Barnaby joined the Department of International Development in 2024.

Barnaby is a political economist whose research lies at the intersection of infrastructure in Africa and the so-called Rising Southern Powers, especially India and Brazil. This involves analysing international policymaking, tracing decisions about finance and diplomacy in global cities like Washington DC and Delhi, to national economic planning and then to individual infrastructure projects and the impacts they have on economies, people and the environment. This interest grew from reading Geography at the University of Cambridge, completing a master’s at King’s College London and then a doctorate in politics at the University of Oxford. He studied the resurgence of dam building in Africa, examining its international roots, national-level decision making and local impacts.

During his time in Oxford, Barnaby also led the Oxford University China-Africa Forum and Oxford Central Africa Forum. Barnaby then joined the University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute, leading research for FutureDAMS Research Consortium in Ghana and India as well as undertaking policy impact work. He then started a permanent lectureship at the University of York in 2022 and was a ESRC Policy Fellow working in the UK Government between 2022-2024.

Research

• Indian Foreign Policy; Indian development cooperation; India-Africa relations;
• South-South Relations; China, Brazil and India in Africa;
• Political economy of infrastructure and electricity;
• Dams and hydropower;
• Ideologies of development, modernisation ideas;
• Political economy and political ecology - Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia.

Barnaby’s research has focused on an infrastructure boom in Africa, tracing this to a set of international drivers but also trends in national policymaking. Through this research, Barnaby has analysed the evolution of development ideologies, the subject of his current monograph.

Barnaby’s current research pursues two interconnected strands. The first concerns Indian foreign policy, particularly its relations with Africa and the Global South. Barnaby analyses how these fit Delhi’s broader strategic and foreign policy objectives, comparing India to China, Brazil and others. He also analyses India’s international development cooperation and how this is evolving. The second strand focuses on the political economy of electricity, focusing on the strategic and ideological drivers behind planning decisions. This includes publications on Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda, with future research focused on the green transition, its drivers, blockers and social outcomes.

Teaching

• Democracy and Development Project Management in International Development (Undergraduate and Post-Graduate)

PhD supervision

Barnaby is open to supervise PhD students on below topics:

• Indian and Brazilian foreign policy 'Rising powers' as development donors;
• Africa's international relations;
• Political economy in Africa;
• Politics of infrastructure and the green transition;
• Research on Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia.