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 805–816 of 14837 results

Publication

Systems Thinking and Practice: A guide to concepts, principles and tools for FCDO and partners

This guide is a basic reference on systems thinking and practice tailored to the context and needs of the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). It is an output of the FCDO Knowledge for Development Programme (K4D), which facilitated a Learning Journey on Systems...

3 February 2023

Student Opinion

My IDS journey

IDS alum Pamela Hajal discusses her time studying her MA Development Studies at IDS and how it has gone on to influence and shape her career. Watch a video of Pamela's interview or read it in full below. What course did you study and why did you decide to study at IDS? My name is Pamela...

3 February 2023

Opinion

Waves of change: Emerging pastoral advocacy and representation in India

After years of neglect and misunderstanding by the state, pastoralists from across India were invited to Delhi by the Honorable Union Minister Parshottam Rupala, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, for an interaction to understand the state of the livelihood in the country on...

Rashmi Singh

3 February 2023

News

IDS Researcher appointed to International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance

IDS Research Fellow and Director of the IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID), Professor Mariz Tadros, has been appointed to the Council of Experts for the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA). Founded in 2020, the Alliance is a network...

3 February 2023

Working Paper

Celebrating Adaptive Delivery: A View from the Frontline in Myanmar

IDS Working Paper 586

The conversation on adaptive management has grown fast amongst development actors. These conversations often focus on designing, commissioning, and managing large-scale development programmes. Exactly how this impacts the frontline, the implementers, and day-to-day project delivery is still...

2 February 2023

Opinion

Negotiating ‘belonging’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas

Much of the debate about land reform in Zimbabwe focuses on the material, livelihood consequences of getting new land and its politics, but what does it feel like? How does land reform alter the sense of belonging to a place, the forms of identity and the nature of citizenship? These themes are...

2 February 2023

Brief

Learning From and Preventing Failure in WASH

Frontiers of Sanitation;21

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) failures continue to be discussed mostly off the record, with professionals the world over repeating one another’s mistakes. Failure is difficult to talk about, but WASH failures have negative impacts – money is wasted and sometimes people are harmed....

2 February 2023

Journal Article

Governance Diaries: An Approach to Researching Marginalized People’s Lived Experiences in Difficult Settings

International Journal of Qualitative Methods Vol 22

How do chronically poor and marginalized citizens interact with and make claims to the different public authorities that exist in fragile, conflict and violence-affected contexts? In other words, how does governance from below look like in difficult settings? Given the centrality of the...

2 February 2023

News

IDS and WWF call for trade policy that protects both people and nature

A new policy paper by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and WWF-UK highlights the need for aligned policy on trade and farming reform to help drive the global transition to better farming systems. The Ukrainian crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of the global food system, raising...

2 February 2023

Past Event

Inclusive trade

Trade Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Agriculture

Nowhere are the links between sustainable and inclusive international trade more visible than in agriculture. Agricultural commodities account for a significant share of exports in many developing countries, and agricultural global value chains facilitate the exchange of products, ideas, and...

2 February 2023

News

Can development respond to the challenge of polycrisis?

The phenomenon of multiple crises happening simultaneously is leading to increased inequalities and demanding new approaches to global development, a panel of IDS experts warned yesterday. With the world slowly emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic at the same time as seeing other crises...

1 February 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).