Applied Development Economics

The Applied Development Economics programme from SOAS University of Londonwill coordinate a programme of work in heterodox (feminist) economics or political economy.

This j Applied Development Economics programme from SOAS University of London focuses on the way in which mutually reinforcing tendencies of climate breakdown, financialisation, and post-pandemic economic and social pressures affect multiple dimensions of wellbeing, including the institutions, norms, policies and practices conditioning daily life in Africa.

Why study the SOAS-Wits Joint MPhil/PhD in Applied Development Economics?

We are:

• ranked 27th in UK for economics (QS World University Rankings 2023)

• top 20in the UK for student satisfaction with teaching (Complete University Guide 2023)

• top 40 in the UK for economics(Complete University Guide 2023)

Research Topics:

• This project seeks PhD proposals that interrogate unemployment in post-apartheid South Africa, from either a political economy or micro-economic perspective. South Africa has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world, and it might have been expected that substantially reducing unemployment would have been a priority of the democratically elected government from 1994.
• Amidst the emergence of numerous promising initiatives challenging economic orthodoxies in Africa—such as as the student-ledRethinking Economics For Africa, the feministNawi Collectiveand anexpert meeting in Dakaraimed at rethinking economic paradigms—the understanding of how economic ideas arise and take root on the continent could be further enriched. Economics, as a discipline that profoundly shapes visions for economic and social development alongside concrete policy approaches, occupies a central role.