Dan Banik
Professor and Director of the Oslo SDG Initiative

Norwegian version of this page
Email
dan.banik@sum.uio.no
Phone
+47-22858735
Mobile phone
+47-93696583
Username
Visiting address
Sandakerveien 130
Bygg 2
0484 OSLO
Postal address
Postboks 1116
Blindern
0317 OSLO
- Professor of Political Science
- Director of The Oslo SDG Initiative, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
- Affiliate Professor, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education (SHE), Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
- Host of the In Pursuit of Development podcast
- Columnist, The Nation
Previous employment
- Consulting Scholar, Stanford University, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (2014-2017)
- Adjunct Professor, College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, Beijing (2012- 2017)
- Associate Professor, Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo (2005-2014)
- Visiting Associate Professor, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law, Stanford University (2013-2014)
- Visiting Scholar, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law, Stanford University (2010-2011)
- Fulbright Scholar, Stanford Centre on Poverty and Inequality, Stanford University (2010-2011)
- Head of Reference Group, Norwegian-Finnish Trust Fund in the World Bank for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (TFESSD), Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2008-2010)
- Visiting Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC (2006)
Courses taught
- Achieving the SDGs: Global goals and national interests, Oslo SDG Initiative at the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo (free and open online course)
- What Works? Success Stories in International Development, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo (Norway's first international MOOC)
- The Politics of Poverty, Dept. of Political Science, University of Oslo
- Master of Public Administration and Management, University of Malawi
- Law and Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing
- Poverty and Development, United Nations University, Tokyo
- From Scarcity to Access and Rights: Changing Perspectives on Food Insecurity, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
- Approaches to Development, Aarhus University, Denmark
Selected publications
Books:
- The African State: Legitimacy, Governance and Development (edited with Happy Kayuni and Boniface Dulani, under contract with Routledge for publication in 2021/22)
- Political Transition, Poverty and Inclusive Development in Malawi: The Democratic Dividend (with Blessings Chinsinga, Routledge, 2016) (open access)
- The Legal Empowerment Agenda: Poverty, Labour and the Informal Economy in Africa, London: Routledge (2011)
- Poverty and Elusive Development, Oslo: Scandinavian University Press/Universitetsforlaget (2010) (open access)
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Rights and Legal Empowerment in Eradicating Poverty, London: Ashgate/ Routledge (2008)
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Starvation and India's Democracy, London: Routledge (2007 & 2009)
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Poverty, Politics and Development: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Bergen: Fagbokforlaget (2006)
Selected articles:
- "The 2030 agenda and the push for electrification in Africa: a tale of two countries", in P. Singh, P. Verma, D. Perrotti and K.K. Srivastava (eds.), Environmental Sustainability and Economy, Amsterdam: Elsevier. (2021)
- "The perils of megaphone diplomacy on Malawi’s ambitious Shire- Zambezi Waterway project", Africa Review 13(2): 270-289 (with Happy Kayuni and Joseph Chunga) (2021)
- "The Politics of Hunger: Food Policy in Malawi" (with Michael Chasukwa), Food Ethics 3(4) (2019)
- "Business and Morals: Corporate Strategies for Sustainable Development in China" (with Ka Lin), Business and Politics (21(4): 514–539, 2019) (open access)
- "Food Security in a Sustainable Development Era", Food Ethics 3(4) (2019) (open access)
- "Bypassing Government: Aid Effectiveness and Malawi's Local Development Fund" (with Michael Chasukwa), Politics and Governance 7(2): 103–116 (2019) (open access)
- "Transforming Research, Teaching and Learning of Public Administration for Improved Governance and Management: The Norhed experience in Malawi", (with Happy Kayuni, Bonface Dulani and Kaja Elise Gresko) chapter 21 in T. Halvorsen, K. S. Orgeret & R. Krøvel (eds.), Sharing Knowledge, Transforming Societies The Norhed Programme 2013–2020, Cape Town: African Minds (2019) (open access)
- "The Perils of Megaphone Diplomacy: Malawian--Mozambican Relations Following the Shire-Zambezi Waterway Project", Department of Political and Administrative Studies (PAS) working paper series, Chancellor College, Malawi, September (2019) (pdf)
- "Global Goals and the National Interest: Political Enthusiasm for Sustainable Development in China", in Sanjeev Chaddha (ed.), UN's Sustainable Development Goals: Panacea for Inclusive Development, New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publishers (forthcoming 2019).
- "The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs: Integrating Development and Environment in Practice", The Calcutta Journal of Political Studies (forthcoming 2019)
- "Institutional Bypass and Aid Effectiveness in Africa" (with Michael Chasukwa), WIDER working paper series March 2019, United Nations University, UNU-WIDER (2019).
- "Coordinating Chinese Aid in a Globalized World", research article, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy (2019) (pdf)
- "Taking Stock of the SDGs", in Deepak Dwivedi and Pooran Pandey (eds.), Leaving No One Behind: SDGs and South-South Cooperation, New Delhi: NITI AYOG/ Crossbill (2018) (pdf)
- "Chinese engagement in Africa and Latin America: Does it Matter for State Capacity?", Third World Thematics (with Benedicte Bull, 2018)
- "The Legal Empowerment of the Poor”, in Christopher May, Adam Winchester & Gill Gardner (eds.), The Edward Elgar Handbook on the Rule of Law, Cheltenham, Edgar Elgar (2018)
- "New Business: The Private Sector as a New Global Development Player" (with Jason Miklian), Global Policy Journal (2017)
- "A Climate for Commerce: The Political Agronomy of Conservation Agriculture in Zambia" (with Ola Westengen et.al.), Agriculture and Human Values (2017)
- "The Digital Classroom: Innovation, Dissemination and Democratization of Knowledge", in Susanne Koch (ed.), Norwegian Agency for Digital Learning in Higher Education (2017)
- "An Exogenous Path of Development: Explaining the Rise of Corporate Social Responsibility in China" (with Ka Lin and Longfei Yi), International Journal of Social Quality (2016)
- "The Hungry Nation: Food Policy and Food Politics in India", Food Ethics, 1-29 (2016)
- "The Frontiers of Poverty Reduction in Emerging Asia" (with Arve Hansen), Forum for Development Studies (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2015.1134646
- "The Impact of Emerging Donors on Development and Poverty Reduction" (with Michael Chasukwa), chap. 9 in D. Banik & B. Chinsinga (eds.), Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi: The Democratic Dividend, New York: Routledge (2016)
- "The State of Food Security: From Availability, Access and Rights to Food Systems Approaches" (with Ola T. Westengen), Forum for Development Studies (2016).
- "Difference or Indifference: China's Development Assistance Unpacked" (with Li Xiaoyun, Tang Lixia and Wu Jin, IDS Bulletin, 45(4): 22-35. (2014)
- "Access to Justice and Social Unrest in China's Countryside: Disputes on Land Acquisition and Compensation" (with Zhou Chao), Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 6(2): 254-275. (2014)
- "Fieldwork amidst Poverty and Deprivation: Ethical Dilemmas and Policy Impact", Indian Anthropologist 44: 53-68. (2014)
- "Walking the Talk: Rights, Justice and the Fight Against Poverty" in Patrick Keyzer, Vesselin Popovski and Charles Sampford (ed.), Access to International Justice, London: Routledge (2014).
- "The Global Citizen and the Immorality of Poverty" in Aksel Braanen Sterri (ed.), Global Citizen: Challenges and Responsibilities in an Interconnected World, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers (2014).
- "The Pursuit of Inclusive Development in China: From Developmental to Rights-Based Social Protection" (with Li Xiaoyun), Indian Journal of Human Development, 7(1): 205-221. (2013)
- "China and Poverty Reduction in Africa", in Guanghua Yu (ed.), Rethinking Law and Development: The Chinese Experience, London: Routledge (2013).
- "Growth and Hunger in India", in Francis Fukuyama, Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner (eds.), Poverty, Inequality and Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. (2012)
- "Human Rights for Human Development: The Rhetoric and the Reality", Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 30(1) (2012).
- "Growth and Hunger in India", Journal of Democracy, 22 (3): 90-104. (2011)
- "Governing an Asian Giant: Judicial Activism on Hunger in India”, Journal of Asian Public Policy, 3(3), 2010
- “Support for Human Rights-Based Development: Reflections on the Malawian Experience”, The International Journal of Human Rights, 14(1), 2010.
- “Governing the Asian Giants: Development Policy in China and India” (with B. A. Andreassen), Journal of Asian Public Policy, 3(3), 2010.
- “Human Rights and Extreme Poverty: African Perspectives” (with B. A. Andreassen), The International Journal of Human Rights, 14(1), 2010.
- “Legal Empowerment as a Conceptual and Operational Tool in Fighting Poverty”, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 1 (1): 117-131, 2009.
Published Aug. 15, 2011 2:52 PM
- Last modified Aug. 3, 2021 1:31 PM