BIARI at Brown 2016 - June 4-18

Governance and Development in the Age of Globalization

Development in the age of globalization presents new challenges and opportunities. Globalization has not only accelerated the pace of economic transformation and social change, it has also fundamentally reconfigured the nature of governance. While global and regional governance institutions (both public and private) are playing an ever more powerful role of shaping possibilities at the local and national level, national and local governments still provide the principal arenas of democratic contestation. The central axis of politics in an age of globalization is the complex interaction of governance institutions at different levels. Tackling the core problems of development, from economic growth to social provisioning and environmental sustainability, requires understanding how processes and institutions of governance operate and interact at multiple levels.

This interdisciplinary institute will bring together specialists in these different domains to focus on efforts to expand the regulatory capacity, institutional efficacy and democratic legitimacy of governance institutions that shape development. Areas of focus will include labor standards, social provisioning, democratic participation and urban transformation. The goal of the institute is to develop a critical understanding of these issues by exploring the latest theories and empirical work through comparative lenses.

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Conveners

PATRICK HELLER

Patrick Heller is professor of sociology and international studies at Brown and the director of the Graduate Program in Development at the Watson Institute. His main area of research is the comparative study of social inequality and democratic deepening.

ANDREW SCHRANK

Andrew Schrank is Olive Watson Professor of Sociology and International Studies at the Watson Institute. He has preciously held positions in political science and sociology at the University of Mexico, Yale University, and University of Miami.