Sarah Cook was the Director of UNRISD from November 2009 through May 2015. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, and has also worked for the Ford Foundation in China. Sarah received her PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University and an M.Sc. in Social Policy in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics. Her research has focused in particular on China's social and economic transformations, including work on labour markets and employment, gender, poverty and inequality and social welfare reforms. Recent projects have included a long term study on social protection in Asia, research on migration and health in China and work on the implications of China’s rise for international development. Current interests include new directions in social policy being taken by emerging and developing countries in the context of financial, social and environmental crisis.
Selected publications include:
2014. “Review of New Frontiers in Feminist Political Economy.”
Gender and Development, Vol. 22, Issue 3.
2014. (with Esuna Dugarova). “Rethinking Social Development for a Post-2015 World.” Development, Vol. 57, No. 1.
2014. (with Jonathan Pincus). “Poverty, Inequality and Social Protection in Southeast Asia: An Introduction.” Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, Vol. 31, No. 1
2014. (with Huck-ju Kwon and Yusun Kim). “Shaping the national social protection strategy in Cambodia: Global influence and national ownership”, Global Social Policy, online August 2014
2014. (with Wing Lam). “ In the shadow of crisis: Change and continuity in China’s post-crisis social policy, Global crisis and social policy Editors: Stephen McBride et al. forthcoming, UBC Press
2014. (with Chuanbo Chen, Shijun Ding and Myra Pong). “Coming Home: The Return of Migrant Workers with Illness or Work-Related Injuries in China’s Hubei and Sichuan Provinces“, Working Paper 2014-5, a Joint project of UNRISD and Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy
2013. “Rescuing social protection from the poverty trap: New programmes and historical lessons.” In Katja Bender, Markus Kaltenborn and Christian Pfleiderer (eds.), Social Protection in Developing Countries: Reforming Systems. Routledge, London.
2013. (with Xiao-yuan Dong).“Women’s paid work and unpaid care responsibilities in China.” In Rémi Genevey, Rajendra K. Pachauri and Laurence Tubiana (eds.), Reducing Inequalities: A Sustainable Development Challenge. 2013 edition of A Planet for Life. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi.
2012. "Rebounding from crisis: The role and limits of social policy in China’s recovery." In Peter Utting and Shahra Razavi (eds.),The Global Crisis and Transformative Social Change, Palgrave Macmillan and UNRISD, Basingstoke.
2011. (with Xiao-yuan Dong). "Harsh choices: Chinese women’s paid work and unpaid care responsibilities under economic reform." Development and Change, Vol. 42, Issue 4, pp. 873-1130.
2011. (with Wing Lam). "China's response to crisis: What role for social policy?" In K. Farnsworth and Z. Irving (eds.), Social Policy in Challenging Times: Economic Crisis and Welfare Systems. The Policy Press, Bristol.
2011. "Global discourses, national policies, local outcomes: Reflections on China’s welfare reforms." In Beatriz Carrillo and Jane Duckett (eds.), China's Changing Welfare Mix: Local Perspectives. Routledge, London.
2010. "Introduction: Exclusions, deficits and trajectories" (with Naila Kabeer); and "Chapter 8: Gender, work and security in urban China" (with Susan Jolly). In Social Protection as Development Policy: Asian Perspectives (edited with Naila Kabeer). Routledge India, New Delhi.
2010. (edited with Naila Kabeer). Barriers to the Extension of Social protection: Evidence from Asia, IDS Bulletin, Vol. 41, No. 4 (June).