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 709–720 of 14837 results

Opinion

Zimbabwe’s resettlement experience from 1980 to 2000

My recent blog on ‘phases of land reform’ focused on the post-2000 land reform period, but of course there was resettlement before 2000 as part of the post-Independence land reform efforts from 1980 to 2000. This too had phases, again affected by the wider political economy, especially via...

3 April 2023

Opinion

Ethiopian pastoralists: Entangled between development initiatives, conservation and state/society conflicts

“In the year 2000 we had called the government officials and had requested them to kill all of us…. we have lost our land, our water; we have nowhere to go.” An elderly Karrayu pastoralist, sitting beside Lake Basaka and talking with the PASTRES team, is in a state of despair. He makes...

Rashmi Singh, Affiliate Researcher PASTRES

31 March 2023

News

Reflecting on 50 years of learning with Robert Chambers

Robert Chambers is one of the most influential and prolific scholars to write about participation, poverty, and knowledge in development studies. His writing and thinking have revolutionised the discipline, inspiring both participatory processes and more inclusive practice. His work continues to...

30 March 2023

Past Event

Theorising the pathways of participatory interventions

In this Participation, Inclusion and Social Change cluster Seminar we are celebrating our new partnership with Fundacion Paraguaya (the developers of the Poverty Stoplight) and will discuss and share how we develop understandings of participatory processes to work to generate change through...

30 March 2023

Opinion

The power of heritage to make a life worth living

At a conference in Beirut earlier this month participants gave evidence of the power of heritage to make life worth living for groups and communities that have experienced acute marginalisation and life-transforming ruptures. Watch the video Sharing experiences of intangible heritage and...

29 March 2023

Past Event

Book release: White Saviorism in International Development

White Saviorism in International Development: Theories, Practices and Lived Experiences. Watch now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NsX9iWVyqw There is a growing interest in understanding the meaning, manifestations, analysis and implications of racism in North/South relations. White...

28 March 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).