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Ben Radley

Reader in International Development

Researching energy, mining and labour in the context of green transitions, with a regional focus on Africa and Asia-Pacific. Also writing on the history, theory and praxis of development and development studies.

Books

“The analysis in this book should inspire policy makers in African countries who hope to chart a new course towards resource-based industrialization that is transformative, inclusive, and sustainable”

Léonce Ndikumana, Distinguished Professor of Economics

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Read Chapters 1 to 3

An edited collection of 38 interviews bringing to life older voices of liberation and lost radical histories alongside newer initiatives, projects, and activists engaged in contemporary struggles to reshape Africa. Voices include Samir Amin, Issa Shivji, Hakim Adi, and Marjorie Mbilinyi.

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Writing

Energy

Mining

Labour

Development

Conflict Minerals

Miscellany

Creative Projects

The Why Africa Podcast

In 2022, Cynthia Kamwengo and I co-hosted the Why Africa Podcast mini-series, produced and edited by Holly Jewell. Over five episodes, we spoke to students and academics engaged in the work of deconstructing and reconstructing how Africa and its people are taught and researched in the UK education system today.

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We Will Win Peace

Between 2013 and 2015, filmmaker Seth Chase and I co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning, feature-length documentary We Will Win Peace. The film charts why and how the Western-led conflict minerals campaign had an adverse and harmful impact on the lives of many Congolese it was designed to help. Released in 2016, the film has screened at festivals and universities across Africa, Europe, and North America, and sold in over 30 countries worldwide.

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From Extraction to Final Product

In 2018 and 2019, photographer Robert Carrubba and I ran a photo exhibition in the DR Congo and Europe. The exhibition documented the process of locally led gold production in eastern Congo, from extraction to transformation into gold bars and jewellery in the city of Bukavu.

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ROAPE

The Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) was established in 1974 by a group of scholars and activists in the UK and Africa. The journal and its website are committed to understanding projects of radical transformation on the continent. As a member of the journal's Editorial Working Group, I interview and commission contributions from radical scholars, scholar-activists, and activists researching and/or contributing to these projects for publication on ROAPE's website. Occasionally, I write there myself. Below is a selection of some of these pieces.

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja Congolese historian and scholar-activist

Esther Stanford-Xosei Reparations activist and historian

Bienvenu Matumo Congolese activist & co-founder of La LUCHA

Amilcar Cabral

Isaac Samuel