I am currently helping to create content for, and edit the websites of two research projects out of the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester.

The first is titled Effective States and Inclusive Development, and focusses on the politics of international development — a particularly compelling topic in 2016. The project has been running for several years, and was just awarded funding for another three, so both its scope and depth are likely to expand.

The other is the International Research Initiative on Brazil and Africa (IRIBA), which brought together an international team of researchers to ask whether there is a Brazilian model of development, and to investigate the nature and sources of the country’s inclusive growth performance. The project is now complete, and I’m helping to edit the site so it rests as an archive.

There’s a lot of good information on there, and we’re working to provide summaries of all of the research papers, as well as their full versions. Also check out the blog, as there are some interesting posts contextualising the research against the backdrop of what has been a dicey year for Brazil. I interviewed Luis Paiva about Bolsa Família, a social protection (welfare) programme credited with playing a crucial role in helping nearly 50 million Brazilians to exit poverty, and project lead Ed Amann about the overall findings.

You’ll also find solid posts from the project’s other lead Armando Barrientos, and fellow webrat Chris Lyon on what the current political crisis might mean for the future of Brazil’s development model.