Political Economy of Development Reading Group

Are you working on questions of development through a Political Economy lens? Or simply interested in how power, institutions, and political forces shape economic development?

This monthly virtual reading group (every first Monday of the month) brings together young scholars working on Political Economy and development from across institutions and countries. It’s a space to read interesting work, exchange ideas, get feedback on your own research, and meet others working on related questions.

Each session will focus on a published Political Economy article on development, alongside opportunities to discuss participants’ own research and ideas. Over time, we hope the group can become a space for intellectual exchange, new connections, and potential collaboration.

The group grew out of an existing community of scholars who have been meeting for some time, including through an in-person workshop and a forthcoming special issue. We’re now opening the conversation to new participants and look forward to building the community further.

You can find all our past readings and discussion notes as well as our definition of Political Economy here:

Upcoming sessions:

Monday October 5 (1-2pm UTC)

Naseemullah 2023 The Political Economy of National Development: A Research Agenda after Neoliberalism

Monday November 2 (1-2pm UTC)

Green 2025 The persistence of the moneylender: How informal debt deepens financialization in the Cambodian countryside

Monday December 7 (1-2pm UTC)
TBD

Previous sessions:

September 7

To kick us off after the summer break we discussed why PE perspectives have become less prominent in development studies over time (and why it is important to bring them back) based on two short articles by Pritish Behuria who has been an active PE defender in discipline-wide “Future of Development Studies” debates.