Research Seminar: Talking across the economic-security divide

Development, securitization and infrastructure

Priyanka Sunder, Dr Amy King and Professor Evelyn Goh

When: Thursday 7 November 2019, 5:00 - 6:30pm

Where: APCD Boardroom, Level 2, Hedley Bull Building (130), corner of Garran Road and Liversidge Street, ANU

In the 1940s, E.H. Carr argued that the economic and security dimensions of policy making ought to be studied in a more integrated way, and yet a persistent and artificial divide remains, both in scholarship and policy practice. One fruitful way to straddle the economic-security divide is through the lens of development. Economic development, particularly in the form of investment in developing country infrastructure, is increasingly viewed as both a source of regime and national security for developing countries, and as a vital source of power and influence for international lending states. The participants in this research-practice roundtable will reflect on how they have approached issues of infrastructure-based development in their research and practice. They will consider the securitisation of development, why infrastructure serves as the linchpin between economic development and security, how international lenders navigate the physical securing of infrastructure, and how the financing of infrastructure-based development has evolved over the past three decades.

Priyanka Sunder has worked for many years at the intersection of economic development, infrastructure and finance in various roles across government, international development NGOs and investment banks. Her research examines the empirical impact of different types of aid on poverty in recipient countries.

Amy King is a Senior Lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), ANU. Her research has examined the centrality of industrial development in Chinese conceptions of security, and the role of technology and industrial infrastructure in the China-Japan relationship. As an ARC DECRA and Westpac Research Fellow, she is currently conducting research on how China’s ideas shape the international economic order.

Evelyn Goh is the Shedden Professor of Strategic Policy Studies at ANU, where she is also Director of Research at SDSC. She has researched China's infrastructure-building in SE Asia since 1997; published Rising China's Influence in Developing Asia with Oxford University Press in 2016; and is conducting an ARC Discovery-supported project on 'The Infrastructure of China’s International Influence’ (2019-2022).

This research seminar is the ninth of the Women in International Security: Theory and Practice’ Seminar Series 2018-19, jointly sponsored by the ANU Gender Institute and the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. Consisting of research, career development, and policy dialogue seminars, this series showcases the work of prominent women in the fields of international security. For more information, contact the Series Convenor, Professor Evelyn Goh evelyn.goh@anu.edu.au.