Laura Routley - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Laura Routley

the coast that Britain established its colonial control over what is now Nigeria. This paper expl... more the coast that Britain established its colonial control over what is now Nigeria. This paper explores how the Park overwrites the colonial brutality that Broad Street Prison represents while re-inscribing rather than obliterating its brutal carceral past. It interrogates how the Park's narrative overwrites the colonial past and opens up an imagined prosperous Nigerian future, while, simultaneously struggling with some of the difficult heritage (Macdonald, 2008) of the post-independence era and failing to engage with the current brutality of the Nigerian legal system that troubles this imagined Nigeria. Broad Street Prison was mainly demolished in the 1970s, 1 and by the 1990s the site was wasteland used for dumping rubbish, despite being prime real estate in the centre of Lagos. Explanations given for this are either that the site was cursed by Chief Awolowo, a prominent political prisoner, 2 or that Nigeria's turbulent history of coup and counter-coup meant that contracts to develop the site were often rescinded on power change and that investors became shy of the site. 3 At one point there was a plan to build a facility on the site to extend the nearby maternity hospital, which did not take placeafter all who would want their baby born on site with such a history? 4 That it was neglected, left in a state of ruin, allowed to decay into a rubbish ground emerges from and illuminates the enduring trauma of colonial brutality that 1 I have seen different dates given for the closure and demolition of the prison but all are in the early 1970s. 2 Awolowo's significance as a figure in relation to Freedom Park is discussed below.

Social Science Research Network, 2013

This paper examines the take up of Political Economic Analysis (PEA) tools and approaches by deve... more This paper examines the take up of Political Economic Analysis (PEA) tools and approaches by development agencies. It charts the emergence of PEA, reviews the embryonic literature on this phenomenon and asks whether this approach assists donors and development agencies to comprehend politics and the impact of politics on the effectiveness of their programmes. There are distinct limits to what PEA can achieve in terms of development agencies fully engaging with politics due to their own politicaleconomy and institutional constraints. The real impact of close to a decade of increasing numbers of PEAs remains unknown. In conclusion we propose further research which will examine the effects of PEA approaches on development agencies and on the governments and societies which have been subject to PEAs and the resultant changes in development agencies policies and practices.

Politics, Jul 8, 2016

This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Condition... more This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

Architecture and Politics in Africa

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

Journal of International Development, 2010

Development Policy Review, 2014

This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Aid from the UK Department for Interna... more This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them. This paper conducts a review of the literature concerning developmental states, in order to identify gaps and suggest research questions which could be fruitful for the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Consortium to explore, within the remit of their proposed research programme. This literature review attends to three key questions about developmental states and the answers proposed to them within the literature, namely; what worked? Why did it work? And would it work elsewhere? It also examines an emerging literature suggesting other models of a developmental state more suited to contemporary c...

ESID Research Associate Laura Routley has produced an annotated bibliography as part of ESID'... more ESID Research Associate Laura Routley has produced an annotated bibliography as part of ESID's inception phase. This publication offers a starting point for investigating some of ESID research themes, drawing together what is known about the politics of what works, and laying out current insights into the key political processes which operate to build effective states and enable inclusive development. The bibliography concentrates on scholarship focused on three areas; Developmental States, Political Settlements and Citizenship Formation. These key concepts are a crucial element of the foundation on which ESID's research will be built.

Politics, 2016

Teaching Africa within international relations (IR) carries a responsibility to engage students w... more Teaching Africa within international relations (IR) carries a responsibility to engage students with the power relations that dominate Africa’s global position and ‘western’ knowledge of the continent. The key contribution of this article is to highlight the significance of difference and power relations not only when these are manifested in the identities present within the classroom but also just as importantly when they are not. The article argues that positionality and representations profoundly shape engagement with Africa. Who is in the classroom particularly matters when teaching material embedded in ongoing colonial relations. Disrupting students’ assumptions, such as their alignment with Western actors who will ‘solve’ Africa’s problems, may therefore involve disempowering them. By doing so, it is possible to potentially establish more productive starting points for learning about Africa within IR.

Political Geography, 2016