My DPhil research explores alternative visions of non-state education and particularly the modes of collective action structuring and sustaining these as they seek to further Burma’s democratic transition.

Through a case study of recent initiatives in a Pwo Karen community on the country’s southeastern border with Thailand, I explore the role knowledge networks, mediated by a range of interests and identities, are currently playing in shaping civic representations and responses amongst ethnic nationality communities at the margins of the state.

We work with the ILO/IFC Better Work program to develop a program to train female sewing machine operators to be line supervisors, the entry-level management position. Roughly four in five operators, but only 1 in 20 supervisors, are female. The project implements an RCT to test the relative importance of training in hard skills and training soft skills as preparation for management roles.

Differences in productivity explain much of differences in income levels across countries, yet little is known about how to improve productivity of manufacturing in the developing world.