School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

I research the political economy of development, with a particular focus on the challenges of sustainable and inclusive development in the agro-industries, and the political economy of the extractive industries in southern Africa.

Publications can be found here: https://edinburgh.academia.edu/AndrewBowman/

My main research activity at the moment is as an investigator on the project Innovation and Inclusion in Agro-Processing, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, and the Economic and Social Research Foundation in Tanzania. The project seeks to investigate the factors influencing inclusion of small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises in domestic agro-processing value chains in a context of rapid food system industrialisation, with a particular focus on innovation systems and the political economy of industrial policy.

I have also recently been involved in research projects investigating the challenges for inclusive development across a range of different agricultural commodities, including wool, medical cannabis, and beef.

I am a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Sociology, Rhodes University, South Africa.

I am also involved in ongoing research on the political economy of the mining industry in South Africa, with  a particular interests in distributional politics, financialization, and functional upgrading processes within global value chains. Much of this work was previously carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Mining and Rural Transformation in Southern Africa research group at the Society, Work and Politics Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. I have additional research interests in infrastructure and state-owned enterprises in post-apartheid South Africa, and the history of science, technology and expertise in international development. I am a member of the Foundational Economy Collective, and have an interest in furthering 'foundational economy' thinking to address economic development challenges. Prior to coming to Edinburgh, I worked at the Society, Work and Development Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, and at the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change, University of Manchester. My PhD at the University of Manchester was on the history of science and technology in agricultural development in Zambia.

Topics interested in supervising

I am interested in supervising students on issues relating to the political economy of development, with a particular interest in topics relating to agriculture and agro-industries, mining and the extractive industries, and infrastructure.

If you are interested in being supervised by Andrew Bowman, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

• PhD in African Studies
• PhD in International Development