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Dr Charlotte Cross

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Professional biography

I joined the Open University in February 2016 as a Lecturer in International Development. Prior to this I lectured in International Relations and Politics at the University of Northampton. I am Head of Discipline for Development. 

Research interests

My research concerns politics, security and development, with a particular focus on East Africa. I am interested in the role of 'informal' institutions in local governance, the politics of development, and the policing of political and economic change. 

My current research, 'Securing Africa's Mobile Revolution: Political and Social Dimensions of Cyber Security in Tanzania', funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, investigates the connections between increased digital connectivity and security in the daily lives of residents of urban Tanzania. I am interested in how users of mobile phones and the internet experience and understand the security implications of new technologies, and how security providers construct and act upon narratives of cyber security and cybercrime as part of broader processes of social and political ordering. This project reflects my broader interests in urban policing, the plurality of institutions engaged in providing urban security, and their connections to politics at different scales. 

My previous research on community policing and sungusungu vigilantism in Tanzania has informed my interest in how ideas drawn from or about the past are repurposed by different actors as part of the pursuit of development. My recent co-edited book, Critical Approaches to Heritage for Development, considers diverse articulations of the role of heritage in development, and critically explores the implications of attempts to instrumentalise the past for 'progress'. 

I am also working with colleagues in Kenya, India and Tanzania to explore Innovation for Cancer Care in Africa. We are investigating how linking innovation in the industrial and health sectors might improve access to cancer care in Kenya and Tanzania. 

Teaching interests

I worked with colleagues to develop the MSc Global Development and I now chair the dissertation module, Researching Global Development. I have been part of the module team for DD102 Introducing the Social Sciences since I joined the OU, and am currently working on developing new undergraduate curriculum in Development Studies. 

I currently supervise 3 doctoral researchers and am keen to discuss potential PhD projects in areas including: security and development; ICT4D; 'non-state' institutions in processes of development; heritage, history and development; governance and the politics of development. 

 

Publications

Patients’ pathways to cancer care in Tanzania: documenting and addressing social inequalities in reaching a cancer diagnosis (2022)
Makene, Fortunata Songora; Ngilangwa, Richard; Santos, Cristina; Cross, Charlotte; Ngoma, Twalib; Mujinja, Phares G. M.; Wuyts, Marc and Mackintosh, Maureen
BMC Health Services Research, 22(1)

Dissent as cybercrime: social media, security and development in Tanzania (2021-07)
Cross, Charlotte
Journal of Eastern African Studies, 15(3) (pp. 442-463)

Ulinzi Shirikishi: Popular Experiences of Hybrid Security Governance in Tanzania (2016-09-05)
Cross, Charlotte
Development and Change, 47(5) (pp. 1102-1124)

Community policing and the politics of local development in Tanzania (2014-12-31)
Cross, Charlotte
Journal of Modern African Studies, 52(4) (pp. 517-540)

Policing and development (2024-04-09)
Cross, Charlotte
In: Dauncey, Emil; Desai, Vandan and Potter, Robert B. eds. The Companion to Development Studies (pp. 424-428)
ISBN : 9780429282348 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Heritage and development (2024-04-09)
Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D.
In: Dauncey, Emil; Desai, Vandana and Potter, Robert B. eds. The Companion to Development Studies (4th Edition) (pp. 78-81)
ISBN : 9780429282348 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London, UK

Beyond “Late Presentation”: Explaining Delayed Cancer Diagnosis in East Africa (2024)
Cross, Charlotte; Mokua, Sharon; Ngilangwa, Richard; Santos, Cristina; Ngoma, Twalib and Mujinja, Phares G. M.
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Makene, Fortunata Songora and Srinivas, Smita eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India.. International Political Economy Series. (pp. 93-111)
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland

The Social Pain of Cancer in East Africa: Understanding Need (2024)
Nyandieka, Lilian; Cross, Charlotte; Njeru, Mercy Karimi and Makene, Fortunata Songora
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Makene, Fortunata Songora and Srinivas, Smita eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building Inclusive Local Health Security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (IPES) (pp. 49-67)
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Cham, Switzerland

Introducing Heritage for Development: Practising the Past in the Pursuit of 'Progress' (2023)
Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D.
In: Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D. eds. Critical Approaches to Heritage for Development. Rethinking Development (pp. 1-33)
ISBN : 9780367619756 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Hybridity, Heritage and the Governance of Security: Community Policing in Tanzania (2023)
Cross, Charlotte
In: Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D. eds. Critical Approaches to Heritage for Development. Rethinking Development (pp. 235-249)
ISBN : 9780367619756 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Oxon, UK and New York, USA

Conclusion: Heritage for Development: Decolonisation, Expertise, Ownership, and Agency (2023)
Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D.
In: Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D. eds. Critical Approaches to Heritage for Development. Rethinking Development (pp. 282-285)
ISBN : 9780367619756 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals - Focus on Forest Finance and Partnerships (2019-12)
Humphreys, David; Singer, Benjamin; McGinley, Kathleen; Smith, Roy; Budds, Jessica; Gabay, Monica; Bhagwat, Shonil; de Jong, Wil; Newing, Helen; Cross, Charlotte and Satyal, Poshendra
In: Katila, Pia; Pierce Colfer, Carol J.; de Jong, Wil; Galloway, Glenn; Pacheco, Pablo and Winkel, Georg eds. Sustainable Development Goals: Their Impacts on Forests and People (pp. 541-576)
ISBN : 978-1-108-48699-6 | Publisher : Cambridge University Press | Published : Cambridge

Cybercrime and the policing of politics in Tanzania (2019-07-15)
Cross, Charlotte
In: Dwyer, Maggie and Molony, Thomas eds. Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Censorship and Security
ISBN : 9781786995001 | Publisher : Zed Books

Community policing in Tanzania: Experiences and understandings of participation (2014)
Cross, Charlotte
In: Conteh, Charles and Huque, Ahmed Shafiqul eds. Public Sector Reforms in Developing Countries: Paradoxes and practices (pp. 77-92)
ISBN : 9780415858564 | Publisher : Routledge

Critical Approaches to Heritage for Development (2022-12-15)
Cross, Charlotte and Giblin, John D. eds.
Rethinking Development
ISBN : 9780367619756 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Perspectives of providers of cancer care in Tanzania: evidence and implications for policy (2023-03)
Cross, Charlotte; Makene, Fortunata Sangora; Mackintosh, Maureen; Ngilangwa, Richard Gordon; Santos, Cristina; Mujinja, Phares G. M. and Ngoma, Twalib
Economic and Social Research Foundation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Access to Cancer Care in Kenya: Patients’, Survivors’, Caregivers’ and Health Providers’ Perspectives (2021-12)
Njeru, Mercy K.; Cross, Charlotte; Nyandieka, Lilian; Wanjala, Cecilia; Mokua, Sharon N.; Mutisya, Richard; Santos, Cristina; Manduku, Veronica and Mackintosh, Maureen
Open University / ICCA, Nairobi, Kenya and Milton Keynes.

Cancer pain management in Tanzania: using scenarios to explore critical interrelationships and potential interventions (2021-04)
Steenmans, Ine; Daniels, Chux; Makene, Fortunata; Ngoma, Twalib; Mujinja, Phares GM; Mackintosh, Maureen; Cross, Charlotte; Ngilangwa, Richard and Chataway, Joanna
Economic and Social Research Foundation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Cancer patients’ pathways: evidence and implications for policy (2020-08)
Makene, Fortunata Songora; Ngilangwa, Richard Gordon; Mackintosh, Maureen; Santos, Cristina; Cross, Charlotte; Mujinja, Phares G.M. and Ngoma, Twalib
Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Innovation for Cancer Care in Africa (ICCA), The Open University