Proposal for a Centre of Excellence Dan Banik Desmond McNeill

The Research Council’s SFF scheme Centres with generous, long-term financing Opportunity to develop new collaborative relationships to enhance international position Strengthen researcher recruitment and Expand international cooperation

Application criteria Scientific merit The project manager and project group (centre director and steering group) Feasibility International cooperation National cooperation Recruitment of women and gender balance Value added generated by establishing the centre Dissemination and communication of results

Timeline 1 March 2011: Call for proposals 8 June 2011: Application deadline for the prequalification round November 2011: Outcome of the prequalification round announced February 2012: Application deadline for the final round September 2012: Final decision on conferral of SFF status announced From January 2013: Start-up of the centres

CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF POVERTY, POLITICS AND POLICY (CASPPP)

“Success stories” Reduction in global poverty Economic growth Democracy Conditional Cash Transfers, Microfinance, Employment generation Some success in relation to MDGs Success in some regions

The current challenge (as usually presented) 1.4 billion, USD 1.25/day 2.5 billion, USD 2/day 1.6 billion without access to modern energy 1 in 4 children malnourished 1 in 6 without access to clean drinking water

Development at a crossroads The elusive development agenda Lack of finance and/or political commitment The dominance of ad-hoc interventions Problems of implementation Role and nature of existing knowledge

CASPPP Fundamental, but under-researched question: Why are there more poor people in some countries than in others? “… current approaches to poverty often ignore its root causes, and consequently do not follow through the causal sequence. Rather, they focus on measuring things that people lack to the detriment of understanding why they lack them” (UNRISD 2010).

CASPPP Refocus attention on the politics of poverty by identifying and analyzing the role of politics (and state structures) in the causation (production), reduction and eradication of poverty. – Better understand the role of institutions, rent and the rules of the game in shaping and determining how issues of poverty and inequality are addressed in the global and national development discourse – Formulation of anti-poverty policy – Impact of governance and institutional reforms – Allocation of resources and priorities

CASPPP Re-examine the connections and gaps between anti- poverty policies and their implementation on the ground – What has been the impact of global theory (or concepts or ideas, including those emanating from the foreign aid discourse) on local policymaking? – What makes national anti-poverty policies effective? – Examine the capacity of developing country institutions at national, regional and local levels to effectively implement anti-poverty policies

CASPPP Cross-cutting themes Global – national – local – In the process of ‘operationalisation’ – from global theory to national practice – much of the substance in the development discourse is distorted or lost. – Policy incoherence as a major source of ineffectiveness The imbalance between quantitative and qualitative research methodology – The need to confront the inherent (and growing?) tensions between, and the policymaking impact of, quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, particularly in the social sciences – Question the growing influence of quantitative approaches among decision makers – Make the case for an increased focus on qualitative approaches

CASPPP Organisation Centre within SUM Centre director Steering group 3-5 core themes/pillars 15 PhD students; 5 postdocs External partners (international) External partners (Norway)