Ben Eyre

Dr

Personal profile

Key Research Interests

In broad terms, my research explores social aspects of sustainability, financial and corporate innovation, and impact measurement and management. I use ethnographic methods and anthropological insights to collaborate with behavioural scientists, as well as others pursuing alternative ideas to achieve positive social and environmental change. 

My current Leverhulme-funded research explores impact investing infrastructure across (and linking) the UK and East Africa. Comparing how "sustainability" and "the social" are framed by different actors it includes case studies on agriculture (digital technologies including AI for extension, vertical farming, and gene editing), the importance of contextual insight to due diligence and IMM, and place-based investment strategies. This work involves prolonged collaboration with behavioural economists and plant scientists. I am also keen to work with impact investors (and foundations) interested in exploring alternative ways of understanding their relationships with 'beneficiaries.' 

Emerging from this research, a second project (British Academy-funded) explores the production of data for evidence-based policy making within Kenya and Uganda through attention to the lived experience of enumerators/field officers who make data. This project uses ethnographic insights to generate hypotheses about how to improve data quality that will be tested through several experiments. This is a collaboration with the University of Nairobi and the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics.

The project also experiments with 'citizen ethnography' in which research participants with lived experience of the subject help to shape research design and analysis of findings. 

Recent research (ERC-funded) explored green finance and sustainable investing through case studies including the IFC 'Forests Bond' in Voi, Kenya and a development impact bond (DIB) for sustainable agriculture in Amazonian Peru, as well as broader critical analysis of the role of private capital in sustainable development. This remains an area of theoretical interest.

Earlier research (ESRC-funded) explored 'philanthrocapitalist' initiatives to transform cattle-keeping and promote a value chain approach to the dairy industry among Nyakyusa agro-pastoralists in Rungwe District in South-West Tanzania, and before that (ultra-)high-net-worth philanthropy in the City of London. 

Areas of Expertise

East Africa; international development; climate change; sustainable business; impact investing; sustainable finance; digital technologies; ag tech; ethnography; ethnography; social anthropology

Biography

Before returning to academia I worked for a decade as an advisor to sustainability and impact investors as well as philanthropic foundations. My decision to undertake long-term research stemmed from concerns about the quality of evidence of impact I claimed to have as a routine part of my job, and in particular the absence of 'beneficiary' perspectives or voices in it. Alongside theoretical interests grounded in a belief that more fundamental research is required, I continue to work with a small number of investors and philanthropists on the contribution of critical analysis and ethnographic methods and theory to the equitable and effective allocation of impact capital. For example, new work convenes space for conversation between creative young voices and international actors who aim to improve their lives.

Teaching Interests

I teach the following modules:

  • Sub-Saharan African Development (Year 2/3, Co-Convenor)
  • Development Policy Management (Year 2)

I previously taught Social Analysis for International Development (Masters) and Global Challenges: Issues and Concepts in Development Studies (Foundation Year).

Prior to my time at UEA I taught Anthropology of Sustainability (Masters) and Future Earth, Climate Change and Societal Challenges (Multi-disciplinary Graduate Course) at the University of Bologna, and Introduction to Business Anthropology (Year 1) and Materiality and Representation (Year 2) at the University of Manchester. I have also guest lectured at Northwestern University's Global Engagement Studies Institute (GESI) and the Australian National University. 

Academic Background

My interdisciplinary background informs my current research. I have a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology from University College London. I obtained my PhD in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester. I then worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Bologna, where I remain a research associate of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Lab.

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or