SOAS Global Developments Podcast Series

This episode features Jonathan Dumont, an Emmy Award–winning journalist and senior United Nations humanitarian official, in conversation with SOAS MSc Humanitarian, Aid and Conflict students Lynn Tabbara and Hassan Karmali. Drawing on more than four decades of reporting from conflict zones and humanitarian emergencies, Dumont reflects on the changing role of journalism in contexts of crisis.

Building on his experience with the BBC, CNN, and the UN World Food Programme, the discussion explores the challenges of access, risk, and ethical responsibility in places including Gaza, Sudan, and Syria. It considers how to bear witness with care and integrity, and what it means to communicate crisis in an era shaped by real-time information and misinformation.

Listen #9. Humanitarian journalism in times of crisis: A Conversation with Jonathan Dumont

This episode of the SOAS Global Developments Podcast Series features Carlos Oya, Professor of Political Economy and Head of the Department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London, in conversation with Naomi Hossain, Global Research Professor of Development Studies. They explore the complexities of China’s role in Africa’s industrial future.

Drawing on his new book, China for Africa’s Industrialization?, Carlos examines both the opportunities and challenges arising from China’s growing engagement across the continent. Through a labour-centred lens, the discussion considers how these dynamics are shaping employment, working conditions, and industrial development pathways. It also highlights the importance of policy agency, showing how different African countries respond in varied, context-specific ways.

As the first instalment of our video podcast series, this episode offers a timely and thought-provoking perspective on one of the most debated questions in global development today.

Listen #8. "China for African industrialization?"

Sara Stevano, senior lecturer at SOAS Department of Economics, in conversation with Surbhi Kesar, explores the concept of social reproduction as a critical lens for understanding economic activities, particularly in the Global South. 

Sara Stevano argues that social reproduction encompasses all work necessary to maintain life, including paid and unpaid labor, care work, and social rituals. Drawing on her research in Mozambique, she demonstrates how traditional economic analyses fail to capture the complex realities of work and survival in peripheral economies. 

The discussion highlights the importance of recognising social reproduction as a fundamental aspect of economic processes, not just a peripheral consideration. Ultimately, the episode calls for a feminist political economy approach that centers the everyday experiences of workers in understanding economic development.

25 March 2025

Listen #7. Social reproduction: New Approaches

Surbhi Kesar, lecturer at SOAS Department of Economics, in conversation with Sara Stevano, provides a comprehensive analysis of the informal economy, challenging traditional economic development theories by demonstrating how postcolonial economies persistently reproduce informal economic structures. 

Her research, primarily focused on India, reveals a complex landscape of economic flux characterised by precarity, limited upward mobility, and systemic exclusion. 

By examining the historical and contemporary dynamics of informality, Kesar argues that current economic growth models fail to address the fundamental structural challenges faced by workers in the Global South. Her work highlights the need to understand informality not as a temporary phase, but as a critical component of contemporary capitalist reproduction.

14 January 2025 

Listen #6. Informal Economies: New Approaches

'How might the lessons of history inform our choices in the present? Does a rules-based world order risk concealing informed discussions, potentially blurring the line between assumptions and reality? 

In a world shadowed by its history, Gilbert Achcar, professor at SOAS Development Studies as he discusses his latest book with Karabekir Akkoyunlu, lecturer at SOAS, he urges us to transcend the rhetoric and slogans of blame when examining contemporary issues - from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine to the tense Taiwan standoff with China, and the evolving power dynamics between the US, Russia and China in between. 

Instead Achcar’s analysis of the present political tensions challenged us to transcend the ‘black and white debate’, and unravel the nuances of policy decisions taken at critical junctions, dynamics present in the global structure, and the psychological dimensions shaping this social fabric. By offering us a manual crafted by past lessons, Achcar’s “New Cold War” is a call to take inspiration from how existing institutions like the UN were forged and wield this knowledge to navigate the complex political landscape for a more sustainable path. 

Achcar’s hopefulness resonates throughout, taking a firm belief that another world was and still is possible.'

9 January 2024

Listen #5. The New Cold War: The United States, Russia and China, from Kosovo to Ukraine 

Guy Standing, Professorial Research Associate in Development Studies at SOAS discusses his latest book, “The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea” with Chris Cramer, Professor at SOAS, highlighting the role of corporates in prioritising profits over planet, and de-commoning our seas.

30 June 2023

Listen #4. The Question of "The Blue Commons": Christopher Cramer in conversation with Guy Standing

The latest conversation in the DevTraC Podcast Series is part two of the Afghan podcast where Bismellah Alizada, Reza Hussaini, Rabia Khan, and Zarifa Hosseini discuss the struggles encountered by Afghan migrants seeking a new home, both as individuals and as a group on the move. Through personal anecdotes and insightful analysis, the group investigates the impact of language on inter-group relations and how it adds to the 'us' versus 'them' mentality in political discourse. This harsh reality has the potential to hinder migrants' prospects for a "better life" and upward mobility. The ultimate goal of this discussion is to advance a more inclusive and cooperative social order, grounded in ideas rooted in equal civility and shared citizenship, both in the UK and internationally.

19 May 2023

Listen #3. From Home to Unknown: The harsh reality of the Afghan migration crisis

"Afghanistan in Archives" is the first of a two-part episode, a group of SOAS scholars, Florence Shahabi, Zeynep Tuba Sungur, Barry Sadid, and Bismellah Alizada, examine the role of archives in shaping nationalism, identity and the state, both in the past and present. They explore the prospects of using archives to preserve the Afghan identity and humanise local discourses surrounding the state. This podcast is an invaluable addition to the ongoing debate on the preservation of memories and cultural heritage for stateless and scattered diasporas, a critical issue for an increasing number of nation-states plagued by political instability, with memories often inaccessible to researchers. 

5 Avril 2023

Listen #2. Afghanistan in Archives: Nationalism, identity and the State

This episode features a conversation between Professor Carlos Oya from SOAS, and Khalid Abu-Ismail, Senior Economist at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and lead report author of “World Development Challenges Report: Development from a broader lens”. The report launch was hosted by SOAS DevTraC on October 2022 at SOAS. This discussion captures insights shared by the lead author and stimulates debate about the report and its use.

28 February 2023

Listen #1. UN-ESCWA’s World Development Challenges Report Launch Podcast