Quantitative methods alone cannot tell us much about causality, but making inferences based solely on qualitative research is equally tricky. This is why the recent literature on mixed methods is an important contribution to development research and policy.
In my own work, I combine different methods and apply a heterodox political economy perspective to understand inertia and change. I connect inquiries into urban studies with questions about cross-scalar cooperation, competition and coercion. I have focused in particular on volatile political systems and so-called ‘fragile settings’. As of late, I have also been intrigued by public health-related challenges, especially the politics of agenda-setting and funding.
I have conducted extensive field research on urban politics and resilience, donor policies, and internal displacement in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. These stints were supported by individual grants from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the MIT-Mellon Inter-University Committee on International Migration.
I have also been a Research Fellow of the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) at MIT and a Fellow of the Carlo Schmid Program directed jointly by the DAAD, the Robert Bosch Foundation and the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung).
Single- and co-authored articles of mine have been peer-reviewed and published in Ethics & International Affairs (CCEIA), Critical Planning (UCLA), Environment & Urbanization (SAGE), the Journal of Business Ethics (Springer) and Gesellschaft Wirtschaft Politik (Barbara Budrich). Manuscripts are currently under review by World Development (Elsevier) and Urban Studies (SAGE). In addition, I have contributed to several edited volumes and encyclopedias and have authored a number of policy reports and published working papers.
I am also presenting my research regularly at international conferences, workshops, and lectures. Below are some recent examples:
- Teaching Interdisciplinarity to Multidisciplinary Student Cohorts: From Disarmament to Empowerment, paper presented as part of the ‘Teaching Research Methods’ track, 2010 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 5–7 February 2010.
- Metropolitan Growth and Security in Asia-Pacific: Correcting the Dislocation of Public Policy, paper presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, ON, 4 September 2009.
- Funding Foci, Cost Effectiveness, and Recipients’ Priorities for Global Health, co-authored paper presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, ON, 4 September 2009.
- International Health and Development, invited lecture at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, New York City, 24 March 2009.
- Black Box and White Noise: Teaching Methods for Research on International Conflict, paper presented as part of the ‘Teaching Research Methods’ track, 2009 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, Baltimore, MD, 6–8 February 2009.
- Inter-Organizational Cooperation and Global Health, invited lecture at New York University, Executive Master’s Program in Global Public Health, New York City, 15 September 2008.
- Urbanization in the dock: poverty, conflict, and urban governance in Asia-Pacific, paper presented at the UNU-WIDER Project Workshop “Beyond the Tipping Point: Development in an Urban World,” London, 20 October 2007.
- Letting Kabul be? Overdetermination and the Challenge of Governance, paper presented at the Crisis States Research Programme Annual Workshop, Cape Town, 21 August 2007.
- Inclusive Governance in Conflict Cities: Achieving Safety and Security through Local Cooperation (with J. Beall and J. Sumich), panel discussion on the occasion of the World Urban Forum III, Vancouver, 22 June 2006.
- Analysing politics of public policies for Freetown: Does the case of an African post-war city warrant conceptual revision?, paper presented at the Centre d’étude d’Afrique noire, Bordeaux, 3 March 2006.
- Governance in Sierra Leone (with D. Keen), pre-visit briefing of the UK House of Commons’ International Development Committee, London, 2 February 2006.
