Towards framing the global in global development: Prospects for development geography

Deirdre McKay

doi:10.1111/area.12718

Abstract

AbstractThis paper examines data in the public sphere on the global scope of geography’s UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) projects. Building on decolonial critiques of development research, I argue that geography should frame “the global” of global research as a sphere of ethical choices in research design and practice. The distribution of funded projects in the UKRI Gateway data suggests geographers succeed where they extend on the more worthy aspects of the discipline’s Area Studies legacy. The discipline’s engagements with early career researchers, international colleagues, and the development sector, however, have potentially been reshaped by the GCRF and thus need closer examination. While the UK government has brought the GCRF programme to a close, further work on these themes should inform the next iteration of global research. The ethical choices that make research global will remain fundamental to equitable design and impact in global development projects, thus scholars in development geography should prepare to make their projects more transparent and accountable.

Highlights

Development research has increasingly become structured around a set of global challenges that academics are asked to address through equitable international collaborations
In the UK, one such funding scheme, the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), allocated £1.5 billion to development research between 2016 and 2021.1 The GCRF was intended to “support cutting‐edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries,” bringing the “strengths of the UK” to global development challenges and producing “excellent research” (Newman et al, 2019, p. 22)
The GCRF’s global framing tended to privilege large‐scale projects and expertise in the global North, and to presume international collaborators had mobility, response times, research goals, and institutional infrastructures commensurate with those found among UK academics

Summary

Introduction

Development research has increasingly become structured around a set of global challenges that academics are asked to address through equitable international collaborations. Global research should incorporate considerations of inclusivity, equitable collaboration, career development, and impact into its framing as a global project (Newman et al, 2019; Noxolo, 2017a).

Results

Conclusion