The University of Sheffield
Department of Geography

Dr Jewellord (Jojo) T Nem Singh

Lecturer in Development

Room number: E15
Telephone (internal): 27944
Telephone (UK): 0114 222 7944
Telephone (International): +44 114 222 7944
Email: J.Nemsingh@Sheffield.ac.uk

I joined the Department of Geography in March 2013 as Lecturer in Development. I am a graduate of the University of the Philippines (BA in Political Science), Lund University (Masters in Asian Studies, with distinction), and the University of Sheffield (PhD in Politics). I was briefly appointed as Post Doctoral Research Assistant in the Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID), where I continue to take an active research role by serving as Convenor of the IPE of Development cluster. Since 2012, I have also been elected as Convenor of the Development Politics Specialist Group in the Political Studies Association (PSA).

I have worked in different projects examining development and democratisation in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Between 2011 and 2013, I was Research Assistant to Professor Anders Uhlin (Lund University) for the Transdemos Project: Democracy beyond the Nation State? Transnational Actors in Global Governance. In addition, I also wrote with Jean Grugel on the implications of the student protests in Chile on neoliberal democracy and social inequality.

My doctoral research, completed in 2012, draws from historical institutionalism and critical political economy to examine institutional change in Left-led Latin America. Focussing on the petroleum and copper sectors of Brazil and Chile respectively, it explains the persistence of state ownership and presence of state-owned enterprises in strategic sectors before and during neoliberal reforms. The hybridity in this reform project delineates these cases to other Left governments in the region, and consequently, challenges existing understandings of post-neoliberalism in Latin America. This, inevitably, has implications to existing debates on developmental strategies and patterns of engagement between states, markets and labour.

Research Interests

 Global governance; natural resource politics; IPE of development; rising powers; democratisation; advocacy politics; citizenship and social movements; Latin America; Southeast Asia

Current research

My current research sits between political economy and development studies, focussing on three key areas.

(1) On the political economy of natural resources
My work on natural resource politics aims to move beyond the ‘resource curse’ approach in understanding the vital role of natural resources in development in the context of low and middle-income countries. I am interested in exploring under what conditions resource abundance can produce equitable growth in developing countries, and subsequently, whether the eclipse of neoliberal orthodoxy is paving way for new models of national development based on a stronger, more active role for states in economic governance. Whilst institutional design undoubtedly matters in reform processes, the challenge rests on sustaining policy change through institutional arrangements among key actors. Hence, the next phase of my research develops the concept of ‘growth coalitions’, drawing mainly from research on political settlements and negotiated politics, to investigate the degree to which states can formulate extractive bargains with producer classes (especially with multinational capital) and the citizenry. This has given rise to several research collaborations with various academics in the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe.

(2) Citizenship, social movements and democratisation
This strand of my work recognises that even in contexts where a developmental consensus exists, social conflicts may arise, and almost inevitably, require a considerable degree of political inclusion in order to maintain coherent strategies of development. Much of this work focuses on citizenship regimes and contentious politics in Latin America and Southeast Asia, examining the process of claims-making, political contestation, and demands formation at various scales and in different places. I have done some research on regional civil society activism in Asia, student protests in Chile, and more recently, contentious politics in mining regimes in Latin America and Southeast Asia. In the context of extractive states, my work looks at the impact of social conflicts, particularly in relation to labour unions and organised civil society, in generating pro-growth coalitions.

(3) Global governance and rising powers 
My latest contribution in this field coheres around the ideas presented in Resource Governance and Developmental States in the Global South (Palgrave Macmillan), where we analysed the variegated consequences of neoliberalism in resource management in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The research likewise builds upon existing collaboration with Håvard Haarstad, Andrew Lawrence and Eliza Massi on the changing architecture of global resource governance and state strategies of middle-income countries (most notably Brazil) in expanding development spaces for resource-rich states.

Teaching and supervision

I teach at both undergraduate and masters levels on international development and human geography. I believe in research-led teaching, and therefore, draw my empirical and conceptual discussions from my own experience as an individual from, and who conduct research on, the global South. I encourage my students to critically think about the relationship between theory and praxis, and importantly, challenge received wisdoms theoretically to be able to reflect on the manifestations of power and inequality in the real world.

From Autumn 2013, my contribution to undergraduate courses include:
GEO103 Region, Nation and the World
GEO163 Information & Communication Skills for Geographers
GEO336 Development and Global Change (Convenor)
GEO367 Geographies of Development Field Class

At Masters level, I enjoy teaching different courses related to the environment and development studies. In particular, I am involved in the following modules:

GEO6801 Ideas and Practice in International Development (Convenor)
GEO6803 Professional Skills for Development (Convenor)
GEO6806 Key Issues in Environment and Development

Key Publications
  • Nem Singh, JT and F Bourgouin, editors (Forthcoming). Resource Governance and Developmental States in the Global South: Critical International Political Economy Perspectives. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Nem Singh, JT (Forthcoming). Towards Post-neoliberal Resource Politics? The International Political Economy (IPE) of Oil and Copper in Brazil and Chile.New Political Economy.
  • Nem Singh, JT (2010). Reconstituting the Neostructuralist State: Political Economy of Continuity with Change in Chilean Mining Policy. Third World Quarterly, 31(8): 1413-1433.
    doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.538240

Professional affiliations 

British International Studies Association (BISA)
Development Studies Association (DSA)
International Studies Association (ISA)
Political Studies Association (PSA)
Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)