Multidisciplinary social scientist working on global political economy, development theory, development policy, political philosophy, economic alternatives, development ethics, social movements.

After my retirement I'm on professorial contract continuing to conduct research and supervise PhD students in Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki. My own research areas include histories of global development, Finnish development cooperation and Tanzanian long-term development history. I supervise students whose topics are in some way related to any of these.

I am doing PhD research on corporate responsibility in African states with a case study focused on a large investment by multinational oil and gas companies in Tanzania. I am a political scientist (MSocSc World Politics, MSc African Politics) and now working within the field of management and politics. Previously, I have worked as an advisor within development cooperation, and have rich experience of development policy, especially in relation to global economics and finance.

Happy Tirivangasi holds a Master of Arts degree in sociology from the University of Limpopo in South Africa. He graduated with distinction, Master of Science in Governance and Development from the Institute of Development Policy (IOB) at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He has six years of research experience in southern Africa. Happy has published more than 60 research articles, which consist of nine (9) book chapters (published by Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, and Rowman & Littlefield), forty-nine (49) journal articles (published in peer-reviewed journals accredited by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) list), and three (3) conference proceedings. In 2022, Happy served as a member of two scientific committees for two international conferences, namely, the 14th Southern African-Nordic Centre international conference (December 4–6, 2022) and the 1st Southern African Mountain Conference (March 14–17, 2022). Mr. Tirivangasi is currently a research associate at the University of Limpopo (Department of Research Administration and Development) and a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Jyväskylä. His research interest lies in political and environmental sociology.