Development

Research Interest

Trevor Jackson

Assistant Professor
History and Political Economy

Trevor Jackson is assistant professor of History and Political Economy. He studies capitalism, inequality, and financial crisis, mostly but not exclusively in early modern Europe.

Sharad Chari

Associate Professor
Geography
Sharad Chari is Associate Professor of Geography and Co-Director of Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. He is an interdisciplinary geographer working on Marxist political economy, the global Black radical tradition, South India, South Africa, and the Southern African Indian Ocean. His publications include Gramsci at Sea (Minnesota, 2023), Apartheid Remains (Duke 2024) and he is working on a biography of queer struggle in South Africa in the 1990s.

Crystal Chang Cohen

Continuing Lecturer
Global Studies
Political Economy
Crystal Chang Cohen is a Continuing Lecturer in the Global Studies and Political Economy programs. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Chinese and Indian politics, gender perspectives in Asia, theories of contemporary political economy and development, and Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem.

Soo Sun You

Graduate Student
Political Science

Soo Sun You is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on comparative politics and political behavior. Her research interests lie at the intersection of economic and political inequality and development and studies how political institutions affect levels of perceived economic inequality and political behavior in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Soo Sun worked as a Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) research fellow in Ethiopia, implementing and analyzing the impact of women’s empowerment programs. She also worked as...

Ritika Goel

Graduate Student
Political Science

Ritika Goel is a PHD candidate in Political Science at University of California, Berkeley. She studies comparative political economy, focusing on democratic accountability, inequality and, upward redistribution and populism.

Clara Bicalho

Graduate Student
Political Science

Clara Bicalho is a PhD student in the Political Science Department at the University of California, Berkeley and a Research Associate at the Center of the Politics of Development. Her research focuses on belief formation and political accountability with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Arjun Solanki

Undergraduate Student
Operations Research and Management Science
Economics

Arjun Solanki is a sophomore majoring in ORMS and Economics. He is interested in financial, behavioral economics, and economic development. Previously, he has worked with the Union I&B Ministry (GOI) in tracking and analyzing various government policies in the broadcasting sector. Outside of his academic pursuits, he loves playing cricket and is a part of the professional Cricket Team at UC Berkeley. On his path towards graduation, Arjun aspires to pursue Quant/Finance.

Rana Nejad

Undergraduate Student
Political Science

Rana Nejad is a student at UC Berkeley completing her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Human Rights. Throughout her studies, she has focused mostly on the Middle East and North Africa region where she explores topics ranging from security and counterrorism to refugee rights and humanitarian development. Over the years, she has worked with nonprofits that advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as contributed to a number of international affairs publications. Moving forward, she hopes to further advocate for the human rights of...

Wendy Zhou

Undergraduate Student
Political Economy
Goldman School of Public Policy

Wendy Zhou is a junior from Alameda, CA studying Political Economy and Public Policy, with a concentration in development economics. Her academic interests center around the modernization of the Four Asian Tigers, rural-to-urban migration, and the efficacy of China’s poverty alleviation campaign on improving intergenerational mobility and quality of life. Zhou is passionate about democratization and human rights. While attending the University of Hong Kong in Summer ‘19, she engaged with the increasingly volatile Hong Kong politics and participated in pro-democracy protests. She currently...

Liam Mirise

Undergraduate Student
Philosophy
Global Studies

Liam Mirise is a fourth-year transfer student from Visalia, California pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Global Studies with a minor in Linguistics. His academic focus is broadly centered on development, globalization, and technology. Prior to attending UC Berkeley, he served for four years in the California Army National Guard. He currently works as a writing assistant for the Blum Center for Developing Economies, where he has been assisting with early stage research on the potential applications of distributed ledger technology in the national defense supply chain.