The politics of social policy making has long been a major focus of the Institute’s research. Research in the 2010s was conducted through the ‘Legislating and Implementing Welfare Policy Reforms’ programme, funded by the British government’s Department for International Development.
Our research has continued through the 2020s, involving Professor Jeremy Seekings, Dr Hangala Siachiwena, Dr Sikhanyiso Masuku and a series of PhD students. PhD students working on this currently include Patience Masi (researching in Malawi), Lena Gronbach (on payment systems), Giorgia Nicolo (on South Africa), and Justin Verity (on social protection for informal sector workers in Botswana and South Africa). Winnie Arthur submitted her PhD thesis on attitudes towards welfare and work in Botswana (with comparisons to South Africa and Zambia) in late 2025. Masters students Margret Chavula and Alessendra Tunde also work on social protection in Malawi and Tania de Carvalho works on Angola.
Recent projects include a study for UNICEF (by Jeremy Seekings and Hangala Siachiwena) summarizing the literature on the political economy of social protection in Africa. When UNICEF queried the lack of analysis of Francophone West and Central Africa, the study was extended to consider in detail whether Francophone West and Central Africa are different to the better-studied Anglophone countries of East and Southern Africa, and if so, why.