GEG Researchers at ISA

In April, over 5,000 scholars of international politics gathered in San Francisco for the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association (ISA). GEG team members, associate researchers, and Global Leaders’ Fellows were well represented at the conference, presenting recent research and contributing to debates. Their contributions to the conference highlight GEG’s emphasis on connecting scholarship on international political economy and sustainable development to the questions facing the Global South.

GEG Senior Researcher Tom Hale contributed to roundtable discussions on public-private partnerships and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Current Global Leaders Fellows Maria Gwynn and Folashadé Soulé-Kohndou both participated in the conference, Maria speaking at a roundtable on structural power, and Folashadé presenting a paper on African bureaucratic agency in negotiating with Chinese counterparts. Pre-doctoral research fellow Alexandra Zeitz presented papers on African governments’ participation in international bond markets and Western donors’ reactions to China’s growing development finance portfolio.

GEG Research Associate Geoffrey Gertz presented new research on investment promotion agencies, and GEG Academic Visitor Florence Dafe delivered a paper on financial inclusion in Kenya and Nigeria. GEG Research Associate Nina Hall presented research on norm contestation with respect refugees’ rights, and also contributed to a roundtable discussion on the #metoo campaign in political science.

Former Global Leaders Fellows were well represented at the conference, with Peace Medie chairing and contributing to roundtables on Africa in International Relations scholarship, the integration of scholars from the Global South, and the future of military studies. Fellow GLF alumna Fuzuo Wu presented research on India’s responses to China’s ‘One Belt-One Road’ initiative.

With so many GEG researchers present, the ISA conference was an opportunity for a reunion as well as exchanging research findings: the Global Leaders Fellows met for an informal reunion, and six generations of GEG Research Officers were at the conference (Zainab Usman sadly not pictured).