NOVEMBER 2019 VOL . 21 – NO. 2
Human and environmental justice – Local impacts of global governance
From the Editorial Board Human and environmental justice – Local impacts of global governance The toughness of autumn is in The Hague. At this time, it seems a great deal of ‘fire’ has been added to examples of democratic fragility discussed in recent editions of DevISSues. Ecuador and Chile, for example, have had questions asked about democracy and regime legitimacy, and Brazilian developments have raised questions about the balance between economic interests and environmental/ indigenous rights. These situations ask whether ‘developing’ countries’ insertion in the world economy is really helping local development. This DevISSues considers these processes and impacts. The articles represent personal comments by academics and activists about how global governance can appear/be unfair, violent and socially exclusionary. The two pieces on Brazil (Borari / Galhera) present a concerned but combative attitude to the impact of project development (and the state’s passive / active support to these) on the environment and specific groups (e.g. indigenous territories and rights). There are also strong signs of countervailing forces. For example, groups such as the Borari and Munduruku are taking local and international standards-based action to assert their rights to voice and in their claims for territory. Moreover, national demonstrations have led to concerted mobilization by indigenous groups in most major European countries and international forums.
Colophon
From another perspective, in our Focus on ISS feature, the discussion of AIDSOCPRO takes a cross-country view of the political economy of aid finance. Results note how complex administration, standardized models and exclusionary local processes question effectiveness. Moreover, these programmes are not so appreciated, often treated as superficial (or budget top ups) and can be seen as reasons for institutional rigidity in receiving countries.
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Yet the discussion of the Philippines and the impact of the plastics and petroleum chains gives hope that combined efforts of research, advocacy and civic action can give localities more voice. It is not just a case of companies pursuing consumer demand; it is more a case for rigorous chain level responsibility adherence. As noted by Professor Arsel in our last edition, taking the case for a more caring society will require social movements to be fierce, sustained and imaginative in their visions/ strategies.
DevISSues@iss.nl Editor Jane Pocock Editorial Board Lee Pegler, Sunil Tankha, Sandra Nijhof Design Ontwerpwerk, The Hague Production De Bondt Grafimedia
Moving closer to ‘home’, members of our Diversity & Inclusion Team are guardedly optimistic that we can make a difference to equality and voice within the walls of ISS. Along with our other regular features, we hope this DevISSues will inspire you with a sense of quiet optimism that we can make a difference with our voices and activism.
Circulation 6,500 The text material from DevISSues may be reproduced or adapted without permission, provided it is not distributed for profit and is attributed to the original author or authors, DevISSues and the International Institute of Social Studies. ISSN 1566-4821. DevISSues is printed on FSC certified paper
Dr Lee Pegler, chair, DevISSues Editorial Board
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Rector’s Blog ISS in October 2019 Energized, Embedded and Engaged That is the title of our strategic plan 2018-22: Energized by societal challenges in the outside world that urge us to think about the future of development studies; Embedded in the global South and our worldwide network of alumni and in the city of The Hague; Engaged in research and teaching, and with society around us. Based on our key values of social justice and equity, we focus on enhancing: • the scientific quality and societal relevance of our research • our PhD programme, as complementary to the MA programmes • comprehensive joint programmes with countries in the global South • our global expertise with partners in The Hague With extra funding we can fill the positions now of staff retiring in the near future, so we are currently selecting candidates for new research and teaching positions. This creates a nice dynamic at ISS, with many new, often young, people joining us.
Young ISS: the future of development On 17 October we celebrated our 67th birthday, this year with a focus on Young ISS. The aim: learn about the future of development studies from young ISS researchers. In short pitches, three young researchers described their research and its societal relevance. Rod Mena Fluhmann told us about the research programme ‘When disaster meets conflict’ and his PhD research on complex disaster-conflict scenarios. He stated that development studies can become more relevant by including research in humanitarian studies. Zemzem Shigute Shuka told us about the transformative
Inge Hutter Rector ISS
potential of social protection programmes in Ethiopia and their possible contribution to reducing the vulnerability of rural households. Brenda Rodriquez Cortes told us about her PhD research on women’s sexuality with participatory research fieldwork and analysis from a decolonizing perspective. The meeting was moderated by ISS alumna Lynn Zebeda. It was a very inspiring meeting indeed.
Visiting SET-SRHR in Kampala and CFIA in Nairobi Later in October, I visited Uganda and Kenya. In Uganda I visited the project run by colleague Dr Auma Okwany and Dr Elizabeth Nabiwemba of the School of Public Health of Makerere University (MakSPH). The project, Strengthening Education and Training Capacity in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SET-SRHR), adapts a capacity building approach to SRHR. The programme develops and organizes training, conducts research and PhD supervision and organizes engagement activities with external parties. The project also launched the MakSPH Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, creating great potential to continue efforts in the field of SRHR. In Nairobi, I visited the hub of our Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Frugal Innovation in Africa, led by Dr Elsie Osongo, and situated in an energizing environment that provides space to young start-ups. Very inspiring indeed! And in both countries we organized alumni meetings, where we presented our strategic plan and shared information on the two programmes. All in all, October 2019 has been a very enriching month!
Contents
4 Local fights:
global struggles
6 Denouncing
violations of rights
14 ISS news
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Focus on ISS
7 Where are they now?
17 Staff-student dialogue
10 The Caarapó Massacre
22 ISS publications
13 New books
23 Student life
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Bridging local fights to global struggles in resisting against corporate power
Joseph Edward B. Alegado is an ISS alumnus. He is a
A report published by the Center for International Environmental Law in September 2017 revealed that 99 per cent of plastics are produced from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. Further, researchers say that based on current projections, we will have produced 26 billion tons of plastic waste by 20501.
communications practitioner and emerging development studies scholar from the Philippines.
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oday, the world is already drowning in plastic waste, and countries — even the developed ones — have not been able to cope. For the longest time, wealthy countries have been exporting plastics to China. However, in 2018 China shut its doors to low-grade plastic waste imports to protect its borders. The move put the global plastic recycling industry into chaos — exposing the loopholes of recycling. In 2016, various non-governmental and environmental justice organizations formed #breakfreefromplastic – a movement that is aiming to end plastic pollution for good through its threepronged strategy: for governments to invest in more ecological Zero Waste solutions, for corporations to be responsible for the plastic pollution that their products and packaging have been causing, to change the dominant
narrative with alternative, real and long-term solutions.
Exposing corporate accountability in the plastic pollution crisis Its corporate strategy work has produced significant results since then. In the last three years, the movement has demonstrated coordinated power through public actions and social media hashtags, shifted the media narrative towards corporate responsibility, and achieved significant shareholder votes and more progressive commitments from major
‘ #breakfreefromplastic… aiming to end plastic pollution for good’
corporations. In September 2017, #breakfreefromplastic member organizations in the Philippines conducted an unprecedented nine-day brand audit on Freedom Island2. This was replicated in 2018 during a World Environment Day celebration when 10 Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA – a worldwide alliance of grassroots groups, NGOs and individuals) members and partner organizations conducted brand audits in 18 states in India3. These brand audits proved to be the opening salvo for the 240 brand audits4 conducted in 42 countries in the months that followed. In 2019, GAIA Asia Pacific quantified the waste generation in the Philippines using the findings of household waste assessments and brand audits conducted in various parts of the country. The report5 is being used to push for policies to reduce plastic waste generation.
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Plastic pollution visible in Freedom Island, a critical habitat and protected area, in the Philippines. Photo by Jed Alegado
These worldwide coordinated brand audits have been putting much pressure on companies to be responsible and accountable for the ‘branded pollution’ that they have been causing. It also emboldened the Break Free From Plastic movement to issue a Corporate Leadership Challenge5 in October 2018 and to reinforce its corporate call on the 3Rs: reveal how much plastic goes into markets and environments each year; reduce the amount of plastic produced and packaged; and reinvent how goods are packaged and delivered. Moreover, brand audits have been mobilizing citizen action and public awareness in identifying the real culprits behind the plastic pollution crisis. The industry has long been peddling the narrative that consumers and their behaviour are the ones to be blamed, while passing the burden of managing
‘ solidarity is essential to fight the intersection of the oil and gas industries with the plastic manufacturing industries’ plastic wastes to governments using taxpayer money. Clearly, mobilizing citizens by conducting brand audits has provided evidence-based data to support calls for corporate responsibility and accountability.
Putting a human face to the plastic pollution and climate change problem In 2018, I had the privilege of joining a two-week tour with seasoned activists Myrna Dominguez of the Asia-Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty from the Philippines and Lakshmi Narayan from KKPKP, a trades union of waste collectors and recyclers in Pune, India. Myrna, who used to be connected with the Leftist
movement in the Philippines, is a champion of smallholder women food producers’ rights in the region, while Lakhsmi is a trade union activist dealing with the issues of waste pickers. During the tour we visited proposed fracking sites in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania in the USA. In these cities, we met groups fighting fracking, and visited oil and gas facilities owned by large petrochemical corporations. Despite the differences in the level of struggles among these groups, one thing was clear: communities of colour and low-income communities are the ones suffering from the health and environmental impacts of these linked
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‘ mobilizing citizens…has provided evidence-based data to support calls for corporate responsibility and accountability’ industries. They are the ones largely experiencing the bad impacts of ethane and methane pollution. This was evident in Port Arthur, Karnes and Corpus Christi in Texas where Hispanic migrants living near the facilities are fighting their construction. In the state of Louisiana, particularly in St. James and St. John, African-American groups, with historical roots in slavery, are suffering from the health impacts of methane plants and oil pipelines which have health ramifications for the residents living in the area known as ‘Cancer Alley’. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, residents are greatly impacted by these proposed sites in Beaver and Allegheny counties. These connected industries (plastic and fossil fuel), use unsustainable, violent and oppressive practices that harm not just consumers but the very people they employ because of labour practices, human rights abuses, concealment of scientific information from the public and, until now, their flat-out refusal to take responsibility for the havoc they cause.
With these visits, Lakhsmi, Myrna, and I showed how the impacts of plastic in countries in the Global South are connected to the large investments of global corporations in the construction of oil and gas facilities in the United States and the fracking in the ports of Europe. The response of the public outside the activist circle was amazing. In one of our public events, someone from the audience asked how they could help with the struggles of these fisher-folk and waste picker groups which Lakshmi and Myrna were leading. We tried to explain to our audiences that their struggles are the same as our struggles and that solidarity is essential to fight the intersection of the oil and gas industries with the plastic manufacturing industries which have bad impacts to our health, environment and livelihoods. Convergence among movements from different races and from various kinds of struggles is necessary as we fight against big corporations espousing neoliberal
Lakshmi Narayan and Myrna Dominguez. Photo by Jed Alegado principles. Uniting these groups from the upstream to the downstream of the plastic chain will bring about a broad yet solid front against capitalism and its excesses. From a campaigning and communications perspective, we need to put a human face on these issues in order to change the dominant industrypedalled narrative of overconsumption and unsustainable production. To fully #breakfreefromplastic, we should stop plastic where it starts. Disclaimer: the author is currently the Regional Communications Lead of #breakfreefromplastic for Asia Pacific. Views published in this article are entirely his own.
A Materials Recovery Facility in San Fernando, Pampanga in the Philippines. This is a model Zero Waste city in the Philippines and a pioneer in city-wide plastic bag ban. Photo by Jed Alegado
1 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/ next-30-years-we-ll-make-four-times-more-plasticwaste-we-ever-have 2 Groups Reveal Top Plastic Polluters Following Massive Beach Cleanup https://www.no-burn.org/ green-groups-reveal-top-plastic-polluters-followingmassive-beach-cleanup-on-freedom-island/ 3 https://www.no-burn.org/wed-india/ 4 https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/ globalbrandauditreport2018/ 5 https://www.no-burn.org/plastics-exposed/
ISS Alumni
Where are they now?
Bilal Aurang Zeb Durrani
Jie Zhang
Country Pakistan Organization United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Position Head of UNICEF Seoul Office Study at ISS MA in Development Studies Governance and Democracy Specialization Year of graduation 2008 How did the study contribute to your career? The study at ISS contributed a great deal to my career. First, it was an excellent learning platform where students (most of them already with professional work experience in the development sector) from all over the world brought an immense practical knowledge of realities and development solutions. Second, ISS has a credible reputation in the development sector as it is one of the few academic institutions that focuses solely on development studies. Third, and most importantly, the knowledge and skills gained throughout different courses were immensely useful, with the right balance of theory and practice, making it very helpful to implement on the job. Would you recommend ISS to others interested in studying Development Studies? Without a doubt. What was your overall experience at ISS? It was one of the best experiences of my life, especially because of the people that ISS managed to attract to the Masters programme from all over the world – creating a sense of community – like a mini United Nations. We learnt as much outside the classroom as inside the classroom. Now I have friends all over the world and I have met them in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
Country USA Organization Gartner Inc. Position Senior Director, Analyst Study at ISS MA in Development Studies Population and Development Specialization Year of graduation 1994 How did the study contribute to your career? The study exposed me for the very first time to a collaborative and critical thinking style of education. It eventually led me to my current job – an analyst in technology research and advisory for a global organization. The diversified environment at ISS, with my classmates from all over the world and the unmatched open-mindedness and encouragement from my professors and advisors, was ultimately valuable to me, enabling me to become an international citizen and enjoy the lifestyle that brings. Would you recommend ISS to others interested in studying Development Studies? Absolutely! ISS is a unique academic institution located in a beautiful city. The school and faculty offer the most open and encouraging atmosphere, not only to enjoy a great education but also to give you the basis to set you up for a lifelong pursuit in knowledge and humanity. What was your overall experience at ISS? The knowledge I gained at ISS from the professors and my classmates is one of the most treasured assets I have. The experience is undoubtedly a celebrating milestone in my education and my life. I have vivid memories of biking daily to school through beautiful Den Haag and passing the International Peace Palace.
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Vandria Borari
On 27 May 2019, ISS organized an event on Amazon indigenous peoples, the role of global agribusiness and authoritarian government, with a focus on the current situation in Brazil.
Vandria Borari in tribal headdress.
Declaration denouncing violations of rights of indigenous people
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he discussion and debate included presentations by Gabriela Russo (PhD researcher at CEDLA/UvA) and Dr Tim Boekhout (independent criminological researcher and EUR research fellow). Their very stark and succinct analysis of the soya chain/ ‘highway’ (rapidly encroaching further into parts of this region) and deforestation trends was underlined in very personal and socio-environmental terms by the third speaker, Vandria Borari. This indigenous activist and legal
researcher from Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon described the personal and community perspectives of the impact of soja in their territory. The impact on indigenous communities, she argued, has been harsh, irrespective of the measurement indicator used (water/ land/health/violence/security/cultural traditions/ voice-income-dignity). The discussion underlined that changes to this must be brought about by pressure on the companies and others responsible
via consumer and social movements, but also by government and regulatory norms and practices, something that is quite problematic at this moment. Following the event, Vandria Borari, who recently completed a Law degree in the Federal University of West Pará (UFOPA) and is currently an exchange student in the Netherlands, wrote the following declaration, to denounce the violations of rights of indigenous peoples going on in Brazil.
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Declaration We, indigenous peoples, have been in the Amazon for thousands of years. We are the autochthonous peoples of the forest and lived there long before the invasion of European colonizers and the emergence of laws that further propelled the grabbing of our territories. Our traditional ways of living and our ancestral culture, maintained by the current generations, are largely based on protecting and respecting Mother Earth. We believe that everything that She grants to us is worthy of gratitude and of profound celebration. For this reason, we cannot accept it when nature is harmed and destroyed. Our Amazon is formed by lakes, rivers, water springs and marshes. In it you can find one of the largest fresh water reserves in the world. Its biodiversity is beyond measure and comparison. In this mosaic of intertwined life, there is also a visceral and organic connection between the forest and the peoples of the forest. The Amazon still sustains this connection and, if it is destroyed, our own existence is at stake. For us, native peoples, the protection of the Amazon and defence of our territories have always been constituent of our struggles against an economic model based on the exploitation of natural resources, which started during colonization and still persists today. Currently, our region of Tapajós in the Amazon has been taken over by deceiving promises of progress. Our region is threatened due to the implantation of mega-projects, such as hydroelectric dams, the spread of mining and illegal timber extraction, and the construction of new ports and roads necessary for the expansion of industrial agribusiness, itself a threat and largely centred on soy monocultures. The Netherlands is the second country to which most of the soy from the Brazilian Amazon is exported, after China. One of the regions of the Amazon that has become the focus of agribusiness
Protest by Vandria Borari
headaches, dizziness and breathing troubles, from breathing these poisons, including in children. The larger ecosystem and other species also suffer from this contamination. The bees in the region are currently endangered and many honey producers have lost their entire production on occasion as bees affected by the chemicals in soy fields do not return to their hives.
‘ We, indigenous peoples, live in a situation of extreme invisibility and marginalization. frontier expansion, with support of the Brazilian State and of foreign capital, is Santarém, in the state of Pará. The arrival of soy in our territories brought with it the installation of a large grain port of the trader Cargill. The arrival of the multinational company in our region led to the destruction of an important archaeological site, erasing the remnants of an ancestral history of more than 11 thousand years. Despite these violations, agribusiness continues to gain space and to cause immense deforestation. The formerly rich vegetation gave place to uniform fields of soy: green deserts, drowned in highly carcinogenic pesticides. Many local families have also been expelled from their lands. Those that try to resist the expansion of soy into their territories often live under constant threat to leave. Families that live next to soy plantations are often the most harmed ones, since they suffer directly from the large quantities of pesticides applied nearby. There are drastic consequences to health, such as nausea and vomiting,
We, indigenous peoples, live in a situation of extreme invisibility and marginalization from the Brazilian State, especially in relation to our rights to access and maintain our territories. These rights are not only recognized in our Constitution, but were also strengthened through Brazil’s signing of International Labour Organization Convention 169, on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. We need more people to become truly aware of the threat of catastrophe the Amazon is facing. It is also the responsibility of the countries to which the soy is exported, including many European and Asian countries. What is at stake, at the end, is the loss of rich forests, of thousands of lives and of traditional cultures that have resisted for thousands of years.
Vandria Borari. Credit: wefutureglobal
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Clodiodi's wake. Photo by Ana Mendes/CIMI
The Caarapó Massacre R Katiuscia Moreno Galhera holds a PhD in political science and a post-doctoral certificate in sociology. She works at a Faculty of Education in Brazil.
ecent forest fires in the Amazon region (2019) alerted the world to the destruction led by new frontiers of agribusiness and cattle farming. The ‘Fire Day’ (Dia do Fogo), as the coordinated forest fires came to be known, might become a key moment in the Amazon’s recent history. Previous to that, Norway’s and Germany’s withdrawal from the Amazon Fund was an indication of President Bolsonaro’s disdain for the maintenance of biodiversity and the lives of indigenous people. The President’s explicit disdain for nature and minorities is clear, so is his cooperation with agribusiness and cattle farming elites: he got elected by this long-standing bourgeoisie. This article is about how state and capital collide to lead to ethnocide within this context.
are long-term processes linked to land grabbing through the privatization of the commons: i.e. the act of creating private property areas that are supposed to be of common use. More importantly, these processes are combined with the advancement of economic power in collusion with the state. This article focuses specifically on a massacre of indigenous people by agents of private companies and the continuation of this massacre by state entities through institutions such as the prison system. Privatization of the commons, deforestation, reduced biodiversities and ethnocide would be impossible without the support of the state, eg. the March to the West (Marcha para o Oeste1). This 1
Historically in Brazil, deforestation, decreased biodiversities and ethnocide
This was a campaign promoted by the then President Getúlio Vargas to promote migration of white people to the Centre-West of Brazil (lands of indigenous people).
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can be seen as a process of colonization of the Brazilian west and its integration into world production. Moreover, the Service of Protection to Indigenous People (Serviço de Proteção ao Índio) promoted forced dislocation and confinement of entire indigenous communities through the creation of reserves. Both the March to the West and the Service of Protection to Indigenous People created a new type of cheap labour force for the then (1910-1960) agribusiness frontier. As an exporter of commodities to the centres of capitalism, such as Europe and the US, this thus made Latin America dependent on production chains intensive in labour, land and, progressively, pesticides. To maintain this status, the centres of capitalism are often hypocritical and contradictory. For instance, the Netherlands is a promoter of green and sustainable capitalism (Vergragt 2009). However, as the main importer of soy in Europe, it funds ports and other logistical facilities in Brazil. These processes are facilitated by other transnational corporations (e.g. Bunge and Cargill) that (in)directly provoke land grabbing, deforestation, pesticide use, reduced biodiversity and ethnocide. Of course, indigenous people, who are strongly affected by these developments,
‘ forced dislocation and confinement of entire indigenous communities through the creation of reserves’ are not simply passive agents of structural oppression. A brief history of the soya global value chains in Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), a Brazilian state impacted by agribusiness production, exemplifies grassroots struggles on the ground fighting the power of private capital and their links to global logistical processes. Soy production was introduced across Brazil at the end of the 1950s by producers from Southern regions of Brazil after an earlier privatization of lands in Matte Laranjeiras in the late 19th century. Heavy investments enabled the building of logistical support such as highways 163 and 364 to the ports of Santos and Paranaguá (Bonato and Bonato, 1987). By 2010, 80 per cent of Brazilian soy production was directed to these ports via these highways (Correa and Ramos 2010). In terms of resistance, retomadas (indigenous people taking back their original lands) in Mato Grosso do Sul have shown the power of people’s self-determination. Retomadas often emerge due to people’s frustration over unfulfilled promises of demarcation and the right to access lands. These retomadas are often attacked by private security companies and by the soy companies themselves, frequently with the support of the police apparatus which criminalizes these indigenous struggles, as the example below illustrates.
The Caarapó Massacre
Clodiode de Souza, killed during the protest
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The Kunumi Poty Verá retomada by the Guarani and Kaiowá people took place on 13 June 2016. Before the retomada, the area used to be called Toro Paso, referring to a fighting bull used to attack people. Such names are not unusual, as the oral history of indigenous people is often permeated with references to cattle and soy production. What is quite worrying in this (and other) cases is that an anthropological report from 2014,
Dourados Amambaipeguá I, evaluated this area and deemed it original land of the Guarani and Kaiowá people. An area of 55,600 hectares involving parts of three cities (Caarapó, Amambai and Laguna Caarapã) was legally supposed to be Guarani and Kaiowá land. The retomada led to an immediate attack on the Guarani and Kaiowá community by local landowners. The attack was organized via WhatsApp messages (Carvalho 2019) amongst landowners the following day (14 June) and encouraged the use of weapons. As the indigenous community had no weapons, the impact of this asymmetric display of power by landowners was catastrophic. Real ammunition, rubber bullets, cars, motorcycles and a skid steer loader were used in the attack. Twelve indigenous people ended up in hospital, two of them with bullet wounds which still remain in their bodies. More dramatically, the Guarani and Kaiowá health worker, Clodiode de Souza, was killed and attackers tried to move his body in a skid steer loader – an explicit demonstration of the dehumanization of indigenous people. More recently, Clodiode’s father, Leonardo, was put in jail (December, 2018), unfairly indicted as the main perpetrator of the massacre of his own community. He is now literally dying in the jail, arguably due to the negligence of the penal institution/state: he is denied essential medicines for various conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, rheumatism and a hernia. He is also worried about the lack of security for his family when visiting him in prison and about his own security. In contrast, none of the landowners were imprisoned as a result of the massacre. It is worth mentioning that, since colonization, indigenous communities have often faced ethnocide, sometimes via massacres but often by slower, less
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direct means. For example, many indigenous peoples have been imprisoned, impoverished and submitted to unacceptable labour conditions. Chemical attacks with pesticides and ‘accidents’ involving indigenous people (e.g. hit and run) are not unusual in indigenous areas (Grigori 2019; Santana 2019; Centro de Estudos Indígenas 2016). Recently, attempts to lease (arrendamentos) indigenous lands have taken place across Brazil. For example, Constitutional Amendment 187 (Projeto de Emenda Constitucional) aims to change the Brazilian Constitution to make legal the exploitation of the commons and the productive-extractive practices in indigenous lands. The state is once again complicit in this process. Returning to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and the Caarapó massacre, an interesting situation emerged. The COAMO corporation was directly involved in the Caarapó massacre, as the company has close and friendly relations with farmers involved in attacks (Castilho and Carvalho 2019). COAMO’s tactics are now becoming more diversified, with the company settling indigenous lands for soy production (op. cit.). In this regard it is worth repeating the fact that such soy production, being land and water intensive, potentially increases the level of pesticides in the soil and water. With a correlation between cancer and soy production (Andrioli 2008; Chaboussou 2006), this further underlines the dangers
Indigenous people gathered where Clodiodi was killed, shortly after the Caarapó massacre. Photo by Ruy Sposati/Cimi
for indigenous communities of allowing encroachment into their regions. Ironically, the Caarapó Massacre happened at the time of the Declaration of Rights by the Organization of American States. This sad coincidence shows the limits of official institutions. Still, indigenous people in Brazil are not passive agents of institutions, soy expansion and the colonial state but can autonomously recover their dignity through retomadas. These are acts of clear resistance, of indigenous people recovering their sense of pride and belonging as part of their livelihoods (traditional practices and beliefs). In response to their situation, the Caarapó community is also making efforts to build a place to pray and to decolonize livelihoods.
If you are interested in supporting these indigenous struggles, please get in contact with katifemininja@gmail.com.
‘ indigenous people in Brazil are not passive agents ….but can autonomously recover their dignity through retomadas.’
References Andrioli, A. I., & Fuchs, R. (2008) Transgênicos: as sementes do mal: A silenciosacontaminação de solos e alimentos. Expressão Popular. Bonato, E. R.; Bonato, A. L. A soja no Brasil: história e estatística. Londrina: EMBRAPA-CNPSo, 1987. Carvalho, I. Ataque a indígenas em Caarapó, há três anos, foi articulado por WhatApp. Available at: https:// deolhonosruralistas.com.br/deolhonoms/2019/06/16/ ataque-a-indigenas-em-caarapo-ha-tres-anos-foiarticulado-por-whatsapp/. Accessed in September 2019. Castilho, A.; Carvalho, I. Marco Antônio Delfino, do MPF: “Há uma cadeia produtiva internacional que se alimenta do sangue indígena”. Available at: https:// deolhonosruralistas.com.br/deolhonoms/2019/03/18/ marco-antonio-delfino-do-mpf-ha-uma-cadeiaprodutiva-internacional-que-se-alimenta-do-sangueindigena/. Accessed in September 2019. Centro de Estudos Indígenas. Ataque Químico Contra a Retomada Tey'i Jusu. Available at: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=qQn7SpbVsdQ. Accessed in November 2019. Chaboussou, F. (2006) Plantas doentes pelo uso de agrotóxicos: novas bases de uma prevenção contra doenças e parasitas; a teoria da trofobiose. Expressão Popular. Correa, V. H. C.; Ramos, P. A precariedade do transporte rodoviário brasileiro para o escoamento da produção de soja do Centro-Oeste: situação e perspectivas. Rev. Econ. Sociol. Rural [online]. 2010, vol.48, n.2 [cited 2019-08-03], pp.447-472. Grigori, Pedro. Agrotóxico foi usado “como agente laranja” em comunidades indígenas, diz procurador. Available at: https://apublica.org/2019/08/agrotoxicofoi-usado-como-agente-laranja-em-comunidadesindigenas-diz-procurador/. Accessed in November 2019. Santana, Renato. Comissão Interamericana emite medidas cautelares e Estado brasileiro deve proteger comunidade Guarani Kaiowá. Available at: https://cimi.org.br/2019/10/comissao-interamericanasolicita-medida-cautelar-ao-estado-brasileiro-em-favordos-guarani-kaiowa-da-ti-guyraroka/. Accessed in November 2019. Vergragt, P. J. (2009) CCS in the Netherlands: glass half empty or half full. Caching the carbon: The politics and policy of carbon capture and storage, 186-210.
ISS publications
New books Confronting Crisis and Precariousness: Organised Labour and Social Unrest in Europe Co-edited by ISS PhD researcher Brandon Sommer, this book investigates how the shadow of the financial crisis still haunts organized labour in Europe.
Disaster risk reduction and protracted violent conflict: The case of Afghanistan Jointly written by Rodrigo Mena, Dorothea Hilhorst and Katie Peters, the book explores how disaster risk reduction is linked to conflict prevention in Afghanistan.
Social Policy in the Middle East and North Africa Edited by Rana Jawad, Nicola Jones and Mahmood Messkoub, this compilation offers an up-to-date conceptual analysis of social policy programmes and discourses in the MENA region.
A Political Economy of African Regionalisms In this new publication, Wil Hout and Mohamed Salih analyse the main factors influencing the political economy of Africa’s asymmetrical regionalism, focusing on trade, investment, movement of people, goods and services.
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ISS news
ISS news alumni awards EUR events PhD projects research staff students
67th Dies Natalis event
On 17 October, ISS celebrated its 67th Dies Natalis. The focus was on the societal relevance of research and the future of international development studies. During the event, three young ISS researches presented their research and engaged in a lively discussion with the audience.
Grant to study adolescents' perceptions of healthy relationships research This grant will enable ISS and its partners to retrain young researchers in advocacy planning so that they can conduct their own advocacy campaign, disseminate their own research findings and make policy recommendations on improving relations in their communities. The project will be led by Dr Kristen Cheney.
Alumnus Sumith Nakandala new Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Netherlands alumni The Ambassador took up his position in June 2019. He studied International Relations and Development at ISS in 1994.
ISS Honorary Fellow new Economic Advisor to S. African President staff Professor Benno Ndulu, who received his honorary doctorate in 1997, joins President Ramaphosa’s new Presidential Economic Adivsory Council.
ISS news
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Dr Gustavo García López new Prince Claus Chair holder research
Ana Isabel López García joins ISS as research fellow staff
In Memoriam
As holder of the Prince Claus Chair, Dr Gustavo García López will look into the relationship between Global Social Justice and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focussing on the global justice component of the SDGs.
Dr Ana Isabel López García is one of the two successful LEaDing Fellows grantees who won Marie Curie COFUND subsidy. During her 2-year postdoc term at ISS, Dr Ana Isabel López García will conduct research on the interactions between remittances and the development of welfare states and systems in developing countries.
Manorama Nayak We are extremely sorry to share the sad news of the passing away of ISS alumna Manorama Nayak from India. She suffered from cancer. Manorama was in the Governance & Democracy MA Major in 2007-2008. Ton Rimmelzwaan Our dear colleague Ton Rimmelzwaan passed away on 26 June. Ton had worked at ISS since 1980 before taking early retirement a few years ago.
200th ISS PhD event On the occasion of the 200th PhD defence, ISS has produced a new booklet celebrating all 200 of our PhD graduates. The first edition of the booklet was presented to Saskia Bruines, The Hague city councillor for education, during Sara Vigil’s defence on 7 November.
Collaborative PhD programme between ISS and FLACSO research On 4 October, ISS and Ecuadorean university FLACSO signed an agreement to launch a collaborative PhD programme giving young researchers the opportunity to study in both universities.
Dian Muhardini Our former student Dian Muhardini passed away on 2 September in Jakarta, Indonesia as a result of heart problems. Dian had studied at ISS in 2008-2009. Camilo Villa ISS alumnus Camillo Villa passed away on 15 October after struggling with health issues for some time. Camillo was in the Local and Regional Development MA Specialization in 1998-1999. Our thoughts are with their family and friends.
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ISS news
Journal of Peasant Studies research The ISS-edited Journal of Peasant Studies is top in the Development Studies and Anthropology categories in the annual Journal Citation Report.
Valedictory Des Gasper staff Professor Des Gasper delivered his valedictory lecture on 31 October entitled ‘Making strange’ and other interpretive skills in critical development studies. Des worked at ISS for 36 years.
PhD defences PhD
Ratha Thuon (8 November 2019) International Accountability Mechanisms of Multilateral Development Banks: The practice in Cambodia
Sara Vigil (200th ISS PhD defence) (7 November 2019) Geopolitical Ecologies of Environmental Change, Land Grabbing and Migration: Comparative perspectives from Senegal and Cambodia
Mai Lan Nguyen (24 October 2019) The Output and Price Effects of Monetary Policy in Emerging and Developing Countries with a Special Case Study of Vietnam
Bramwel Namtala Matui (14 October 2019) Collective Memory, Inter-ethnic interactions: The politics of becoming and being ‘Sabaot’ in Kenya
Muhammad Saleem (2 October 2019) Evaluating Political Capture and Targeting Performance of the Benazir Income Support Program in Pakistan
Ben Radley (cum laude) (20 September 2019) Mining Industrialisation in the African Periphery: Disruption and dependency in South Kivu, DRC
Paulina (Sat) Trejo Mendez (cum laude) (13 September 2019) Politics of Knowledge: Weaving stories of dehumanization, erasure and resistance in the highlands of Chiapas
Millicent Omukaga (2 September 2019) Women on Corporate Boards: Navigating gender hurdles to access corporate boards in Kenya
Gloria Nguya (12 July 2019) Livelihood Strategies of Internally Displaced Persons in Urban Eastern DRC
Zemzem Shigute Shuka (14 June 2019) Essays on Evaluation of Social Protection Programmes in Ethiopia
Staff-student dialogue
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ISS Diversity and Inclusion Team: Hosting worlds together PhD Researcher Zuleika Sheik and PhD Advisor Tamara Harte discuss their collective effort in making ISS an accessible, safe and welcoming place for all.
Tamara (T): What made you join the Diversity and Inclusion Team? Zuleika (Z): First, I think that my research interests align quite closely with the work of the Diversity and Inclusion Team. My research on the experiences of women of colour in Dutch academia led to a lot of questions for me: about diversity, inclusion, representation, accountability and, most importantly, that diversity that goes beyond PR. Having either witnessed or heard of incidents of racism, sexism, discrimination and harassment, and felt
the frustration and hopelessness of being unable to change it on my own, I was keen to join the Diversity and Inclusion Team to be part of a collective that, like me, valued ISS as a community and was striving to make it a safe, welcoming and open place to everyone. How about you? Why did you join? T: I joined the Team as I was keen on making ISS more inclusive; celebrating diversity. It was a bonus to be interacting with colleagues who I would normally not work with: behind those ‘faces’ in the
hallway there are such driven, passionate people. When we come together, that passion and focus, about our shared cause, creates a beautiful space. Z: Yes, it’s true, and that’s what I love about the Diversity and Inclusion Team, we’re not only from different backgrounds but we each work in different areas: you and Femke are both support staff, Constance and I are PhD researchers, Otieno is a Postdoc researcher, and Helen and Rosalba are from the academic staff. It was also great
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Staff-student dialogue
to see you cross over and get involved not just in support services to the Team, but also actively participating in the more academic events we organized. T: Joining in with the events we have organized was the second big bonus, as I am now in an ongoing process of unlearning views/attitudes such as the acceptance of the dominance of white patriarchy, the influence of the colonialera also in academia and subsequently my own privileges and the biases that are part of me. Meeting speakers, participants from all over the globe, change-makers and awareness-bringers have been the most insightful experiences of the past year. Z: It sounds like you learned a lot, though it must still have been a very confronting experience for you. Did you ever think this is too hard, I should just walk away? T: The process of unlearning is a tough one. As happy as I felt to discover this collective of people, it also opened my eyes. Initially I felt mostly sadness for having been unaware of the wound, unconscious of my privileges, for having accepted things the way they are. Now I feel gratitude for being given these new perspectives and I’m integrating them into my life. It has humbled and inspired me. Having learned that there are many people worldwide working towards these same goals strengthens my belief that positive change is possible. It is already happening. How do you feel about that? Z: Well, you are a bit more optimistic than me, I think. There are days when I believe that change is happening and then there are days when I feel like nothing is changing or maybe not changing as fast as I would like it to. Though if I look back on the work we have done together in the Diversity and Inclusion Team, I do feel proud. We have had some amazing seminars in the series on Debating Discrimination in Dutch Academia, even getting support from
‘ Having learned that there are many people worldwide working towards these same goals strengthens my belief that positive change is possible’
well-known academics like Sara Ahmed and Philomena Essed. And we’ve accomplished small goals like a disability parking space at the front of the building and upgrading the disability toilet. Though there is still a lot of work to be done… T: Yes, these things take time but change is happening. Just look at our activation with Patience the Resilient [installation of a skeleton in a wheelchair ‘waiting to
access the ISS building’] in the entrance of the building: it has already sparked a conversation amongst students, staff and PhDs about who can access the ISS. Z: You’re right, it’s great that it’s started a conversation and that it has prompted people to think, but is that enough? I mean, differently-abled people are still unable to access the building in a dignified way. It pains me to think that someone in a wheelchair has to enter through a side entrance via the loading bay where the rubbish containers are stored. For me, this is simply not inclusive. T: Awareness is the first step. I think that with the upcoming seminar series ‘Plural bodies, accessibility and social justice in academia’ and the events we have planned in the Accessibility/Stand up for Diversity! series, we can engage the ISS community to see what’s working, what we can do better and to collectively come up with solutions that make ISS a place accessible to all who enter its doors.
‘Patience the Resilient’ waiting to gain dignified access. Photo by Tamara Harte
Focus on ISS
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Aiding Social Protection: The Political Economy of Externally Financing Social Policy in Developing Countries (AIDSOCPRO)
T
he AIDSOCPRO project focuses on the political economy of externally financing social policy in developing countries. External financing here refers to official development assistance (aid) and official lending from the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs). The project examines such financing in support of social protection programmes in developing countries, mainly focusing on cash transfer (CT) programmes and related targeting systems. The issues we are exploring are two-fold. The first is monetary and financial. It concerns the precise mechanisms by which external funding, which is in foreign currency, is channelled into social expenditures in domestic currency. In effect, such financing entails a convoluted money trail, which potentially exacerbates underlying tensions between donors and recipient governments in the politicized negotiations already surrounding aid. These tensions fundamentally concern power relations over questions of policy autonomy versus donor attempts to influence national policy agendas. The second issue focuses on how donors’ external influence plays into the political economy of social policy in recipient countries. In particular, CT programmes have been vigorously promoted by donors since the early 2000s, often against the resistance of recipient governments and in tension with alternative policy objectives in contexts where public resources are, in general,
severely constrained. We contend that, from a social policy perspective, the result has been a strong uniformity in the broad design of CTs across developing countries, despite differences in precise patterns of uptake and implementation. We have been interested in understanding how and why this uniformity has occurred across a wide variety of settings and despite various forms of resistance in each setting. The normative concern of the research also stems from the fact that the narrow ‘residualist’ mode of targeting in many of these programmes encourages inegalitarian and exclusionary forms of social provisioning, rather than more comprehensive, integrated and even universalistic approaches, as often (although not always) preferred by recipient governments.
The team is made up of five researchers: the principle investigator, Andrew Fischer; a postdoctoral researcher, Charmaine Ramos, and three PhD researchers, Ana Badillo Salgado, Emma Dadap Cantal, and Benedict Yiyugsah. We conducted our research in seven countries (Cambodia, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia, Ecuador and Paraguay). Our approach combined exploratory quantitative research with qualitative process-tracing based on elite interviews and documentary research.
Research results so far In our current, final stage of the project, we have been developing a set of propositions, which we have written up in a number of papers and one co-authored book.
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Focus on ISS
On convoluted financing With respect to the monetary dilemmas of transferring external resources to domestic expenditures such as social protection, we observed much convolution. We also found evidence in some of the cases that it was exacerbating mistrust among donors due to concerns of transparency and accountability (to donors, not necessarily to citizens) or else due to fundamentally different perspectives regarding the role of aid. This helps to explain the strong emphasis of surveillance and monitoring in the administration of CTs by donors in countries where donors play a strong role in these programmes. This is arguably because donors can only guarantee that governments honour their domestic spending agreements through administrative methods of control. That being said, we also found strong degrees of monitoring in countries where aid financing is relatively unimportant, indicating other reasons for such measures, as discussed below.
…the legacy of structural adjustment programmes A large part of so-called social protection financing is actually disbursed as programme or policy loans and grants which are used for general budget support. Direct project financing was also involved in the CTs in the African cases and in Cambodia, especially from bilateral donors, which tend to prefer such modalities, particularly as it gives them a tighter control over the design and implementation of CTs. Conversely,
Lena Lavinas, Emma, Ben, Ana, and Charmaine in the panel they co-convened at IIPPE conference in Portugal in the September 2016 governments can use programme loans more freely, although these loans do come laden with conditionalities or ‘triggers’ and are associated with the legacy of structural adjustment programmes. With programme or policy loans, social protection is not directly financed but instead is mentioned as a condition or agreement, such as a commitment to increase government spending in a CT programme. Indeed, as long as spending increases within a specific earmarked programme, major donors do not appear to be concerned whether this increase represents a net addition to overall social expenditure, or whether it is simply taken away from other programmes. Thus, commitments to increased spending in CTs could be achieved while still adhering to broader caps in overall government spending. This is an especially sensitive issue in light of the constant lobbying by IFIs and other donors to fund CTs with domestic resources freed up by ending subsidy programmes, which governments in most of our cases have been resisting. EU grant funding for social protection, for instance, operates as budget support. A demonstrated commitment to a CT
programme might be one of many triggers in a grant agreement, which unlocks a particular tranche of funding. In the case of one EU grant that we studied in Paraguay, the amount unlocked was €1 million euros per tranche, for a total of 24 tranches, arguably a very small sum relative to the onerous bureaucratic processes of negotiation and monitoring involved. EU staff were clear that the purpose of such funding was to influence policy, not necessarily to fill funding gaps in any significant way. Such processes notably tie social protection programmes to the logic of conditionalities and IFI reform programmes. For instance, in the case of the EU funding mentioned above, one of the triggers is a commitment to macroeconomic stability, which is evaluated by the government committing to IMF Article Four consultations. In this way, donors implicitly follow the IMF’s lead. On the political economy of social policy With regard to the other focus of the research, we have come to the conclusion that the dominant analytical frame that distinguishes between external versus domestic factors is
Focus on ISS
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Chairmaine with members of civil society group Social Watch.
misguided and unhelpful. It is far more useful to understand political economy dynamics in terms of institutional polarization, with externally-oriented incentive structures and networks of policy elites that are as much transnational as they are domestic actors. Indeed, such polarization was evident in even those cases where aid-dependence was insignificant in financial terms, such as Ecuador, Paraguay and the Philippines, which helps to explain why patterns of influence in these countries were similar to the more aid-dependent cases. While this might be referred to as ideational influences or epistemic communities, our contention is that these concepts do not go far enough to describe the structuring of elite incentives that guide policy making through power and resources as well as ideas and communities. From this broader theoretical perspective, we have formulated three overarching observations that are common to all seven countries in various ways. One is the superficiality of CT programmes relative to local political economy dynamics. None of the CT programmes in any of our case countries were pushed by the conventional social and political forces identified in the political economy
of social policy, be it labour unions, social movements, political parties, business groups, etc. Rather, the policy making around CT programmes was quite insulated, occurring as top-down technocratic policy innovations. This is not to deny the relevance of conventional political economy analysis in such contexts. Rather, as our second observation, the dominant social and political forces and distributional conflicts in each case were simply not focused on CT programmes, but instead on other priorities deemed more relevant. This point is exemplified by our observations that all of the governments in our study were funding their own preferred social protection or related income-supporting programmes entirely from their own domestic fiscal resources, even while the notional funding of targeted CTs with aid is justified in terms of fiscal constraints. Examples include food or fertiliser subsidy programmes, minimum wage subsidies, or pensions. The fact that these other programmes were generally much larger than the donor-endorsed CT programmes belies the claim that external resources are required for the latter.
However, as our third overarching observation, even where CT programmes are introduced in a marginal manner, they can nonetheless carry important institutional inertia. They have served as vehicles for normalizing particular targeting modalities across the wider social policy system, thereby transforming the nature of provisioning in the process. The fact that CT programmes can achieve such institutional inertia with very small amounts of aid also points to the subtler mechanisms of power than simply the deployment of financial resources. In sum, our observations signal the importance of adjusting our theoretical and analytical frames in countries characterized by high degrees of external orientation and subordination, as well as strong degrees of polarization and disarticulation between elites and the bulk of the population. In bringing attention to these issues, we highlight some of the systemic political and economic challenges facing global redistribution towards poorer countries, particularly with respect to supporting the development of comprehensive social policy systems, while at the same time respecting ownership over national processes of policy making.
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ISS publications
Development and Change
Working Papers
Development and Change is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the critical analysis and discussion of current issues of development. It was established by the ISS in 1969, in response to the perceived need for a multidisciplinary journal dealing with all aspects of development studies. http://www.iss.nl/publications/development_and_change/
The ISS Working Paper series provides a forum for work in progress which seeks to elicit comments and generate discussion. The series includes academic research by staff, PhD participants and visiting fellows, and award-winning research papers by graduate students.
Volume 50, Number 5, September 2019 José Gabriel Palma Behind the Seven Veils of Inequality. What if it’s all about the Struggle within just One Half of the Population over just One Half of the National Income? David Jackman The Decline of Gangsters and Politicization of Violence in Urban Bangladesh Colin McFarlane The Urbanization of the Sanitation Crisis: Placing Waste in the City Benjamin M. Hunter and Susan F. Murray Deconstructing the Financialization of Healthcare Henni Alava and Catrine Shroff Unravelling Church Land: Transformations in the Relations between Church, State and Community in Uganda Ilias Alami Taming Foreign Exchange Derivatives Markets? Speculative Finance and Class Relations in Brazil Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio and Wolfram H. Dressler Declining Food Security in a Philippine Oil Palm Frontier: The Changing Role of Cooperatives Rasmus Kløcker Larsen, Francisca R. Dimaano and Michael D. Pido Can the Wrongs be Righted? Prospects for Remedy in the Philippine Oil Palm Agro-industry Sudipa Sarkar Employment Change in Occupations in Urban India: Implications for Wage Inequality Bruno Bonizzi, Christina Laskaridis and Jan Toporowski Global Liquidity, the Private Sector and Debt Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa
Review essays Peter Ronald de Souza Anger and the Imperium Ewa Karwowski How Financialization Undermines Democracy
Social protection on the move: a transnational exploration of Nicaraguan migrant women’s engagement with social protection in Spain and Nicaragua Guharay Gómez, C.G, Working Paper Series no. 648 The financial crisis, poverty and vulnerability: from societal investment to an EU social union Messkoub, M., Working Paper Series no. 647 Trends, determinants and the implications of population aging in Iran Mehri, N., Messkoub, M., Kunkel, S., Working Paper Series no. 646 Traditional justice in Colombia: competing discourses in a peace agreement Navarrete Guzmán, T., Working Paper Series no. 645
Student life
STUDENT LIFE
Travelling by canal! Photo by Evelyn James
Enjoying the traditional Dutch ‘oliebol’. Photo by Sapawan Ponlaboot Alumni training current students during the Coach Cafe. Photo by Sandra Nijhof
And clogs of course! Photo by Evelyn James
At Erasmus University Rotterdam with Erasmus. Photo by Evelyn James
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Engagement & Impact Bridging theory and practice in our research Alumni Teaching methods
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ENGAGEMENT & IMPACT
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Diversity Excellent and innovative research in response to society's needs
We are constantly looking for ways to bridge theory and practice: to combine rigorous academic research with societal relevance that has the potential to drive action at every level of society.
4 pillars of engagement & impact • Education • Research • Networks • Within ISS
https://www.iss.nl/en/engagement-impact