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

Research Associate

Ana Pueyo

Research Fellow

Carlos Fortin

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 493–504 of 14836 results

Impact Story

Positive outcomes from our professional development learning programme

We provide world-class professional, practitioner and organisation-wide learning for people working in development. Our action-oriented, collaborative training and learning are offered in three broad types: Specialist short courses for development professionals – for example,...

7 August 2023

News

Sir Gordon Conway: 1938 to 2023

Sir Gordon Conway, who was the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex between 1992 and 1998 and former Chair of IDS has died. Early career Professor Conway trained in agricultural ecology, attending the University of Wales (Bangor), the University of Cambridge and the University of...

7 August 2023

Journal Article

“If We Stayed at Home, Nothing Would Change”: Gendered Acts of Citizenship From Mozambique and Pakistan

This article investigates how women emerged as political subjects through protests in two post-colonial contexts: the Hazara women’s protests in Pakistan against ethno-sectarian killings and the Chiango women’s protests in Mozambique for road safety. Privileging the perspectives of two...

7 August 2023

News

Inadequate cooling infrastructure and the risks of heat stress

Extreme heatwaves have hit countries around the world in the past few weeks including those in Southern Europe, the USA and China, where a temperature of 52 degrees was recorded. In the UK the Met Office reported that the record breaking 40 degree temperatures experienced in 2022 will become...

3 August 2023

News

Impacts of FCDO cuts on vulnerable women and girls revealed

The UK Parliament’s International Development Committee has published the FCDO's own Equality Impact Assessment, compiled earlier this year to assess the impact of the significant cuts to the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2023-24. Widely reported in the media, the...

2 August 2023

Opinion

How war and crises in Tigray triggered an urban agriculture boom

Tigray in northern Ethiopia has been devastated by a brutal war since November 2020, which included a siege and blockade that stopped all communications and most essential services, along with humanitarian supplies. A typical example of urban agriculture practised in Mekelle city during the...

2 August 2023

Impact Story

How IDS research and expertise is influencing policy

How evidence is generated, shared and used underpins our drive to increase equity in knowledge production. We challenge knowledge hierarchies and explore ways to think more deeply about evidence and impact. Over the past year, that impact could be seen in IDS research influencing policy and...

1 August 2023

News

Podcast: Industrialisation and ethnic change in the modern world

Much has been written about industrialisation and the growth of economies transforming people’s lives, but little is written about how industrialisation can transform ethnicity within countries. In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Research Fellow Max Gallien, interviews...

1 August 2023

Working Paper

Missing the Forest for the Trees: Ekiti State’s Quest for Forestry Revenue and its Impact on Forest Management

ICTD Working Paper; 170

Forests are important socio-economic assets in many low-income countries. However, they are often over-exploited as governments do not sufficiently valorise them, including by taxing them inefficiently. This is the case across Nigeria, where forest management and taxation has been effectively...

Michael Falade

1 August 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).