Corruption and Communities in South Asia

The aim of the workshop is to present research on how to understand corruption from the perspective of ethnography. How can such understandings enrich (anti-)corruption policy and practice, particularly regarding community based interventions? It is also an aim to provide a space for dialogue between anthropologists and policy makers/researchers and highlight potential next steps.

The workshop seeks to answer a range of questions. How can the understanding of communities gained from ethnography shape and develop new approaches to the challenges of corruption? How well do policy oriented definitions of corruption resonate with experiences from the field? How can we practically bridge the gap between academic knowledge and policy in the field of anti-corruption? And how do we challenge the theoretical misgivings in policy approaches to corruption?

The event is free and open for all.

Program:

08.30 Welcome Coffee

09:00 Introduction:

Saul Mullard, U4/CMI Senior Adviser for People’s engagement

09:15 – 10:40 Anthropology and corruption: inputs in theories and methods:

Davide Torsello, Professor of anthropology and organizational behavior, Central European University

David Jancsics, Asst. Professor of Public Administration San Diego State University

Discussant:

David Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford

10:40 – 10:45 Short break

10:45 – 12:00 Policy and Practice perspectives

Iftekhar Uzzaman, Executive Director, Transparency International Bangladesh

David Jackson, U4/CMI Adviser in Informal contexts of corruption

Discussants:

Hasan Muhammad Baniamin (Doctoral Candidate University of Bergen),

Cecilie Wathne, U4/CMI Senior Adviser in Measurement and Evaluation

12:00 – 12:45 Lunch for Panellists

12:45 – 14:00 Civil Society, activism and infrastructure development in Northern South Asia

David Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology University of Oxford

Sara Shneiderman, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the School of Public Policy

Jenny Bentley, University of Zurich

14:00 – 14:15 Coffee Break

14:15 – 15:30 Gender and Humanitarianism in Western South Asia

Sadaf Ahmad, Associate Professor in Anthropology, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Antonio De Lauri, Senior Researcher CMI

Discussant:

Monica Kirya, U4/CMI Senior adviser in Gender and public service delivery

Photo credit: Ether Photography