIC Research programme examined the implications of targeting choices in the northern states of Nigeria. Drawing on interviews with stakeholders across federal, state and local government, international organisations, and communities, this policy briefing identifies how institutional mandates and perspectives drive targeting choices.</p
Benefits of South South Cooperation
No full textSouth-South cooperation (SSC) entails a wide range of collaboration among countries of the Global South, promoting collective action in relation to (among others) the economy, politics and the environment, and based on principles such as equality, national sovereignty and mutual benefit. It is much wider in scope than official development assistance (ODA), but this review focuses on SSC for development cooperation. SSC has gained in prominence in recent decades, and represents a very different approach to ‘traditional’ North-South international development cooperation. Successful examples of SSC highlight its benefits, including cost-effectiveness, self-reliance and sustainability.
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