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Neil Anthony Webster

BA Joint Honours, Sociology & Economics; MA, Sociology; MSc, International Relations; PhD, Sociology
Senior Researcher, research unit on Politics and development
, +45 3269 8735

Personal CV

Expertise

Democracy, local government reform; the local politics of access and accountability in government service provision and development activities; government and non-government organisations’ roles in rural development; elites and policy making; the study of poverty and poverty reduction; South Asia with particular focus on India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Selected projects and programmes

Research into the role of elites in Bangladesh in the formulation and implementation of pro-poor development programmes. This is part of the research programme on Elites and the New Poverty Agenda: A comparative study.

Research on the local politics of service provision with a focus on local governance and issues of citizenship, participation, representation, and mechanisms for accountability and access to services, education in particular.

Long-term research project on political interventions for rural development and poverty reduction in West Bengal. The core of this work has been repeated village studies undertaken in 1977-78, 1987-8 and 1998.

Selected publications

Between Idealism and Realism: Supporting Good Governance in Fragile States. Copenhagen: DIIS Policy Brief. 2008.

Alignment and Harmonisation: experiences from project support to local governance in Bangladesh’ (in Danish). In Den Ny Verden, vol. 40, no. 3. 2007.

Understanding the Evolving Diversities and Originalities in Rural Social Movements in West Bengal. In Civil Society and the Market Question: Dynamics of rural development and popular mobilization. Ed. by K. Ghimire. Geneva: UNRISD. 2005.

Do the Poor Matter Enough? A Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Reduction in India. With S. Folke, A. Cox and L. Schulpen. New Delhi: Concept. 2002.

In the Name of the Poor: Contesting Political Space for Poverty Reduction. Ed. with Lars Engberg-Pedersen. Co-author of two chapters and sole author of one. London: Zed Press. 2002.

Selected commissioned work

2008 Support to Building Local Democracy Programme for Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke-Action Aid, including Team Leader of Appraisal of Country Programme in Nepal.

2007 Team Leader for Joint Mission for Danida Support to Local Governance and Decentralisation in Bangladesh. 11 March – 03 April.

2006 Team Leader for Appraisal cum Identification Mission on Danida Support to Local Governance and Decentralisation. September-October.

2006 International Consultant to UNDP and UNCDF Assessment of the Context for Local Governance in Nepal. Report.

2005 Consultant to UNDP Pakistan Devolution Support Mission and co-author to the Policy Support for Devolution Pakistan. First Draft: 9 November.

Selected research related activities

Board member of Swedish South Asian Studies Network; the Association of Development Researchers; the Danish Network for International Health Research.

Policy adviser to MSActionAid and Dan Church Aid.

Lecturer on International Public Health MA course, Copenhagen University, regular guest lectures: Copenhagen Business School, Lund University, Oslo University.

Peer Reviewer for diverse international journals including European Journal of Development and World Development.

PhD supervisor, currently 3 PhDs.

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