In Pursuit of Development

Dan Banik
  • 4.6 (11)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp insights, candid reflections, and a global perspective that connects local struggles to universal aspirations. Listen, reflect, and be inspired to see global development in a new light. 🎧

  1. APR 29

    How public institutions become captured | Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett

    Corruption is often imagined as a bribe paid to speed up a permit, avoid a fine, or gain access to a public service. But some of the most damaging forms of corruption operate at a much higher level, where powerful political and business actors reshape the rules of the game itself. This is the world of state capture: a process through which public institutions are bent away from the public interest and made to serve narrow networks of power, privilege, and private gain. Dan Banik speaks with Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett, Professor of Governance and Integrity and Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex, about why state capture is one of the most serious threats to democracy, development, and public trust today. Drawing on cases from all around the world, they discuss how corruption can move from isolated transactions to systemic control over laws, public procurement, courts, banks, media, tax authorities, and accountability institutions. The conversation explores how state capture differs from petty corruption, why democracies are vulnerable to being hollowed out from within, and how powerful actors use strategically divisive narratives to consolidate support. Liz explains why captured systems reward loyalty over merit, connections over competence, and impunity over accountability — with severe consequences for economic growth, inequality, public services, and citizen confidence. Resources State Capture and Inequality State Capture and Development: A conceptual framework State capture: how democracy can be systematically corrupted Madagascar at a crossroads: breaking the cycle of state capture Does state capture facilitate strategic corruption? The political economy of open contracting reforms in low- and middle-income countries The GI ACE program (with policy-relevant evidence on what works in fighting corruption). Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    44 min

  2. APR 22

    Why the UN looks different from the Global South | Alanna O’Malley

    In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Alanna O’Malley, Professor and Chair of Global Governance & Wealth and Head of Department of History at Erasmus University, about the hidden history of the United Nations and the decisive role of the Global South in shaping global governance. Drawing on her forthcoming book, Decolonising Global Order, The Invisible History of the United Nations and the Global South, she explains how actors from Africa, Asia, and Latin America helped transform debates on decolonisation, development, human rights, sovereignty, and economic justice — even as their contributions were often written out of mainstream histories. Dan and Alanna explore why the UN looks very different when viewed from the Global South, why the institution cannot be understood only through the lens of Security Council politics, and why international law and multilateralism still matter deeply to many countries despite growing frustration with double standards and inequality. This is a wide-ranging conversation on the United Nations, global development, the crisis of multilateralism, and the long struggle to build a more representative and just international order. Read a short article based on this episode at: https://globaldevpod.substack.com/   Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    47 min

  3. APR 15

    The poverty trap that kills a million people a year | Madhukar Pai

    Why does tuberculosis remain one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases even though it is preventable and curable? In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Madhukar Pai of the Department of Global and Public Health at the McGill School of Population and Global Health about why TB continues to thrive in conditions of poverty, undernutrition, overcrowding, and weak primary healthcare. The conversation explores why the global burden of TB remains so heavily concentrated in a small number of countries, what makes early diagnosis and treatment so difficult in fragmented health systems, and why social protection may be just as important as medicine in reducing illness and death. Dan and Madhu also discuss the limits of donor-driven global health, the meaning of decolonizing global health, and the power asymmetries that still shape who sets priorities, who controls resources, and who bears the consequences when systems fail. The episode also includes a reflection on the enduring legacy of Paul Farmer — physician, anthropologist, Harvard professor, and co-founder of Partners In Health — whose moral clarity and insistence on dignity in care continue to inspire global health practitioners around the world. Topics covered: tuberculosis, TB, global health, poverty, undernutrition, social protection, India, primary healthcare, health systems, decolonizing global health, donor dependence, Paul Farmer, Partners In Health, development, public policy. Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    51 min

  4. APR 8

    Can aid still fight poverty? | Elina Scheja

    What happens to development cooperation when aid budgets are cut, geopolitical tensions rise, and poverty reduction competes with a growing range of strategic priorities? In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Elina Scheja, Chief Economist at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), about the changing politics of foreign aid and the future of development in a far more fragmented world. The conversation explores why today’s turbulence cannot be explained by a single leader or decision alone, but must instead be understood in light of deeper structural shifts in global economic and political power. Dan and Elina discuss the implications of aid cuts in the United States and Europe, the growing emphasis on national interest and “enlightened self-interest,” and the difficult choices donor countries now face as support for Ukraine, climate priorities, regional security concerns, and poverty reduction compete for limited resources. They also examine a central question in global development today: Do we still need aid, and for whom? Elina argues that the answer is clearly yes, pointing to the hundreds of millions of people who remain trapped in extreme poverty and multidimensional deprivation. The discussion highlights why poverty cannot be understood through income measures alone, and why access to healthcare, education, decent work, voice, and security must remain central to any serious development agenda. Another major focus of the episode is evidence and learning in aid policy. Dan and Elina reflect on how development agencies such as Sida can make better use of research, impact evaluation, institutional memory, and artificial intelligence to improve decision-making. Rather than treating evaluation as something that happens only at the end of a project, they argue for a more iterative and adaptive approach — one that uses evidence throughout the entire chain of development cooperation, from country selection and sectoral priorities to implementation and course correction. The episode also turns to jobs, productive employment, and structural transformation. If citizens across the Global South are asking for opportunity rather than handouts, what should aid agencies do differently? Should they focus more on employment, infrastructure, and economic transformation? How can democracy, human rights, and job creation be understood not as competing priorities, but as deeply interconnected parts of inclusive development?   Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    39 min

  5. APR 1

    Can Asia still deliver the development dream? | Philip Schellekens

    Asia is often described as the great success story of modern development, a region of rapid growth, falling poverty, rising middle classes, and extraordinary transformation. But how accurate is that narrative today? And what does Asia’s experience really tell us about the future of development in a world marked by inequality, insecurity, demographic change, and technological disruption? In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at UNDP. Prior to joining UNDP, Philip worked for more than two decades at the World Bank and the IMF, focusing on macroeconomics, governance, demography, and long-term structural change. Together, they explore both the promise and the contradictions of Asia’s development story. The conversation examines why economic growth remains essential, but also why growth alone is never enough. They discuss persistent inequality, informality, and job insecurity across the region, as well as the challenges created by aging populations, democratic backsliding, slowing globalization, and the uneven effects of AI and new technologies. The episode also asks a broader question that runs through this season of the show: how should we rethink development at a time when the global landscape feels more fragmented and more anxious, but still full of possibility? Drawing on examples from China, India, Bhutan, and the wider Asia-Pacific, Philip argues for a more holistic and future-oriented understanding of development, one that places governance, agency, decent work, and human well-being at the center. Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    43 min

  6. MAR 25

    Urbanization, inequality and the future of development | Benjamin Bradlow

    Dan Banik speaks with Benjamin H. Bradlow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University, about how cities can grow without leaving millions behind. At a moment when more than a billion people live in informal settlements or slum-like conditions, the conversation explores why access to housing, sanitation, transport, and other basic urban services remains so unequal across the world’s rapidly expanding cities. The discussion centers on Bradlow’s award-winning book, Urban Power: Democracy and Inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg, which asks why some democratic cities are more effective than others at reducing urban inequality. Drawing on a comparison of São Paulo and Johannesburg, Bradlow explains how local state capacity, bureaucratic coordination, and the relationship between governments and civil society shape whether excluded communities gain access to the material foundations of urban life. Dan and Ben discuss informal settlements, affordability, infrastructure, and the role of housing movements in shaping urban governance. The episode offers a rich and accessible conversation on urban development, inequality, and the politics of inclusion, with lessons that extend far beyond the Global South. Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    46 min

  7. MAR 18

    Why the middle class will shape global development | Homi Kharas

    Dan Banik speaks with Homi Kharas about one of the most important yet surprisingly underexplored forces in modern development: the rise of the global middle class. Drawing on Kharas’s book The Rise of the Global Middle Class: How the Search for the Good Life Can Change the World, the conversation traces how the middle class emerged as a powerful social and economic force, why its center of gravity is shifting toward Asia, and what that means for the future of development. Along the way, they reflect on how the middle class shapes demand, drives growth, influences politics, and changes what citizens expect from markets and the state. Homi Kharas is a senior fellow at Brookings and previously spent 26 years at the World Bank, including seven years as Chief Economist for East Asia and the Pacific and as Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, where he led the Bank’s work on economic policy, debt, trade, governance, and financial markets. The episode also examines the tensions at the heart of this transformation. As more people move into middle-class life, new questions emerge about inequality, insecurity, democracy, consumerism, and whether middle-class expansion can be sustained in a world under growing environmental pressure. From the anxieties facing Western middle-class societies to the optimism and aspiration associated with middle-class growth in Asia, this is a wide-ranging conversation about prosperity, possibility, and the changing social foundations of the global economy.   Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    45 min

  8. MAR 11

    Artificial intelligence and the future of human decision-making | Francesco Marcelloni

    Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how societies function — from healthcare and education to governance, public debate, and the future of work. But as AI systems become more powerful and more deeply embedded in everyday life, they also raise important questions about misinformation, democratic accountability, and the role of human judgment. In this episode, Dan Banik speaks with Francesco Marcelloni, Professor of Data Mining and Machine Learning at the University of Pisa and Academic Director of the Knowledge Hub on AI at the Circle U. European University Alliance. They explore how AI actually works, why the debate around the technology has become so polarized, and what it means for decision-making in governments, hospitals, universities, and businesses. The conversation examines both the risks and the opportunities of artificial intelligence, including its potential to improve medical diagnosis, support education, and help policymakers analyze vast amounts of data. Dan and Francesco also highlight why preserving human oversight, critical thinking, and democratic accountability will be crucial in the AI era. Host: Professor Dan Banik,  Centre for Global Sustainability, University of Oslo Subscribe: Apple Spotify YouTube https://globaldevpod.substack.com/

    47 min
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4.6
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp insights, candid reflections, and a global perspective that connects local struggles to universal aspirations. Listen, reflect, and be inspired to see global development in a new light. 🎧

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Banik
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    174
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Dan Banik, In Pursuit of Development
  • Show Website
    In Pursuit of Development

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