Researchers from BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) presented four separate papers at the latest annual conference of the Development Studies Association in UK. “Unsettling Development” was the greater theme this year, with COVID-19, climate change, populism, demands for racial justice, and the rise of new powers being among the underlying themes to be explored. The online conference was organized and hosted by the University of East Anglia, between 28 June and 2 July 2021.
BIGD researchers Mehnaz Rabbani, Atiya Rahman, and Marjan Hossain presented their paper The Effect of Social Networks on Transaction Costs in Land Registration: A Case for Bangladesh at a panel on “Unsettling rural livelihoods: South Asian and Global perspectives”. The findings suggest the effect of social networks on land-related transaction costs are ambiguous. Individuals with social networks were found to spend less time on land registrations compared to their counterparts, while having a social network likely increased the costs incurred in land registrations. Additionally, lack of trust in the government as well as knowledge gaps could play a significant role in exploiting social networks for land accumulation.
Researchers Pragyna Mahpara and Maheen Sultan presented their paper Countering Sexual Harassment in Educational Institutes: Jahangirnagar University Students’ Movement at a panel on “Women’s organizing and resisting: visibilizing inequalities, countering backlash”. The paper explores how students of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, have mobilized for a sexual harassment policy in educational institutions since the 1990s, and the strategies used by students and teachers back then to counter resistance and transform their efforts into a national movement. The paper also analyzes the gains made due to the movement, the ongoing backlash faced by it, and the strategies employed by students today to keep it alive.
At a second session of the same panel, researchers Maheen Sultan and Iffat Jahan presented their paper on Women’s Leadership in Protecting Garment Workers’ Rights in the Time of COVID-19. The paper explores how women trade union leaders have mobilized during the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard workers’ rights. The paper also looks at strategies used to confront employers, buyers, and government agencies and the backlash faced by the women leaders from each of these actors and how they have countered it.
Researchers Razia Sultana and Lopita Huq presented their paper on Economic Exclusion and Precariousness of Lives during COVID-19: the Case of Domestic Workers in Bangladesh at a panel on “Power, marginalization and inclusion in the governance of urban informal economies”. Domestic workers enter the urban economy mainly through informal labour markets, finding “precarious work” that are characterized by low wages, income insecurity, and low quality. As a result, domestic workers are a highly marginalized and vulnerable group in terms of protection and privileges from the state, labour laws or social protection measures. The study focuses primarily on migrant and female domestic workers by qualitatively exploring the precarity of domestic workers’ lives in the pandemic.
Researchers from BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) presented four separate papers at the latest annual conference of the Development Studies Association in UK. “Unsettling Development” was the greater theme this year, with COVID-19, climate change, populism, demands for racial justice, and the rise of new powers being among the underlying themes to be explored. The online conference was organized and hosted by the University of East Anglia, between 28 June and 2 July 2021.
BIGD researchers Mehnaz Rabbani, Atiya Rahman, and Marjan Hossain presented their paper The Effect of Social Networks on Transaction Costs in Land Registration: A Case for Bangladesh at a panel on “Unsettling rural livelihoods: South Asian and Global perspectives”. The findings suggest the effect of social networks on land-related transaction costs are ambiguous. Individuals with social networks were found to spend less time on land registrations compared to their counterparts, while having a social network likely increased the costs incurred in land registrations. Additionally, lack of trust in the government as well as knowledge gaps could play a significant role in exploiting social networks for land accumulation.
Researchers Pragyna Mahpara and Maheen Sultan presented their paper Countering Sexual Harassment in Educational Institutes: Jahangirnagar University Students’ Movement at a panel on “Women’s organizing and resisting: visibilizing inequalities, countering backlash”. The paper explores how students of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, have mobilized for a sexual harassment policy in educational institutions since the 1990s, and the strategies used by students and teachers back then to counter resistance and transform their efforts into a national movement. The paper also analyzes the gains made due to the movement, the ongoing backlash faced by it, and the strategies employed by students today to keep it alive.
At a second session of the same panel, researchers Maheen Sultan and Iffat Jahan presented their paper on Women’s Leadership in Protecting Garment Workers’ Rights in the Time of COVID-19. The paper explores how women trade union leaders have mobilized during the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard workers’ rights. The paper also looks at strategies used to confront employers, buyers, and government agencies and the backlash faced by the women leaders from each of these actors and how they have countered it.
Researchers Razia Sultana and Lopita Huq presented their paper on Economic Exclusion and Precariousness of Lives during COVID-19: the Case of Domestic Workers in Bangladesh at a panel on “Power, marginalization and inclusion in the governance of urban informal economies”. Domestic workers enter the urban economy mainly through informal labour markets, finding “precarious work” that are characterized by low wages, income insecurity, and low quality. As a result, domestic workers are a highly marginalized and vulnerable group in terms of protection and privileges from the state, labour laws or social protection measures. The study focuses primarily on migrant and female domestic workers by qualitatively exploring the precarity of domestic workers’ lives in the pandemic.
