Deepening Democracy: Empowering scholars in Africa, Asia and Latin America (2020)

A film by SOAS to introduce Global Research Network on Parliaments and People’s Deepening Democracy project: Empowering scholars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Between 2017-2020 the Global Research Network on Parliaments and People (GRNPP) awarded over £800,000 in grants to scholars, artists and activists in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and the UK (funded by AHRC/GCRF). 

The innovative and multidisciplinary projects have inquired into the relationship between parliaments, politicians and people.  By combining the social sciences, arts and humanities the projects' have revealed new perspectives and amplified the impacts of research findings in ways that are imaginative, creative and inclusive.

The GRNPP Network encouraged applications from those who don’t normally get grants: women, early career researchers, those outside the capital, and those who identify as an ethnic minority. All grants were won on merit through a highly competitive process. The results demonstrate that when research is designed by scholars and artists themselves, people in Myanmar and Ethiopia can produce results of astounding value. This film showcases some of the results.