I am an Honorary Professor at the Science Policy Research Unit and an Emeritus Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. I am also an Emeritus Professor at the Open University and Research Associate in Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing (PRISM), University of Cape Town. In 2024 I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Johannesburg for my contributions to academy and society. My publications and policy support activities can be grouped into a series of subject matters – sustainable and inclusive development, techno-economic paradigms, globalisation and global value chains, productivity and innovation, appropriate technology, the impact of China (particularly on Africa), commodities and the terms of trade, industrial policy, and post-Apartheid transformation in South Africa.

Four themes cross-cut these individual research areas and follow from my experience as a political activist in my country of origin, South Africa during the Apartheid-era. The first is an ongoing concern with equity and sustainable development. The second is the critical importance of political economy and interdisciplinary enquiry to an holistic understanding of what has made the world we live in, and how we might change it for the better. The third is the centrality of technology to human progress – however, technology is socially shaped and innovation must be provided with directionality. Fourth, both because each of us has a responsibility to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable world and because we cannot understand the world from the vantage point of an ivory tower, research cannot be separated from action.