The worst of the restrictions to movement and socialising may be behind us here in France, but now is the time to reflect on what we learned from this devastating crisis and be better prepared for the possible scenarios that lie ahead.

Many countries thought that they were well prepared for a pandemic, that everything was in place. They were backed by various “preparedness rankings”. Yet, one of the major lessons from the pandemic has been the role of leaders – of individuals in various positions acting as positive driving forces or sources of chaos in unexpected positions.

Join us for a conversation with Michael Woolcock, HKS Lecturer and Lead Social Scientist at the World Bank, on the lessons from the global fight against Covid-19, the limits of metrics for understanding the pandemic, and the role of expertise and/or leadership.

Michael Woolcock is Lead Social Scientist with the World Bank’s Development Research Group, where he has worked since 1998. For fourteen of these years he has also been a Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, as well as the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester. His research focuses on strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of policy implementation, extending work addressed in his recent book Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action (with Matt Andrews and Lant Pritchett; Oxford University Press, 2017). He is also currently co-directing the World Bank’s bi-annual ‘Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report 2020’, due for release in October. An Australian national, Michael is a co-recipient of the American Sociological Association’s awards for best book (2012) and best article (2014) on economic development. He has a PhD in comparative-historical sociology from Brown University.

When: Wednesday 1st July, 2020 : 6:30 – 8:00pm

Where: Zoom