Niheer Dasandi
MPhil/PhD Candidate in Political Science
- Name: Niheer Dasandi
- Email: niheer.dasandi@ucl.ac.uk
Thesis Title
Poverty in an Unequal World: A Quantitative Structural Analysis of the Effects of Inequality Between and Within Countries on World Poverty, 1980-2007 (submitted)
Existing explanations of the causes of poverty that dominate the development literature have tended to ignore the influence of international inequalities on poverty, instead focusing almost exclusively on domestic factors. Furthermore, these explanations pay insufficient attention to the effect of domestic inequality on poverty. This study addressed these shortcomings through a quantitative analysis of the effects of inequality between and within countries on poverty, between 1980 and 2007.
The study introduces a structural measure of international inequality based on countries’ positions in the international system, created by applying social network analysis to international trade networks to place countries into hierarchical positions. The study considers the impact of structural international inequality on poverty. The thesis also considers the historical roots of the current unequal international system by examining the impact of colonial factors on contemporary international inequality. In looking at the impact of domestic inequality on poverty, the study also aims to shed light on the processes through which domestic inequality impacts poverty in a country. The study also considers how the effects of domestic inequality on poverty vary according to countries’ positions in the international system, and in doing so aims to show that poverty is impacted by a combination of international and domestic factors. A key objective of the thesis is to demonstrate the manner in which world poverty is fundamentally tied to the structure of global political economy.
General Research Interests
My research focuses broadly on the political economy of development, and in particular on the following:
- Inequality and poverty
- International influences on development
- The relationship between poverty and civil conflict
- The politics of development
- The Millennium Development Goals
- Development policy, projects, and interventions
Publications
- “International Inequality and World Poverty: A Quantitative Structural Analysis”, (2013), forthcoming in New Political Economy.
- “Poverty Reductionism: The Exclusion of History, Politics, and Global Factors from Mainstream Poverty Analysis”, (2009), British International Studies Association (BISA) IPEG Papers in Global Political Economy Series, July 2009. http://www.bisa-ipeg.org/papers/39_dasandi.pdf
- “Fragile, but Stable” – The Guardian (online edition), October 2008.
Additional Information
I have previously worked as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on poverty reduction, poverty monitoring, and human security issues. I also work as an analyst for Populari a policy think tank based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I have a BSc. In Mathematics with Economics and an MSc. in International Public Policy, both from UCL.
Teaching
