Dr Meera Tiwari is Reader in International Development specializing in multidimensional poverty, the Capability Approach and sustainable human development.

She is based in the School of Law and Social Sciences at the University of East London. She teaches on the MSc NGO and Development Management and BA International Development and International Development with NGO Management programmes. Her research interests are - exploring social and economic poverties within the Capability Approach, exploring deprivation in both Northern and Southern contexts, the MDGs and the post 2015 discourse, and how can globalization be made to work for the most vulnerable communities.

Brief biography:

Dr. Meera Tiwari is Reader in International Development in the School of Law and Social Sciences at the University of East London. She teaches on the BA International Development and International Development with NGO Management and MSc NGO and Development Management programmes. Her research interests are - exploring social and economic poverties within the Capability Approach, exploring deprivation in both Northern and Southern contexts, the MDGs and the post 2015 discourse and how can globalization be made to work for the most vulnerable communities.

Short CV:

Qualifications

* PhD, University of Southampton, 2001

* M.Phil University of Lancaster 1990.

Previous posts held

* Temporary Lecturer in Economics, University of Hertfordshire, 2001-03

Professional Membership and responsibilities:

• Development Studies Association (DSA): Co-convenor for Poverty Group (2003 -
• European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI): Co-convenor Multidimensional Poverty Group (2005 –
• Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA): Co-convenor for Sustainable Human Development Group (2008 –
• Development Studies Association (DSA) Council Member, November 2008 -
• Referee for the cross-UEL journal, The World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development;
• Field representative on the School Research Committee at UEL
• Reviewer for Global Development Network
• Reviewer for Geoforum-Elsevier
• Reviewer for World Development
• Reviewer for Global Development Network
• Reviewer for European Journal for Development Research
• External subject specialist on University of Derby’s Validation Panel
• Ph.D supervision to four students

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Areas of interest/Summary of Expertise:

• Exploring social and economic poverties within the Capability Approach, studying sustainable poverty and livelihoods pathways, investigating the interface of the emerging technologies with the poor and how can globalization be made to work for the most vulnerable communities.
• She has conducted field work to study the User Perspective of Information and Communication Technologies in Rural India (Madhya Pradesh and Bihar). The objective was to explore if such technologies can be enablers of social and economic poverty reduction in rural India.
• Currently she is working on applying Poverty and Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) and Outcome Mapping tools Livelihoods Policy frameworks to study the impact on poverty reduction in rural Bihar, India.

Teaching:

* AI2201: Development: Theory and Practice

* AI2204: Globalisation – Anti, Alter and Development

* AI3000: Dissertation – Research Methodology

* AI3000: Asia Strand

* AI3203: Food, Hunger and Development

* AI3202: NGO Placement

* AIM201 Development Management in the International Context

* MSc NGO and Development Management

Research Grants:

• UEL Promising Research Award: Can ICTs be Drivers of Growth for the rural poor - a case study of India: fieldwork at Dhar and Madhubani districts of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, February – June, 2007
• ESRC-ICSSR: Poverty and Social Impact analysis of Rural Livelihoods Programme in Bihar, India. A small grant has been awarded from the ESRC-ICSSR to conduct the pilot for the Bihar component of the larger project, February – July, 2009

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Research / Publications:

Journal articles

2005: Poverty and economic policy: what happens when researchers disagree? Journal of International Development, Vol17, 791-801. (Joint with A. Sumner)

2006: An Overview of growth in the ICT sector in India: can this growth be pro-poor? In The World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development. Vol 3(4), pp. 298-315

2007: Chronic Poverty and Entitlement Theory, Third World Quarterly, 2007, Vol 28(1), pp. 171-191

2008: ICTs and Poverty Reduction: User perspective study of rural Madhya Pradesh, India European Journal for Development Research, Vol 20 (3), pp. 448-461

Also in http://www.id21.org/rural/r3mt2g1.html

2008: ICTs in Rural India: User perspective study of two different models in rural Madhya Pradesh and rural Bihar, India Science, Technology and Society, Vol 13 (2), pp. 233-258

2009: The meaning of wellbeing: a grassroots level perspective – how much of it is visible to the researchers? Social Indicators Research, Vol 90 (1), 127-140

Can be also viewed with institutional access at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9316-6

2009: After 2015: What Are The Ingredients Of An MDG Plus Agenda For Poverty Reduction? (joint with Sumner, A), Journal of International Development, Autumn Vol 21(6), pp 834 - 843

2010: ‘Didi’ of Rural Bihar: the real agent of change? Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLV(33), pp. 27-30

Global Poverty Reduction to 2015 and Beyond, Global Policy, (with A. Sumner) Vol 2 (2) May,

Book and Book Chapters:

2009: Does FDI reduce poverty? The Indian cases, Chapter in TNC and Development Policy, Critical Perspectives (Eds) Rugraff, E, Sánchez-Ancochea, D and Sumner A., Palgrave.

2009: After 2015: Growth, Governance And Globalisation, International Development Policy at a Crossroads – joint with A. Sumner: June 2009, Palgrave

Forthcoming:

2011: The Global Financial Crisis And Agents Of Change In RuralIndia: Are There Lessons From Their Saving Led Model?

Sustainable Human Development at the Grassroots:  Different Contexts, Similar Ingredients? (with S. Ibrahim), (awaiting review)

In search of models for Social Inclusion in India: case studies in rural and urban Bihar, (paper under revision and to be submitted to Economic and Political Weekly in Februrary, 2011)

Conference papers/participation

2004. Entitlement Theory Revisited, presented at the Capability and Sustainability Centre Workshop, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, 19 May.

2004. Rural poverty and growth in India: is there a threshold for a progressive elasticity? Paper presented for the Development Studies Association, Agriculture and Rural Development Study Group, ‘Poverty, Inequality and Livelihoods’ meeting, University of Reading, 30 June.

2004. With Sumner, A. Poverty reduction: hasresearch answered the ‘big’ policy questions? DSA Poverty Study Group re-launch meeting, ‘Poverty reduction: hasresearch answered the ‘big’ policy questions?’ DSA Annual Conference, ‘Bridging research and policy’, Church House, London, 6 November.

2004. The Information Technology revolution in India: What implications does it have for growth and poverty. Paper presented at the World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development conference, 8-10 November, 2004, Napier University, Edinburgh.

2004. If poverty is multi-dimensional shouldn't methodology be so too? Paper presented at the DSA Epistemology and Methodology Workshop, 12-15 December 2004.

2005. Making Public Expenditure and Public Policy More Focused, Paper presented for the DSA Finance and Poverty Study Group, meeting, London South Bank University, 3 June, 2005.

2005. Will the MDGs be achieved by 2015? ( DSA conference, Milton Keynes, 7-9 September 2005).

2005. Entitlement Theory and Chronic Poverty, (EADI workshop, Warsaw, 15-16 December, 2005)

2006. Growth in China and India: Impact on domestic development, global challenges and opportunities,(EADI workshop, Antwerp, 31st March – 1st April 2006).

2006. Nature of FDI and impact on domestic human capital and multidimensional poverty: a conceptual mapping in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in India, (DSA conference, Reading, 11th November, 2006.

2007. Non-traditional partnership model, CSR and rural poverty reduction – a case study of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh, India (DSA CSR and Poverty Group meeting on CSR and the bottom of the pyramid approach, Judge Business School, Cambridge, 18 June, 2007)

2007: The meaning of wellbeing: a grassroots level perspective – how much of it is visible to the researchers? (Conference on Wellbeing in International Development, Bath, UK, 28-30 June, 2007).

2007: ICTs and Poverty Reduction: User perspective study of rural Madhya Pradesh, India (DSA Annual Conference: Connecting Science, Society and Development, 18-20 September, IDS, Brighton

2007: UNIRSD Conference on Business, Social Policy and Corporate Political Influence in Developing Countries, Geneva, 12-13 November

2008: New Challenges for a New India, British Association of South Asian Studies, Annual Conference, A New India? Studying India in the Long Twentieth Century, University of Leicester, 26-28 March, 2008

2008: ICTs in Rural India: User perspective study of two different models in rural Madhya Pradesh and rural Bihar, India (paper presented at ‘ICTs and Development: Experiences from Asia’, National University of Singapore, 24-25 April

2008: In search of policies for those likely to be left behind by the MDGs (paper presented at the EADI conference on ‘Global Governance for Sustainable Development’ Geneva 24-28 June 2008

2008: Capability Approach and policies for those likely to be left behind, paper presented in the panel on ‘Capabilities and Well-being in the 21st Century’ at the HDCA Conference New Delhi, 10-13 September 2008

2009: Presentation of the findings of the pilot for Poverty and Social Impact of BRLP, Bihar Workshop 14-16 July 2009,

2009: World Bank Workshop on Livelihoods – presentation of the pilot findings for Poverty and Social Impact of BRLP, Bihar, August 3,

2009: The Global Financial Crisis And Agents Of Change In RuralIndia: Are There Lessons From Their SavingLed Model? Paper presented at the DSA Annual Conference, Current Crises and New Opportunities, 2nd - 4th September 2009, University of Ulster, Colraine

2009: JeeVika: enabling the rural ‘didi’ of Bihar to become real agents of change? to be presented at the International Conference on Women, Employment & Poverty In Bihar, India, November 7-8,

2010: Research Strategy for ICT for Development: roundtable discussion, Bangalore, India, 12-14 January - invited key panel speaker

2010: Can the Human Development Approach Improve the Development Outcomes? Paper presented at ‘Twenty Years of Human Development, The past and the Future of the Human Development Index’ 28-29 January, St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, UK

2010:  Panel speaker at the International Symposium at Harvard University: The MDGs and Human Rights on 22-23 March 2010.

2010: Panel organizer - Conceptualizing Sustainable Human Development from a Capability Perspective at the HDCA conference September 21-23, Aman, ‘Sustainable Human Development at grassroots – different contexts, similar ingredients?’ Paper presented at the conference.

2010: Co-Panel organizer at the DSA, conference, November 5, London, 'Rights, Capabilities and Wellbeing: Poverty and the Ethical Lens after the MDGs' ‘In search of models for Social Inclusion in India: case studies in rural and urban Bihar’ Paper presented at the conference’.

• Millennium Development Goals
• The future of the MDGs
• Poverty Reduction
• Poverty and social impacts of rural livelihood
• The Capability Approach and its practical applications
• Development Management