Barry helped to set up Humanitarian Studies in the UK university system. Working with Tim O Dempsey, the first Diploma and then Masters programmes in Humanitarian Studies were established based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He has supervised over 150 humanitarian dissertations to successful completion,
Barry did his PhD at Manchester University on Frelimo and the Mozambican Revolution and worked at the Centre of African Studies in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Much of his research and writing in the early period was on the struggle against white minority rule in Southern Africa, covering the many conflicts and humanitarian crises that ensued.
He has worked as a consultant and policy advisor across a wide range of development fields: sustainable development, agriculture, forestry, energy, environment, governance, security and health. He was Professor in Politics and Communication Studies at the University of Liverpool where he worked from 1981 to 2005 and was also Director of the Centre of African Studies and Post-Graduate Dean. In the 1980s his research covered land reform and energy and development in Southern Africa. Working with the Southern African Development Community the research looked at woodfuel, the energy of the poor, and the burden upon women. A key concern at that time was reducing energy dependence on white minority ruled South Africa for the surrounding independent African states.
The 1990s research concentrated on sustainable development, helping countries to devise their national strategies and build up environment ministries, for the Rio Earth Summit and its aftermath for the United Nations Environment Programme. This policy work included countries in Latin America, West and Southern Africa. Barry worked extensively in post-apartheid South Africa building up government capacity for the majority rule government under Nelson Mandela and later presidents. He was Visiting Research Professor at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa and worked closely with MSF South Africa. He has produced many books, including: Managing Sustainable Development in South Africa, and The Politics of Service Delivery working with South African colleagues; and with the Minister of the Environment in Mozambique edited a book called, Sustainable Development in Mozambique.
Since 1997 he has focussed on humanitarian crises, both in his teaching and in research.
Barry is on the Editorial Board of Third World Quarterly and the International Advisory Board of Progress in Development Studies. He has been Visiting Research Professor for many years at The Graduate School of Public and Development Management (now called The Wits School of Governance) in South Africa. He has had affiliations with the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at Manchester University, the Manchester Business School, the Bioforce Institute in Lyon, France, University of Tampere in Finland and The Centre for Health Planning and Management at Keele University. He currently volunteers with Boaz supporting asylum seekers in Manchester.
Research and teaching
Current teaching at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine includes:
Political Economy of Humanitarian Emergencies
Climate Change and Health
Media, Policy and Advocacy
Management of refugees and displaced persons: from conflict to sustainable development
Diploma in Tropical Nursing
Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance
He has previously taught on:
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, Global Health Systems, Health Planning and Management, Research Methods, Sustainable development, Democratic Theory and Practice, Political Science, Peace Studies.
Barry has supervised over 50 PhDs and 150 Humanitarian studies dissertations.
Research
Authored and/or edited 16 books
42 contributions to books
Over 60 refereed journal articles.
His research in recent years has been on humanitarianism, conflict and climate change.