Title: Doing Good by Doing Well: Capitalism, Humanitarianism and International Development
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: Over the last decade, the notion that the private sector can stimulate much-needed development in the world's poorest regions has gained increased prominence. Today it is often business - whether transnational corporations or for-profit social enterprises - that is cast as the engine of development: delivering win-win outcomes for both the world's poor and the financial bottom line. Increasingly we find a humanitarian ethic of care for distant others (Redfield 2012) materialised in the creation of markets for goods and services at the 'bottom of the global economic pyramid' (Cross 2013). While private sector enthusiasts celebrate the potential of business to improve the lives of the poor by delivering increased access to health and energy, or by creating opportunities for employment as entrepreneurs (Prahalad 2004; London et al 2011), this seminar series responds to an urgent need for critical and empirical engagement with the interventions, models, claims and impacts of capitalist humanitarians. As policy makers, practitioners and journalists debate the role of the private sector in a post-2015 development agenda, this series will bring them together with leading academics in anthropology, development studies and business/management, to critically examine market based approaches to development. Over a 3 year period this series of international conferences, UK practitioner roundtables, and post-graduate advanced seminars sets out to address key questions about the workings and outcomes of 'bottom of the pyramid' business models. They include: 1) How are new ways of conceptualising relationships between business and development mobilising people, driving policies, attracting finance and shaping politics at national and international levels? 2) Who makes the claims that define and drive these approaches and what values, assumptions and beliefs underpin their activities? 3) Through what political, economic and social processes do everyday objects become reclassified as 'social', 'merit' or 'ethical goods' endowed with the power to bring development benefits? 4) How is the impact of these goods measured by governments, business or international organisations and how might participant perspectives suggest different measures for development outcomes? 5) How does an ethic of humanitarian capitalism reflect broader social concerns and economic tensions in the UK and internationally? 6) Do they result in development outcomes that are both ethical and sustainable? This seminar series will create a space to debate the evidence and generate new thinking, approaches, and methodologies that critically engage with bottom of the pyramid models and markets. The planned programme of events includes: - International conferences: Each year one applicant institution will host an international conference to bring together invited participants from the UK and beyond. The schedule and themes of the conferences are as follows: 2014) Technology and Capitalist Humanitarianism, Edinburgh; 2015) Distributing Development to the Bottom Billion, Oxford; 2016) Accounting for Development, Sussex. - UK Based Practitioner Roundtables: Each year one applicant institution will host a practitioner roundtable to discuss the possibilities, benefits and challenges of market-oriented initiatives, based on cases underway: 2014) Measuring and Evaluating the Impacts of Business on Poverty, Sussex; 2015) Low Income Markets for Low Carbon Energy and Health Technologies, Edinburgh; 2016) Last Mile Distribution Strategies, Oxford; - Advanced Seminars: Each year one applicant institution will bring together post graduate students in anthropology, development studies and business/management studies from across the UK for an advanced seminar. A website and online network (www.responsiblebop.com) launched in 2012 by the Co-Is will be used to foster collaboration and dissemination during and after the series.


Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE