Thread by @DFID_RED_GCSD

<Thread> LOOK BOTH WAYS!

Prof Heather Marquette (@hamarquette of @iddbirmingham & @DFID_UK Senior Research Fellow for Governance & Conflict) thinks through how to bring 'Serious & Organised Crime' into future 'Development Research'
#LookBothWays
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I’ve been doing research on corruption in #globaldev for well over 20 years. But what some might not know is that I started out my PhD with a proposal to do research on serious & organised crime. SOC in Boston linked to the IRA, to be exact. bit.ly/2KYOq7w
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My supervisor, the late (much loved & missed) Bob Williams, convinced me that corruption would be just as interesting, but the fieldwork would be safer. I'd picked up interest in development from Dr Anna Dickson & decided to combine the 2. It was a good move.

And yet...
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So I was excited when @DFID_RED_GCSD suggested that I think about what a potential research programme on SOC might look like. SOC is a rapidly growing area of interest across UK gov't with a new global SOC strategy & lots of x-govt working - see bit.ly/2yMH7c34/n
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@DFID_UK support for the @GI_TOC 's Development Dialogue on Organised Crime is helping to produce important new insights on the ways in which SOC is affecting developing countries. see bit.ly/2L1tGfc
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I've started out by writing a note that coincided with a trip to Ghana with @DFID_RED_GCSD colleagues where we met with researchers, government officials and civil servants - working on poverty, governance, migration, conflict, corruption, drugs & organised crime.
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I'm presenting a version of this note at @ECPR_SGOC in a couple of weeks. Eek! sgocnet.org
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The focus on Ghana may come as a surprise because of its reputation for stability. However, we can sometimes learn more from outlier cases than typical ones. Ghana is interesting in itself but is also a useful ‘rhetorical device’:...
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...if organised crime is a growing problem that could potentially risk undermining stability and growth in one of the most peaceful countries in the region, & our evidence on it is inadequate, then imagine how much worse it is in other, more challenging contexts.
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The note uses a #JANUS perspective.
Janus–the two-faced Roman god-is literally 2 faces on the <same> side that can’t be hidden from each other, and can’t be separated from each other without causing damage.
SOC operates in a ‘Janus’-like space. In more ways than one....
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SOC has been called the ‘dark side of globalisation’. Because of both licit & illicit interconnections between SOC, business & politics, & the global, networked nature of the systems that enable both (e.g., finance, trade infrastructure, internet etc)...
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But while #OpenForBusiness can also risk being #OpenForBadness, effective SOC interventions can also damage the licit (legitimate) activities that inclusive growth & poverty reduction depend upon.
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And interventions that improve countries’ access to global trade, tech etc also create opportunities for SOC. By strengthening financial systems, improving trade infrastructure, expanding internet access etc, we may also create 👍 conditions for the spread of SOC.
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We need to develop a better understanding of how different markets are connected & how these connect with the state. A big challenge is how licit & illicit markets are connected. We urgently need to think about linking up SOC thinking with our growth research & programming.
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Until we better understand the complex relationships, networks & pol economy dynamics, ideally through the development of a robust, practice-oriented body of evidence, we should exercise caution in order to avoid unintended consequences & actively ensure that we do no harm.
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In terms of planning for a future SOC research investment, there are important lessons emerging from @DFID_RED_GCSD's existing research portfolio.

There are also <SOC Vapour Trails.......🛩️> visible in wider development research/themes... watch this space for more...
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This includes sensitive research - on anti-corruption & politics that supports objective, debated, empirical analysis in the public domain - so can play an important role in facilitating open debate in ways that could help shift public norms. e.g. ace.soas.ac.uk
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Research that's realistic, not moralistic, aiming to help ease people ‘towards the light’. Research in knotty areas such as reducing corruption in massive skills training investments in Bangladesh, or getting the rich to pay more tax in Uganda e.g. bit.ly/2IsVh7o
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Research that helps us to better think & work politically, shifting incentives. bit.ly/2Dayzho
It's worth exploring if this could work better in SOC research, like anti-corruption, than existing research that describes problems but doesn't always get to what works.
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For now, I keep wanting to pinch myself that I'm getting to work on something that’s infinitely fascinating, meeting amazing people doing brave, thoughtful work. It’s constantly humbling.
So watch this space (literally, this @DFID_RED_GCSD space...)

AND LOOK BOTH WAYS!

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@hamarquette @iddbirmingham @DFID_UK unroll @threadreaderapp