Dr Solava Ibrahim

Courses taught:

• International Relations (Postgraduate)
• International Development (Postgraduate)

Solava is an Associate Professor of Politics, Development and International Relations; and Course Director for MA International Development and MA International Relations. She is also member of the Senate and in the Employability Task Force and AHESS Race, Diversity and Equality committee.

Solava's main research areas are: the politics of poverty reduction and inequality, human development, political transformation, gender, political Islam, governance and grassroots-led development; with regional expertise in Africa and the Middle East, esp. Egypt, Senegal and the UK.

[email protected]

Background

Solava is currently a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK acknowledging her innovative and inclusive teaching practices. She acts as the external examiner for the MA Poverty and Development at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex. She is a Trustee and Safeguarding Lead at SOS Children’s Villages, UK and a fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA). Since 2012, she has been affiliated lecturer at the Centre of Development Studies at the University of Cambridge and a High Table member at Newham College. Solava also taught policymakers in businesses and banking sectors on poverty and inequality at Cambridge Sustainability Leadership Centre (CISL) and Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) at the University of Cambridge.

For five years, Solava was Director of the MSc in Poverty, Inequality and Development at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. She was also a research fellow in Global Poverty Reduction at the Brooks World Poverty Institute and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre at the University of Manchester and worked as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. She was a visiting lecturer at University of Maryland (USA), Roma Tre (Italy) and has given numerous presentations and seminars at universities and think tanks in the UK and worldwide. In Egypt, she has previously worked for the United Nations Development Programme, the Arab Women Organisation and the Arab Reform Forum.

She has published widely on the politics of voice and marginalisation; the dynamics of political change and social contracts in the Middle East; and the challenges of grassroots-led development (GLD); presenting an innovative 3C model for GLD that links the individual, communal and institutional levels of analysis – which was applied by NGOs and researchers worldwide. Her current research project examines the challenges of refugee empowerment in the UK bringing refugee communities, civil society actors and government officials to debate and address those challenges in a ‘common policy framework’.

Her publications include articles in World Development, Third World Quarterly, Oxford Development Studies and Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. She also published a co-edited book The Capability Approach: From Theory to Practice (2014) and a monograph on The Role of Local Councils in Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Egypt (2007). Her monograph on the politics of political change and human development in Egypt is forthcoming with Routledge Publishers.

Spoken Languages

• English
• Arabic
• French
• German
• Italian

Research interests

• Dynamics of political change and state-society relations in the Middle East
• Human development and capability approach
• Poverty reduction
• Gender and women groups
• Grassroots-led development
• Political Islam
• Migration and Refugee Studies

Areas of research supervision

Solava has successfully supervised PhD research to completion at the University of Manchester, University of Cambridge, and ARU. The research covered the following areas:

• Youth politics and the developmental state in Ethiopia
• Media narratives on the Iraq War in the US
• Politics of Energy Justice in Mexico
• Changing Perceptions of Czech Migrants in the UK

She acted as external examiner for PhD research at the following universities: UEA, Cambridge, Oxford, Ulster, Sheffield in addition to ARU.

She is interested in supervising PhD researchers who wish to critically examine the politics of the Middle East; youth-state relations, and exploring the impact of political changes on marginalised groups in the Global North and the Global South.

Teaching

Solava currently teaches on the following modules:

• International Relations Theory in Context
• Global Governance
• Foundations of International Development
• Global Development: Policy and Practice
• Postgraduate Dissertation Project

Qualifications

• Senior Fellowship, Higher Education Academy, UK
• Fellowship, Higher Education Academy, UK
• PhD, Development Studies, University of Cambridge
• MPhil, Development Studies, University of Cambridge
• MA, Political Science, American University in Cairo
• BA, Political Science, American University in Cairo

Memberships, editorial boards

• ARU’s nominated Expert in ‘International Affairs and National Security’ in UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
• Development Studies Association (DSA) member and co-convenor of the study group on ‘Multidimensional Poverty and Poverty Dynamics’
• Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) member, founder and co-convenor of the thematic group on ‘Empowerment and Collective Capabilities’
• BBC Expert Women North
• Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
• British Chevening Alumni Network
• Sasakawa Young Leaders Alumni Network
• Former Collaborator with Cambridge Africa Programme
• Former Collaborator with Tostan International, NGO in Senegal
• Former Collaborator with Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
• Former Collaborator with Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics
• Former Senior Treasurer and Advisor, Cambridge Development Initiative
• Former member, International Development Ethics Association
• Former Trustee, Blossom Africa, NGO in Uganda
• Former Research Associate, Global Urban Research Centre, University of Manchester

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• Principal Investigator, research project entitled: Towards Refugee Empowerment: Mapping and Building Capacity for Common Policy Framework between Refugee Communities, Civil Society actors and Government Agencies – funded by ARU Research and Innovation Fund (May 2024 – current).
• Principal Investigator, ESRC Impact Acceleration Fund Grant: research project entitled: Building Capacity for Grassroots-led Development in West Africa and beyond with Tostan International.
• Principal Collaborator, Re-examining the Contradictions: Women’s Economic Empowerment and Vulnerability to Gender-based Violence in Uganda, Cambridge-Alborada fund.
• Principal Investigator, research project entitled: Uprisings and their Discontents: the Dynamics of Wellbeing, Aspirations and Politics in Egypt, Research Stimulation Fund, the University of Manchester.
• Principal Investigator, research project entitled: Applying the 3C model of Grassroots-led Development in Senegal in collaboration with Tostan International; funded by Research Stimulation Fund, the University of Manchester.
• Principal Co-Investigator, research project entitled: A Grounded Exploration of Wellbeing in Greater Manchester, funded by Research Stimulation Fund, the University of Manchester.

Selected recent publications

Monographs

Ibrahim, S. (forthcoming) Wellbeing and Aspirations in Egypt after the Arab Spring: Does Politics Matter? Routledge publishers

Ibrahim, S. (2007) The Role of Local Councils in Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Egypt, Cairo, American University in Cairo Press, ISBN: 9774160142. (lead author, peer reviewed, cited by 5).

Peer-reviewed Articles

Ibrahim, S. (2021) The Dynamics of the Egyptian Social Contract: How the Political Changes affected the Poor. World Development, 138. p. 105254. ISSN 0305-750X.

Anena, C. P. and Ibrahim, S. (2020). Revisiting Economic Empowerment as a Sufficient Remedy for Gender Based Violence: The Case of Jinja District in Uganda." Gender and Research 21(1), p. 38-62.

Ibrahim, S. (2017) How to Build Collective Capabilities: The 3C-Model for Grassroots-led Development, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, pp. 1-26.

Tiwari, M. and S. Ibrahim (2012) ‘Sustainable Human Development at Grassroots: Different Contexts, Similar Ingredients?’ Oxford Development Studies, 40 (1), pp. 69-85.

Ibrahim, S. (2011) A Tale of Two Egypts: contrasting state-reported macro-trends with micro-voices of the poor, Third World Quarterly, 32:7, pp. 1347-1368.

Ibrahim, S. and S. Alkire (2007) ‘Agency and Empowerment: A proposal for internationally comparable indicators’, Oxford Development Studies, vol. 35 (4) pp.379-403.

Ibrahim, S. (2006) ‘From Individual to Collective Capabilities: the Capability Approach as a Conceptual Framework for Self-help’, Journal of Human Development, vol.7 (3) pp. 397-416.

Edited Books and Reports

Ibrahim, S. and M. Tiwari (Eds.) (2014) The Capability Approach: From Theory to Practice, Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN: 9781137001443.

Alkire, S., Bastagli, F., Burchardt, T., Clark, D., Holder, H., Ibrahim, S., Munoz, M., Terrazas, P., Tsang, T. and Vizard, P. (2009). Developing the Equality Measurement Framework: Selecting the indicators. EHRC Research Report 31, London: Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Chapters in Edited books and handbooks

Ibrahim, S. (2020) “Individualism and the Capability Approach: The Role of Collectivities in Expanding Human Capabilities,” in Chiappero-Martinetti, E., Osmani, S., and Qizilbash, M. (eds) The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 206–226.

Ibrahim, S. (2014) Introduction: The Capability Approach from Theory to Practice: Rationale, Review, Reflections. in Ibrahim, S. and M. Tiwari (Eds.) (2014) The Capability Approach: From Theory to Practice, Palgrave MacMillan.

Ibrahim, S. (2014) The Dynamics of Collective Agency in Practice: Women’s Fight against FGM in Upper Egypt. in Ibrahim, S. and M. Tiwari (Eds.) (2014) The Capability Approach: From Theory to Practice, Palgrave MacMillan.

Ibrahim, S. (2013) Unfolding the developmental potential of Islam.in Moksnes, H. and Melin, M (Eds) Faith in Civil Society Religious Actors as Drivers of Change. Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development: Uppsala.

Ibrahim, S. and Hulme, D. (2011) Civil Society and Poverty in Edwards, M. The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society. Oxford University Press, chapter 31.

Ibrahim, S. (2009) Self-help: A Catalyst for Human Agency and Collective Capabilities. in Chiappero-Martinetti, E. (ed.) Debating Global Society: Reach and Limits of the Capability Approach, Milan: Giangiacomo Fertinelli Foundation.

Ibrahim, S. (2008) Collective Agency: Wider Freedoms and new Capabilities through Self-help. In Repenser l’action collective: une approache par les capabilities. [Rethinking Collective Action through a Capabilities Approach]; Paris: Reseau IMPACT Network (lead author, peer reviewed, cited by 39).

Published Working Papers and e-journals

Ibrahim, S. (2013) Collective capabilities: what are they and why are they important? Maiyteree. E-Bulletin of the Human Development & Capability Association, 22(June), pp.4–8.

Ibrahim, S., (2011). Poverty, Aspirations and Well-being: Afraid to aspire and unable to reach a better life–voices from Egypt. Brooks World Poverty Institute Working Paper, (141).

Ibrahim, S. and D. Hulme (2010) Has civil society helped the poor? A review of the roles and contributions of civil society to poverty reduction, Brooks World Poverty Institute working paper 114.

Thesis:

Ibrahim, S. (2008) The Self-help Initiatives of the Poor: the Road to Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Egypt. PhD Thesis. University of Cambridge.

Recent presentations and conferences

Ibrahim, S. (2023) ‘Why Collective Capabilities Fail? Democratic Transition in Egypt, HDCA 2023 conference on ‘Vulnerability, human development and cooperative re-building in turbulent times’, Sofia University, 10-13 Sep 2023.

Ibrahim, S. (2018) 'Is the state delivering for the poor? The politics of service delivery in post-revolutionary Egypt' at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies Seville, 16-20 July 2018.

Ibrahim, S. (2017) The Dynamic Process of Generating Human Capabilities, Human Development and Capability Conference, Cape Town, Sep 2017.

Ibrahim, S. (2016) The Revolution of Rising Expectations: How the Uprisings affected Deprived Communities in Egypt, paper presented at the Middle East Studies Conference (MESA), Boston.

Ibrahim, S. (2015) Uprisings and their Discontents: The Dynamics of Wellbeing, Aspirations and Politics in Egypt? Paper presented at the Human Development and Capability Conference, Georgetown University, Sep 2015.

Ibrahim, S. (2015) From Cairo to Salford: A Comparative analysis of Wellbeing perceptions and Aspirations in Egypt and the UK, Paper presented at the Human Development and Capability Conference, Georgetown University, Sep 2015.

Ibrahim, S. (2015) Empowering Communities for Sustainable Development, DSA/EADI/HDCA workshop on Rethinking Development Research, University of East London, 26 June 2015.

Ibrahim, S. (2015) Towards Sustainable Human Development at the Grassroots: The Role of Collective Agency and Local Institutional Change, Expo Milano 2015, University of Pavia, 28-30 January 2015.

Ibrahim, S. (2014) First Things First: The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development and Grassroots Democracy in Egypt, Middle East and North Africa Social Policy Conference, University of Bath, 20-21 Nov 2014.

Ibrahim, S. (2014) Towards Sustainable Human Development: The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development and Grassroots Democracy in Egypt and Senegal, DSA conference, London, 1 Nov 2014.

Ibrahim, S. (2014) Building Capabilities Collectively: The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development, HDCA Conference, Athens, Greece, Sep 2014.

Ibrahim, S. (2013) 'The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development: Challenges and Prospects of Grassroots Democracy in rural Egypt', paper presented at the Asian European Policy Dialogue, organised by Observer Research Foundation and Rosa Luxemburg Stifting, New Delhi, 26-27 November 2013.

Ibrahim, S. (2013) 'What People Value and Have Reason to Value? Developing and Applying a new Methodological Tool in Egypt and the UK', paper presented at the Enquiring into Wellbeing Symposium, Bath, 24-25 Oct 2013.

Ibrahim, S. (2013) 'Grassroots Activism and Resistance in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Egypt', Rethinking Gender, Workshop at the University of Warwick, 8-10 July 2013.

Ibrahim, S. (2013) 'Women and Social Change at the Grassroots', paper submitted to the Mediterranean Research Meeting, Mersin University, Turkey, organized by the European University Institute, 18-22 March 2013.

Ibrahim, S. (2012) 'Women's Activism at the Grassroots: The Case of Anti-FGM Activists in Upper Egypt', paper submitted and presented at the 'Women, Culture, and the 25th January 2011 Egyptian Revolution organized by the Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Manchester, 15-17 November 2012.

Ibrahim, S. (2012) 'A Grounded Exploration of Wellbeing in Greater Manchester: Some Preliminary Results', paper submitted and presented at 'Transforming Manchester' cities@manchester workshop, 30 Nov 2012.

Recent keynote speeches and seminars

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, ‘Effective Communication as Collective Capability’, Tallinn, Estonia. 23 May 2024.

Kings College London, ‘Security and Development in Africa’ conference, keynote speaker, 25 Jan 2018.

University College London, IDEAS conference on Social Change from the Bottom-up – keynote speaker, 11 March 2017.

University College London; Roundtable Discussion: Is international development just institutional colonialism?, Ideas Globally; 13 Oct 2016.

Kings College London Africa Research group seminar, ‘Frustrated Youth and Failed Democracy: The Dynamics of Wellbeing, Aspirations and Politics in Egypt’, 17 Nov 2015.

Maryland International Development Council, Uprisings and their Discontents: What did the Arab Spring do for Egyptian Citizens’, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Sep 8, 2015.

Kings College London seminar - Panellist in Emerging Africa? From the 'Hopeless Continent' to 'Africa Rising', KCL, 26 May 2015.

United Nations University seminar – departmental seminar on The Dynamics of Grassroots-led Development: What Works? Case studies from Egypt and Senegal, Maastricht, 15 January 2014.

University College London - Book Launch of my co-edited book: The Capability Approach from Theory to Practice, 5 Dec 2014.

University of York, Department of Politics seminar series The Politics of Grassroots Development and Grassroots Democracy in Egypt: Two Steps forward – one Step back, 5 Nov 2014.

Development@Manchester seminar series – The Capability Approach: So what does it mean to apply it in practice, 21 October 2014.

Brooks World Poverty Institute, Work-in-Progress Seminar - The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development: preliminary findings from Senegal, 16 October 2014.

Middle East Studies Research Seminar, the University of Manchester - Democracy from the bottom-up: The 3C-model of Grassroots-led Development in Egypt, 18 March 2014.

Invited Speaker at the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce on Egypt’s Transition: Paradoxes, Progress & Projections, Whitehall, London, 24 March 2014.

Invited Speaker at Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) on Learn-Share-Act: How Many Ways Can you Change the World? 29 Jan 2014.

Invited Speaker at the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce presenting on, 'Egypt's Political Future: Challenges and Prospects', workshop on Political and Economic Environment for Investment in Egypt, 10 October 2013.

Invited Participant, UK-Arab Partnership, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Oct 2012.

Asian European Policy Dialogue & ORF, New Delhi - 'The 3C-Model of Grassroots-led Development: Challenges and Prospects of Grassroots Democracy in rural Egypt', organised by Observer Research Foundation and Rosa Luxemburg Stifting, New Delhi, 26-27 November 2013.

Keynote Speech at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, ‘From Sustainable and Human Development to Sustainable Human Development: The Role of Collective Agency', 27- 28 Sep 2012, UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.

University of East Anglia seminar School of International Development - 'Why Aspirations Matter: Revisiting the Roots of the Egyptian Revolution', 25 May 2012.

Media experience

Solava is one of the BBC's Expert Women North and has conducted several interviews with BBC Breakfast, Radio 4, BBC Radio Five Live, and BBC World News commenting on Middle East affairs; especially on Egypt, gender and Islam-related topics.