In Pursuit of Development

Is corruption the world's favorite scapegoat for failed development? And why are wealthy democracies so eager to lecture poorer countries about good governance while struggling with corruption at home?In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Michael Johnston, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Colgate University and one of the world's leading scholars of corruption.Drawing on decades of research, Johnston challenges conventional thinking about corruption, arguing that it goes far beyond bribery and illegal transactions. The conversation explores how political influence, elite networks, and the abuse of power shape societies, including some of the world's most established democracies.They discuss Johnston's influential four syndromes of corruption, the limitations of global corruption rankings, the relationship between corruption and economic development, and the dangers of politicians weaponizing anti-corruption rhetoric. The discussion also examines the shortcomings of international efforts to promote good governance. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/

The Global South is more visible, more vocal, and more organized than at any point in recent decades. But has that translated into real power? In this season-opening episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik challenges the familiar claim that the Global South is simply “rising.” His argument is more demanding. Gaining voice in global governance is not the same as gaining authority over the rules, institutions, and decisions that shape the international order.Against the backdrop of collapsing foreign aid, an expanding BRICS, greater representation of developing countries in the G20, negotiations over a new UN tax convention, debates over IMF reform, and the selection of the next UN Secretary-General, the episode asks where power is actually shifting. And where it is not. The emerging pattern is striking. The Global South has made significant gains in institutions based on sovereign equality, but much less progress where weighted voting, veto power, and great-power privilege still dominate.The episode also questions whether “the Global South” can meaningfully be treated as a single bloc. Instead, Dan argues that we are increasingly seeing flexible issue-based coalitions, in which countries cooperate on taxation, climate finance, debt, or institutional reform while competing fiercely on other questions. And as the traditional aid era recedes, the politics of development may increasingly shift toward domestic taxation, accountability, South–South cooperation, and new forms of financial power.The central question for Season 7 is therefore not whether the Global South is rising. It is whether contestation can become renegotiation. And whether greater voice can ultimately be converted into the authority to write the rules. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/

What does it mean to defend hope in an age of crisis, anxiety, and political exhaustion? In this Season 6 finale of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik reflects on why hope is not the same as optimism, and why evidence-based hope may be one of the most important political resources of our time. Drawing on debates about global poverty, democracy, climate anxiety, development practice, and collective action, this solo reflection challenges the seductive power of despair. The episode argues that doom is not only emotionally draining, but politically disabling, because it can convince people that action no longer matters. Against both naïve optimism and fatalistic pessimism, Dan makes the case for a disciplined form of hope grounded in evidence, historical progress, institutional realism, and the everyday work of building better futures. The episode also explores why hope must be treated critically. Hope can inspire movements, sustain democratic struggle, and help communities imagine alternatives. But it can also be misused by those in power to postpone justice, ration expectations, or ask vulnerable people to endure indefinitely. The task, then, is not to abandon hope, but to make it accountable to evidence, delivery, and real improvements in people’s lives. From falling extreme poverty and declining child mortality to the limits of today’s development models, from Paulo Freire and Václav Havel to Arjun Appadurai, Rebecca Solnit, Amartya Sen, Hans Rosling, Hannah Ritchie, and Charles Kenny, this episode asks what kind of hope can survive contact with reality. It closes Season 6 with a plea to younger listeners in particular: resist the politics of despair, look carefully at what is working, and remember that the future remains open. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/

As traditional aid budgets shrink and donor priorities shift, civil society organizations across Malawi are being forced to rethink how they work, survive, and serve communities. In this conversation, Dan Banik speaks with Tikhala Itaye, a human rights lawyer and public health specialist, and the Founder and Executive Director of HeR Liberty, a young women-led organization in Malawi working to advance health, education, and economic empowerment for young people, especially adolescent girls and young women. The episode explores the changing relationship between international NGOs, local civil society organizations, and the Malawian state. Tikhala reflects on the long-standing inequalities in the aid system, where local organizations often do much of the frontline work while receiving only a small share of available funding. She and Dan also discuss how civil society groups are responding to cuts by exploring social entrepreneurship, domestic resource mobilization, coalition-building, and new partnerships with government. The conversation highlights Malawi’s broader development challenges, including rising prices, political uncertainty, gender inequality, youth unemployment, and the urgent need for more accountable leadership. At the same time, Tikhala points to sources of hope: community resilience, local innovation, the strength of women’s rights movements, progress in health, and the growing determination among Malawians to design solutions from within. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/

Pritish Behuria, Associate Professor at the University of Manchester and author on Rwanda’s political economy, offers a concise look at Rwanda’s rise. He explores services-led growth, tourism and nation branding. He probes underemployment, inequality, foreign dependence and the limits of manufacturing and second-wave services. He questions how durable the country’s model really is.

Conversations from Pretoria to Mauritius probe what African agency looks like in practice. Debates cover who sets development agendas and whose knowledge counts. Energy transitions are examined for justice versus extraction. The politics of homegrown solutions and limits of localization are explored. Small states’ strategies for AI, data sovereignty, and risks of surveillance and bias are discussed.

Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett, professor of governance and integrity and director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption, studies state capture and accountability. She discusses how powerful actors reshape rules to serve narrow interests. Short takes cover differences between petty graft and systemic capture, how loyalty replaces merit, targets like courts and banks, and the role of divisive narratives and digital tools.

In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Alanna O’Malley, Professor and Chair of Global Governance & Wealth and Head of Department of History at Erasmus University, about the hidden history of the United Nations and the decisive role of the Global South in shaping global governance. Drawing on her forthcoming book, Decolonising Global Order, The Invisible History of the United Nations and the Global South, she explains how actors from Africa, Asia, and Latin America helped transform debates on decolonisation, development, human rights, sovereignty, and economic justice — even as their contributions were often written out of mainstream histories. Dan and Alanna explore why the UN looks very different when viewed from the Global South, why the institution cannot be understood only through the lens of Security Council politics, and why international law and multilateralism still matter deeply to many countries despite growing frustration with double standards and inequality. This is a wide-ranging conversation on the United Nations, global development, the crisis of multilateralism, and the long struggle to build a more representative and just international order. Read a short article based on this episode at: https://globaldevpod.substack.com/   Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/

Madhukar Pai, Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and TB expert at McGill, discusses why tuberculosis persists in poverty, undernutrition, overcrowding, and weak primary care. He covers transmission and diagnosis challenges, the role of social protection like food and cash transfers, limits of donor-driven aid, and what decolonizing global health and local innovations mean for lasting solutions.

Elina Scheja, Chief Economist at Sida and poverty policy expert, speaks about how shifting geopolitics and tighter budgets are reshaping aid priorities. She explores why aid still matters for those left behind. They discuss tough trade-offs between strategic interests and poverty reduction, plus using evidence, adaptive evaluations and AI to make aid smarter.