David Lewis (born February 6, 1960, in Totnes, Devon) is a British scholar who is Professor of Anthropology and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
He has authored several books and academic articles and has presented his work at many universities around the world including Harvard, Yale, Oxford and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He has another small-scale career as a singer songwriter and folk/rock musician, recording extensively with college friend John Wesley Harding, touring in Europe and the USA, and releasing five albums of original songs.
In the early 1990s, he also worked on aquaculture and livelihoods in Bangladesh, and published Trading the Silver Seed (UPL, 1996), co-authored with Geof Wood and Rick Gregory.
This book comprehensively updated earlier editions from 2001 and 2007 to critically explore the changing field of NGOs and development, uncovering historical perspectives and analyzing contemporary settings and issues.
After many years of visiting Bangladesh, and finding few English language resources about the country, Lewis decided to write 'Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society' (Cambridge University Press, 2011).
The book was intended to be accessible to general readers and documents Bangladesh’s struggle for independence from Pakistan along with its emergence as a fragile, but functioning, parliamentary democracy.
It argues that Bangladesh is now becoming of increasing interest to the international community as a portal into some of the key issues of our age – such as development and poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, and the role of civil society and state in promoting democracy and stability, particularly in the context of Muslim majority countries.
The book aims to serve as both an innovative reformulation of the field, and as a key text for students and researchers at leading universities in Europe and North America.
This research project used the life history method to study the experiences of individuals who moved between state and civil society in different countries, including Bangladesh, Philippines and UK.
In recent years he has become interested in broadening the field of academic development studies by making closer links with humanities and the arts, working with Professors Dennis Rodgers (Geneva) and Michael Woolcock (World Bank/Harvard) on this theme.
[4][5][6][7] A public event was held on this theme at the LSE's first Literary Festival in February 2010 organized by the International Development Department's (then DESTIN) Crisis States Research Centre, and the Department of Social Policy on 'The Fiction of Development' idea – and at which three noted literary figures Giles Foden (author, The Last King of Scotland), Jack Mapanje (Malawian poet and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newcastle University), and Sunny Singh (Indian writer and journalist) as well as Professor Lewis all discussed the topic.
Containing songs written and performed with a 1970s UK contemporary folk feel (Nick Drake, Al Stewart, Sandy Denny) the album was produced by Wesley Stace (a.k.a.
The album, again produced by John Wesley Harding (this time with Chris von Sneidern), was recorded in San Francisco and contained eleven new songs (including one cover version, Nick Drake's 'Northern Sky').
Moving closer to folk-rock than the first collection, several tracks featured a full band with Chuck Prophet on electric guitar and Al Stewart himself sings harmonies on 'You Don't Know'.
This continued the mix of solo and band songs, and was partly recorded in Seattle with Kurt Bloch, who co-produced the album with Harding and von Sneidern.
This album featured an arrangement of the semi-traditional Welsh song 'The Black Pig', which is believed to have originally been written by David's great grandfather, John Owen.
During this time, David teamed up regularly with singer-songwriter Bob Collum for shows at venues that included the Green Note Cafe, the 12 Bar Club and The Plough, Walthamstow.
The record features a cast of stellar musicians, including Chris von Sneidern, Robert Lloyd, Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering, Sunshine Boys), and Patrick Berkery (The War On Drugs).
The full band made it possible to experiment with new sounds and textures – such as the industrial clank of 'Three Sides', the unexpected ‘prog’ turn in 'Whisper To Me' – while staying true to the values of the detailed vocals, atmospheric acoustics and distinctive songwriting of Lewis’ earlier albums.