Rob is a lecturer in International Development studies, who obtained his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2010. His interdisciplinary research to date emphasizes the discrepancies between the discourse(s) and practice(s) of development, the lived experience of intervention, the materilaity of the concept and the role of place in interpreting development. His particular focus has been on Tanzania and he plans to conduct further research into the migration across the Tanzania-Mozambique border, the extent to which the regions either side of the frontier fit into national(ist) stories of development and how these might be affected by future oil discoveries, both in southern Tanzania and in northern Mozambique.

Qualifications/ Previous Posts Held

October 2007- December 2010: PhD International Development, School of Environment and Development (SED), University of Manchester. Thesis Title: 'Understanding Contemporary Development: Tanzanian Life Narratives of Intervention'.

September 2005- September 2006: MA Development Studies (distinction). Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), SED, University of Manchester.

September 2002 - July 2005: BA (Hons) Economics and Sociology (First Class), School of Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol

July 2011 onwards: Lecturer in International Development, Department of Anthropology, International Politics and International Development, University of East London.

July - November 2011: Organising Committee and Reviewer, UEL Undergraduate Conference

January - July 2011: MA Dissertation Supervisor and Academic Tutor (Social Development), IDPM, SED, University of Manchester

Research interests include: development histories and geographies, political economy, development anthropology , the role of 'race' and ethnicitiy in development, post-colonialism, social development and international migration. His area of expertise is sub-Saharan - and partiuclarly - East Africa.

BA   International Development

BA   International Development with NGO Management

MSc NGO and Development Management

AI1000  Study Skills

AI1203  Political Economy of International Development

AI2201  Development: From Theory to Practice

AI2204  Globalisation: Anti, Alter and Development

AI3000  Research Methods - Africa Strand

AI3202  NGO Placement

AI3203  Food, Hunger and Development

AIM201 Development Management in the International Context

AIM 204 Qualitative Research Methods for The Social Sciences

Publications:

'The ‘Whiteness’ of Development in the ‘Third World’: Introductory Notes From Tanzania' (FORTHCOMING) - in B Shadle and PS Polanah, Contracted Symposium Collection -  'Whiteness Beyond the West'  (Virginia Tech)

Before and After Villagization in Tanzania: Development as a ‘Thing of the Past’ (UNDER REVIEW)

Research Grants Awarded

2007-2010 University of Manchester Alumni Fund PhD Scholarship

2009 University of Manchester Research Travel Award

Recent and Forthcoming Conference and Seminar Presentations

Ahearne, RM, 'The ‘Whiteness’ of Development in the ‘Third World’: Introductory Notes From Tanzania'. 'Whiteness Beyond the West' Symposium, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, November 3-5, 2011

Ahearne RM, ‘We Need Things to Progress’: Materialist conceptions of development in south-eastern Tanzania’. SIDNET Conference, University of Sheffield, March 7, 2011

Ahearne RM (with Maura Duffy) Invited speaker for Devt@Manchester Seminar Series: ‘Whose Development? Perceptions and experiences from Venezuela and Tanzania’, November 23, 2010.

‘Life Narratives of Intervention: alternative perceptions of development among older people in south-eastern Tanzania’. University of Manchester Conference May 19, 2010.

Relevant Work History

January - August 2007: Breakfast Club Tanzania (NGO) - founder and primary researcher in Tanzania (voluntary)

February - March 2008: Home Office Researcher (UK Alcohol Standards Reviewer)

September 2007 onwards: Breakfast Club Tanzania (NGO) - Financial Manager (voluntary)

Membership of Professional Bodies

•        Development Studies Association (since 2007)

•        African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE)  

•        CDC Action Group