The Higher Research Seminar: ‘Roadblocks to Development: A Lens on State Legitimacy and Governance in Low-Income Countries’ – Dan Banik, University of Oslo

Wednesdays 13.15 to 14.30 in Eden 367, unless otherwise indicated. 

Chair: Professor Jonathan Polk

The Department’s Higher Research Seminar Series | Department of Political Science (lu.se)

"Roadblocks to Development: A Lens on State Legitimacy and Governance in Low-Income Countries"

Dan Banik, University of Oslo

The role and impact of the state in development has been a recurrent topic in development theory and research since the mid-1950s. In this talk, I will discuss various modalities of governance undertaken by the state in low-income countries and revisit the concept of state legitimacy in relation to state scope, capacity and resilience. Using the specific case of permanent and ad-hoc roadblocks that the police in Malawi set up at regular intervals to regulate traffic as well as combat crime, I will examine the perceived legitimacy of the Malawian state viewed from the lens of the common public, arguing that in the absence of concrete benefits from the state, roadblocks serve an important function for a largely invisible state to make itself visible and remind the public of its existence.  

Dan Banik is professor of political science, director of the Oslo SDG Initiative at the Centre for Development and the Environment, and affiliate professor at Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo. He is also Academic Director of the Democracy Hub at Circle U. European University Alliance and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria. His books include Political Transition, Poverty, and Inclusive Development in Malawi: The Democratic Dividend; Poverty and Elusive Development; and Starvation and India’s Democracy. Prof. Banik was a Visiting Professor and Consulting Scholar at Stanford University (2010-2017) and a Visiting Professor at China Agricultural University (2012-2017). He is the host of the In Pursuit of Development podcast with listeners in 160 countries.

Find out more on: https://www.sum.uio.no/english/people/aca/danbanik/