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Ciara McCorley
Former Collaborating Researcher
Ciara joined UNRISD in September 2012 to work with Katja Hujo on the Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development project. She will also be writing a paper for the project.
Prior to joining UNRISD Ciara worked and volunteered with Bóthar, Voluntary Services Overseas and Voluntary Services International. She was a visiting researcher at Copenhagen University, Roskilde University and the Danish Institute for International Studies. Ciara holds a Masters degree in Peace and Development Studies from the University of Limerick in Ireland, and a Bachelors degree in Communication Studies from Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ciara is currently completing her PhD in comparative African politics at the University of Limerick in Ireland that was fully funded for four years by the Irish Social Sciences Platform. Her doctoral research takes a political economy approach to the comparative study of democratic transitions in Africa. It examines the economic complexity of a state and argues that the type of economy fostered leads to the development of politically important economic actors that derive relative power from the sectoral base of that country’s economy. It is argued that at times of regime instability the relative power of economic actors will determine the transitional outcome.
Ciara’s research interests include democratization, social movements and trade unionism.