Between 2017-2021 our network awarded over £800,000 in grants to scholars, artists and activists in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and the UK. In their innovative and multidisciplinary projects they have been inquiring into the relationship between parliaments, politicians and people.  By combining the social sciences, arts and humanities they have revealed new perspectives and amplified the impacts of research findings in ways that are imaginative, creative and inclusive.

We 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. Through this scheme we hope to contribute to three research agendas: creating opportunities for researchers who tend to get side-lined, deepening democracy through multidisciplinary arts and scholarship, and helping make research more inclusive.

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 was a Network Plus Programme funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Global Challenges Research Fund.