Alesha Porisky, PhD

I. Cash Transfers and Citizen-State Relations

This project examines the impacts of cash transfers for citizen-state relations across countries in the global south, with a focus on interrogating the contexts in which cash transfers can alter perceptions and practices of citizenship for marginalized populations. This interest also animates my book project, The State at the Margins: Cash Transfers and Citizenship in Kenya and Tanzania, which builds on my doctoral research. Parts of this research have been published in International Politics. Through the support of a Research and Artistry Opportunity Grant from Northern Illinois University, I am extending my work on cash transfers to Northern Uganda.

II. The Localization of Cash Transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa

This project theorizes the localization of cash transfer programs in sub-Saharan Africa. It seeks to understand why some governments choose to expand cash transfer programs, as part of broader social protection frameworks, while other programs fail to expand beyond the pilot phase, as well as the choices governments makes about the forms of cash transfer programs. It examines the international pressures and national politics of cash transfer expansion, with a particular focus on local dynamics in Kenya and Tanzania. Versions of this project have been presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in April 2016 and the American Political Science Association Annual Convention in September 2016. In May 2019 I presented a version of the Tanzania paper entitled, “From Program to Policy: The Adoption and Localization of the Community-Based Conditional Cash Transfer in Tanzania” at the APCG Online Colloquium. Ruth Carlitz and Jeff Paller acted as discussants. The conversation can be viewed here.

III. Subnational Variations in Social Policy Implementation

Conducted when I was a Researcher with the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre at the University of Manchester, this research examines how variations in state infrastructural power and political competition shape subnational variations in the implementation of cash transfer programs across Kenya. Initial findings from the project are presented as part of the Oxford University Press volume, The Politics of Distributing Social Cash Transfers: State Capacity and Political Competition in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, edited by Dr. Tom Lavers. In a World Development article, coauthored with Dr. Tahira Shariff Mohamed and Patrick Mutinda Muthui, we draw on findings from the project to argue that the expansion of the Older Persons Cash Transfer into a nominally universal social pension led to greater access to social assistance, but that rapid implementation prior to highly competitive elections combined with low state capacity led to exclusion for highly marginalized populations. In a Social Policy & Administration article, Tyson Odoo Juma and I draw on findings from the project to argue that the central state was able to mobilize state capacity after a period of electoral violence to ensure equitable distribution of state resources, but that long-term impacts for citizen-state relations were undermined by low coverage and a lack of transparency in the implementation process.

IV. Exploring Approaches to Field Research

I am engaged in ongoing methodological reflections based on my experience in the field conducting interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, and surveys. Projects in this area of my research include an exploration of researcher positionality across contexts. In a recent PS: Political Science article Aarie Glas and I, in discussion with the ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ literature, introduce the concept of becoming a ‘credible visitor’ in a fieldsite. Furthermore, in an ongoing project in collaboration with Dr. Lauren Maclean at Northeastern University, we examine the ethics of compensation during political science research. Drawing from our field research experiences, we provide concrete suggestions for scholars conducting field research in African countries based on the type of research conducted, the research participants and the research setting. That article is forthcoming at Comparative Political Studies.

VI. Electricity Provision and Political Participation in Kenya

This project is a collaboration with Dr. Chris Gore (Toronto Metropolitan University), Dr. Lauren Maclean (University of Indiana, Bloomington), Dr. Jennifer Brass (University of Indiana, Bloomington), Dr. Liz Baldwin (University of Arizona) and Dr. Winnie Mitullah (University of Nairobi). It is funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant and examines how electricity provision shapes citizens political participation in Kenya through a multi-year survey, interviews and focus group discussions. Recent outputs include an article on distributional justice in Environmental Research Letters. You can read more about our work in this Futurum Newsletter.