Dr Julie Hearn

Lecturer

Degree: PhD (Politics) University of Leeds.

Current Teaching

She is the MA director and convenor of the following courses:

POLI210 The Politics of Development

POLI326 Africa and Global Politics

POLI409 Globalization, the State and Democracy in the Third World

Research Interests

Julie Hearn joined the department in 2005, having taught previously at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London; the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Sussex. Within critical development studies, her research interests include the international politics of aid, civil society, social movements and migrant workers within the historic and contemporary context of North-South relations. Her research interests have evolved in three main directions: the global political economy of civil society in African countries; the labour movement in Argentina; and trade union mobilization among low paid Latin American migrant workers in London.

Aid, Civil Society and the Global Political Economy of Africa

Julie has been studying Northern aid policy towards African civil societies, within the broader context of the region's global political economy, for the past fifteen years. This has included ESRC-funded doctoral research in Kenya, a collaborative research project between the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex and research institutes in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa as well as a number of consultancies for the Department for International Development (DfID) in Uganda and the UK. Her research has been published in academic and non-academic fora. The most recent draws on the concept of the comprador, developed in earlier theories of imperialism, to examine the extent to which African NGOs have become key intermediaries for Northern development policy. She has participated in the editorial working group of the Review of African Political Economy.

The Labour Movement in Argentina

Having been a member of the Argentina Solidarity Campaign in London, initiated in response to the economic crisis, she spent ten months in Buenos Aires in 2002-2003 undertaking participant observation in the piqueteros and fabricas ocupadas - unemployed workers and occupied factories - movements. She has presented her findings, placed within the historical context of Argentina's labour movement, at a number of international conferences. In 2007 she taught at a postgraduate summer-school at the University of Buenos Aires, organized by the Euro-Latin American university network, REDESFRO.

Low Paid Migrant Workers in London

Julie's current research, undertaken with Monica Bergos and funded by a 2008 British Academy Small Grant, explores trade union mobilization among Latin American cleaners in London.

As a researcher, educator and activist on issues of poverty, power, discrimination and agency I am interested in embodied, engaged scholarship.

Potential Doctoral Proposals

Any of the research interests listed.

Publications

Academic Articles

'African NGOs: The New Compradors?' Development and Change 38(6): 1095-1110 (2007).

'The "Invisible NGO": US Evangelical Missions in Kenya', Journal of Religion in Africa 32(1): 32-60 (2002).

'The "Uses and Abuses" of Civil Society in Africa', Review of African Political Economy (28)87: 43-53 (2001).

'Aiding Democracy? Donors and Civil Society in South Africa', Third World Quarterly 21(5): 815-30 (2000). Republished in Moseley, W. (ed) Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial African Issues, McGraw Hill (3rd edn 2009).

'The "NGO-isation" of Kenyan Society: USAID and the Restructuring of Health Care', Review of African Political Economy (25)75: 89-100 (1998).

Book Chapters

'The US Democratic Experiment in Ghana' in Zack-Williams, T., Frost, D., Thomson, A. (eds.) Africa in Crisis: New Challenges and Possibilities, London: Pluto Press, pp. 97-108, (2002).

'Civil Society and Democracy Assistance in Africa' (with Mark Robinson) in Burnell, P. (ed.) Democracy Assistance, London: Frank Cass, pp. 241-62, (2000).

Articles and Published Papers

'Kenya and the Myth of 'African barbarism', Spiked, 10 January 2008.

'Aiding Civil Society? Some Critical Questions', Africa World Review, February - July: 7-11 2000.

'Foreign Political Aid, Democratisation and Civil Society in Uganda in the 1990s', Centre for Basic Research Working Paper 53, August 1999.

'Foreign Political Aid, Democratisation, and Civil Society in Africa: A Study of South Africa, Ghana and Uganda', IDS Discussion Paper 368, March 1999.

Book Reviews

Igoe, J. & Kelsall, T. (eds) (2005) 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place: African NGOs, Donors and the State', Journal of Modern African Studies 44(4) (2006).

Other Activities

I am a member of the local Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) executive and I have a three year old son.

Associated Keywords: Capitalism, Development, Employment, Low pay, Migrants, Neo-liberalism, Political economy, Politics, Social movements, Trade Unions

«Back

Save this page: Del.icio.us Digg It Reddit Facebook Stumble It!