Robtel Neajai Pailey

Robtel Neajai Pailey is a Liberian scholar, author, and activist. After studying at Howard University, the University of Oxford and SOAS, University of London, she started teaching at the London School of Economics (LSE).

As part of her scholarly and literary publications, she is interested in various phenomena affecting countries in the Global South, including Liberia, and introduces a critique of the 'white gaze of development', a term she coined to challenge the racist underpinnings of mainstream development. For her, it is necessary to decolonize development, both in the Global South and North.

Biography Robtel Neajai Pailey was born in Monrovia, Liberia. She began her studies at Howard University in 2000, followed by the University of Oxford in 2006, where she received full scholarships to study at both institutions. She then studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), in 2014. During this time, she wrote articles for several international newspapers, such as Al Jazeera English, The New York Times, Africa Today and The Guardian.

In 2013, she published the children's book Gbagba, which depicts the journey of Liberian twin characters and address corruption and integrity as opposite phenomena.

Analysis Her scholarly contributions focus particularly on colonial and post-colonial issues. and Western forms of modernity.

Furthermore, she critiques emphasis on the evolution of countries based on a productivist approach to economic development.