I was a teenager in the 1980s and so almost all the images I saw of Africa were through news and Band Aid coverage of the famine in Ethiopia.  For me then, international development was what we did for African women and children.  

In the 21st century, with the rise of new powers like China and India, and the increasing prominence of investment and markets, the nature of international development has changed.  But, in many ways, the way that Africa is imagined has not.

In this podcast I will be speaking with Professor Emma Mawdsley about the power of geographical images, the rise of new agents, and what the future might hold for how international development is done.

Episode 2: Who does international development?

What are the political consequences of the Fire Age?  What does dust tell us about the modern world?  Who should be driving international development?  Is green consumerism really leading to a cleaner world?  Why is it OK to tell women to stay off the streets at night to increase safety, but not men? 

These are some of the questions we will be exploring in the first few episodes of Beyond the Map – a podcast that looks beyond the obvious to understand the hidden geographies that make our world.

Your host is Jo Sharp, a professor of geography and Scotland’s Geographer Royal. 

Beyond the Map

I am Jo Sharp, a Professor of Geography and Scotland's Geographer Royal.