A group that explores the complex and contested relationship between democracy and development, with a particular focus on ideas and practices from the Global South.

Our group is concerned with the global resurgence of authoritarianism and ethnonationalist populism, and the weakening of democratic institutions—trends that are also intertwined with the logic and consequences of development policy and practice. We want to understand how and why democracy has come under attack and to explore fundamental practices and values of democracy that put participation, equity, and social justice at the centre of thinking about development. In working to understand and promote the relationship between democracy and development, we challenge simplistic equations of liberalism, democracy and economic development and recent assumptions that authoritarianism is good for development.

The group is interdisciplinary and includes economists, political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists. Between us we focus on four streams of enquiry: practices and experiences of democracy, political subjectivities and agency, ideas and ideologies of democracy and socio-economic justice. We explore these themes across scales and sites considering the role of actors, institutions, power relations and competing interests.