BIARI at Brown 2015 - June 6-20
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.
Conveners
NITSAN CHOREV
Nitsan Chorev is the Harmon Family Professor of Sociology and International Studies at Brown University. She is also the Director of Development Studies. Her main areas of research closely overlap with Watson’s interest in Governance and Development. Her previous projects looked at governance issues. Her first book explores the political and institutional foundations of trade liberalization; her second book studies the political and institutional foundations of global health policies.
PETER EVANS
Peter B. Evans, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, is also professor emeritus in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He serves on the board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and as an advisory group member of the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre-Consortium of the Institute for Policy Development and Management, the University of Manchester, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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.
RICHARD M. LOCKE
Richard M. Locke is the Howard R. Swearer Director of the Watson Institute for International Studies and a professor of political science and public and international affairs. Locke's current research is focused on improving labor and environmental conditions in global supply chains. Working with leading firms like Nike, Coca Cola, Apple, and HP, Locke and his students have been showing how corporate profitability and sustainable business practices can be reconciled.
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.
PRERNA SINGH
Prerna Singh is Mahatma Gandhi Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies and faculty fellow at the Watson Institute, and co-convenor of the Brown-Harvard-MIT Joint Seminar in South Asian Politics. Her research interests include the comparative political economy of development especially the politics of social welfare; identity politics including ethnic politics and nationalism, and gender politics; and the politics of South Asia and East Asia.