JUNE 2016 VOL .18 – NO.1
Diversity What’s in a word?
Issues underlying the diversity policy Focus on ISS
From the Editorial Board
Is ISS diverse? Of course it is! We celebrate and encourage heterogeneity, our students and staff come from over 50 countries, we have female professors and women in leading positions. So why did ISS feel the need to set up a diversity taskforce with the aim of drawing up a diversity policy? These are precisely the questions Sylvia Bergh, when approached by ISS management to chair this taskforce with colleague Amrita Chhachhi, also asked herself. You can read her answers on page 4 in this issue of DevISSues. Three other articles build on this theme of diversity by considering questions such as: What do we mean by diversity; is it simply promoting more women to top positions and ensuring that we maintain the international character of our student and staff body or is true diversity more than that? Amrita Chhachhi sets the stage. She situates the issue within the fundamental fight to achieve equality for all and the recognition of sameness and difference rather than as a form of divergence management and posturing which may gloss over implicit and structural bias. She asserts that an intersectional approach, and one which is sensitive to historical/post colonialisms, is the basis needed for an ISS policy. Freek Schiphorst and Kees Biekart provide us with a write-up on student discussions on diversity at ISS which took place during one of the MA general courses. Deepening the theme further, our student-staff discussion feature in this issue is between ISS senior lecturer Rosalba Icaza and PhD researcher Juan David Parra Heredia who argue that a diversity policy should be a ‘conversation’ held under a situation in which power imbalances are recognized rather than the statistically defined end result of a discussion between stakeholders. Whilst applauding the existence of a diversity policy at ISS, they question whether it does not simply perpetuate the status quo at ISS. A further reflection of the diversity at ISS can be seen in the student photos of life in The Hague. In each issue we ask students to show rather than tell us how they view the city and their life here. As one of the contributors puts it; ‘Living in The Hague means opening yourself to new horizons - getting to know lots of people from all over the world, tasting new cuisines and pursuing intellectual paths through learning‘. Their pictures highlight various aspects of The Hague – aspects that long-term inhabitants maybe no longer see or recognize as being ‘different’. Colophon DevISSues is published twice a year by the International Institute of Social Studies, PO Box 29776, 2502 LT The Hague, the Netherlands Tel +31 (0)70 4260 443 or +31 (0)70 4260 419 Fax + 31 (0)70 4260 799 www.iss.nl DevISSues@iss.nl Editor Jane Pocock Editorial Board Lee Pegler, Sunil Tankha, Sandra Nijhof
We also have a write-up about a major international colloquium held at ISS in February this year – ‘Global governance/politics, climate and agrarian/social justice: linkages and challenges’. In her article, Elyse Mills shows us how the colloquium, which attracted more than 400 participants, was an expression of the linkages between research, teaching and practice in the field of international development at ISS. The colloquium tackled the issue of multiple global crises (food, energy, environment, climate change and finance) and how these relate to international governance. As an expression of the linkages between research and teaching, the colloquium tackled the various interpretations of global governance and the wide range of state and non-state actors involved. Just a quick look at the various keynote speakers illustrates this wide range of actors – a UN diplomat, academics and activists were all given the platform on which to argue their case from their particular stand point. Read the full report on page 20.
Design Ontwerpwerk, The Hague Production De Bondt Grafimedia 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.
And what about your former ISS classmates? Where are they now? Four of them tell us their story – what they learnt at ISS, how it influenced their later life and their most precious memories of studying here. Catch up with them on page 11. And if you want to share your story, why not let us know by filling in the form on the ‘Where are they now’ section of the DevISSues webpage (www.iss.nl/devissues). DevISSues can also bring you up-to-date with what is happening at ISS now. Starting with the regular blog by rector Inge Hutter, this issue also lists many of the news, events and new publications that our staff and PhD researchers have generated over the past six months in the course of their learning, teaching and sharing experience at ISS.
ISSN 1566-4821. DevISSues is printed on FSC certified paper
We hope you enjoy this latest, diverse issue of DevISSues!
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Rector’s Blog Looking forwards It is May 2016, and I have been at ISS for almost nine months now. You could say that I feel that I have landed. I certainly felt so after my inaugural on Participatory and Qualitative Research in Global Development which took place on 18 February. It was a big party. Many colleagues from ISS, EUR and outside institutes were present, as were my family and friends, former students, former supervisors, and national and international collaborators. It felt like having one big family around me. I enjoyed it very much. So, I feel landed. And now ‌. I am looking forwards. Very soon we will start holding strategic meetings on research and teaching, as related to the accreditation of our master programmes and the 2017 research review. Central to the discussions will be the state-of-art and future of the field of development studies. Given the many societal developments, in both the South and the North (e.g. the Dutch focus on aid and trade; the global sustainable development goals; the very fast changes in the South), we will reflect on what development studies can mean in the future. Certainly it will be about global development, in both the South and North. During these meetings we will express our dreams of what ISS could look like in 2020-25. I observe similar discussions and reflections happening in other development institutes, in ministries, and in the South. It is a challenging, thus nice, time for all of us. At the end of February, I visited Delhi in India. It was my first visit outside Europe as ISS Rector. Of course, this first visit had to be made to India, where I worked for more than 26 years - India is my second homeland. I was actually pleasantly surprised to
Inge Hutter Rector ISS
experience for myself how well-known ISS is in the Indian ministries, universities and international organizations. Either ISS alumni work in these organizations or staff members have friends who studied at ISS and heard about us through them. Before and during my visit I collaborated with two of our alumni: Malika Basu and Hishmi Hussain. It was great to see how they are using the knowledge that they acquired whilst being with us in their present jobs. We now have more than 600 alumni in India and 50 of them, both older and younger graduates, joined me for the alumni meeting in Delhi. The Netherlands Ambassador in India, Fons Stoelinga, inspired us with a speech on the long-lasting and future relationship between the Netherlands and India. By the time I got back to ISS at the beginning of March, the renovation of the ISS building had started. As I write this, the 5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd floors have already been completed. They look beautiful: the corridors are painted in white and natural, light colours, and the floors look like traditional granite floors. It looks great and more up-to-date. We plan to finish the renovation of the whole building before the summer holidays. The whole building will then be in white and natural colours, with lots of light and coffee corners and social meeting places at each floor. Please come and visit us and see for yourself! Some other important meetings at ISS before the summer are the inaugural lecture by Jun Borras; the valedictory lecture by Bert Helmsing; and the Prince Claus Chair inaugural lecture by Saradindu Bhaduri. This, of course, is besides all the other regular meetings on development in our institute. Please come and participate! You are always most welcome.
Contents
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A view from the diversity taskforce
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Issues underlying the diversity policy
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ISS news
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Focus on ISS
11 ISS Alumni: Where are they now?
19 ISS publications - staff & PhD
12 Diversity according to ISS students
22 ISS publications - WP/ D&C
17 Staff-student discussion
23 Student life
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Developing a policy proposal to promote diversity for equality and inclusion at ISS – a view from the diversity taskforce
Sylvia Bergh is senior lecturer in development management and governance at ISS.
How could ISS have a problem with diversity? This is the first thought that came to my mind when I received the Institute Board’s call for expressions of interest to serve on the diversity taskforce at ISS. I thought of my colleagues among the faculty who come from many different corners of the world, and our current MA students and PhD researchers from more than 50 countries, with alumni coming from over 150 countries.
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nd surely, as a place which prides itself as being an activist institute promoting social justice through intense interaction and co-production of knowledge with local stakeholders in developing countries, ISS knows how to ensure equal opportunities in its own home? But then I realized that several colleagues with a Southern background have either left or retired from ISS in recent years, and that those replacing them in terms of promotions and new hires were mostly from the Global North.
However, in the recent past, the EUR has put in place guidelines to advance the number of female full professors and other measures to help women progress in their careers, and has made important policy commitments. Its current strategy ‘Impact and Relevance 2014-2018’ states that ‘EUR is convinced that education and research flourish most when they involve scientists who represent a variety of viewpoints, cultures, knowledge and experiences. EUR thus strives for a diverse mix of staff members’ (EUR 2014: 23).
Over the years I also came to feel that there may indeed be a glass ceiling for women, academics with a Southern background, with different sexual orientations, and various degrees of (dis)ability. For example, attending a major yearly event for women in science organized by The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in November 2015, I was reminded about the depressingly low proportion of female full professors at Dutch universities (currently at 17 per cent, placing the Netherlands 24th out of 27 EU member states; at the Erasmus University Rotterdam this percentage is even lower), in a context where more than half of all graduates are female.
In order to achieve ‘impact by diversity’, the EUR Executive Board recently appointed a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) in the person of Professor Hanneke Takkenberg of Erasmus Medical Centre. Together with a Diversity Network which is supported by a Steering Committee and advised by an Advisory Board made up of representatives of each faculty (including ISS), she is tasked with ensuring a greater focus on diversity in the university’s education and research and in its workforce and student population.
So I became interested in finding out what is happening here. Why are so many women dropping out? And what, specifically, is Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) doing to address this? Not much it would seem, especially when considering the – in my view unacceptable – line-up of the all-male, all-Northern (with one exception) honorary doctorates and the all-male and all-Northern honorary promoters who took centre stage during EUR’s pompous 100 years anniversary celebration in November 2013. There were only two women on the grand stage that day: Princess Beatrix and the President of the Executive Board of the University. I felt deeply disappointed at the (almost) complete absence of younger, female, and Southern academics on that stage.
While the latter might not be such an issue at the ISS given our diverse student population (although it could be argued that it is not diverse enough and should include more students from the global North, including the Netherlands), the decline in diversity on the staff side has become apparent: only 23 per cent of the current 61 academic staff are from the global South (with 30 per cent holding Dutch, and 48 per cent holding European or North American nationality). With non-academic, i.e. support staff, the picture is even more skewed: only 13 per cent are from the global South while 77 per cent are Dutch and 10 per cent European or North American. What is more, although the proportion of female academics has gone up from 25 per cent in 1999 to 44 per cent in 2015, as of October 2015 only three out of 15 professors were women, indicating that there may well be a thick glass ceiling or at least a very ‘sticky floor’.
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A lack of diversity at the top can give the demotivating signal to our students
The same is true for professors from the South – there were only two of them compared to 11 Dutch professors and two from other developed parts of the world (ISS 2016: 20-27).
So why is this a problem? Firstly, besides diversity being a moral principle and having intrinsic value in itself, there is ample evidence that diverse teams produce better, more creative and more innovative research. Second, (especially ethnic) diversity among the faculty has positive effects on the educational outcomes and experiences of students who do not feel that they are ‘strangers in a strange land’ (AFT Education 2010: 4). Third, a lack of diversity at the top can give the demotivating signal to our students, PhD researchers, and staff that only Dutch nationals are sufficiently qualified to become professors or managers (ISS 2016: 8-9, 23).
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The diversity of academic staff will have improved by 2018 on the 2014 situation both in terms of gender and in terms of cultural background The Institute Board of the ISS appointed a diversity taskforce in July 2015 to develop a policy proposal which would address these issues. The taskforce was chaired by Amrita Chhachhi and myself and consisted of representatives of the academic staff, support staff, the Faculty Coordination Committee, Institute Council, and Human Resources. It held seven meetings over the period August 2015 - March 2016. In FebruaryMarch 2016, the taskforce organized consultation meetings on a draft version of this policy with the following groups: a group of diversity and gender experts at ISS, support staff, the Research Committee, major convenors, PhD researchers and MA students. In addition, the draft policy was shared internally and comments were invited from all staff and students (as well as relevant HR staff at the central level of EUR) through email, with the option to leave comments on a dedicated intranet page. Written input was received from several staff members. The taskforce also benefited from the insights generated by MA students in their research methods course assignments on diversity (see article by Kees Biekart and Freek Schiphorst in this issue).
A meeting was also held with the Chief Diversity Officer at Leiden University to learn from the experiences there (ISS 2016: 4-5). The taskforce then presented its final policy proposal to the Institute Board at the end of March 2016, and is currently following up on a request by the board to put forward a list of 4-5 priority actions in order to formulate a concrete action plan for the immediate future. The taskforce proposed quite a broad definition of diversity to include sex/ gender, disability, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age, and nationality, and argued for the need to create an environment where diversity is not just celebrated but is valued and translated into equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination based on these characteristics (ISS 2016: 4). The policy proposal reviews the intrinsic value of diversity in higher education institutions, the various ways of framing the issue, the legal context, the current situation at ISS, and proposes an action plan around four major objectives and some priority recommendations. ISS had already committed itself to certain diversity-related targets in its covenant with the EUR signed in 2014, but the taskforce felt that they did not go far enough. For example, the covenant says, ‘the diversity of academic staff will have improved by 2018 on the 2014 situation both in terms of gender and in terms of cultural background. In 2018, ISS will have at least four female associate professors and four female professors’. The taskforce members discussed these targets and made them more ambitious as well as reflecting an intersectional approach (see the next article by Amrita Chhachhi for more on this approach). In short, the more than 40 concrete recommendations contained in the proposal (mostly based on best practices adopted elsewhere) aim at creating enabling conditions for a substantive representation of diverse groups at ISS (Taskforce Diversity and Inclusivity 2016: 9). This will be a considerable challenge for the ISS but with so many expert and activist staff and students I am hopeful that this can be achieved in the not-so-distant future!
References: AFT Education (2010) ‘Promoting Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Faculty: What Higher Education Unions Can Do’, Faculty Diversity paper series, Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Teachers, p. 4, available online: http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/ facultydiversity0310.pdf EUR (2014) Impact and Relevance 2014-2018. ISS (2016) Taskforce Diversity and Inclusivity (2016) ‘Promoting Diversity for Equality and Inclusion – A Policy Proposal for the ISS’, Final version dated 14 April 2016.
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Epistemologies, terminologies, strategies: Issues underlying the diversity policy
Amrita Chhachhi is Assistant Professor of gender, labour and poverty studies at ISS.
We started work in the ISS Diversity Taskforce in September 2015 when the issue of difference and discrimination was in the forefront of public debates, particularly around the moral panic generated by the migration crisis and the discussions on how to manage what was perceived as ‘dangerous difference’ disrupting the European social order.
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ore personally, the disturbing reports from India about mob attacks and lynching of minorities, the painful suicide of a dalit student Rohith Vermula in protest against caste discrimination in Hyderabad University, was a sharp reminder that despite constitutional rights and affirmative action programmes, there was continuing aggression and discrimination against lower castes and minorities. The persistence of discrimination was evident also in the reports of increasing racist attacks in the US. While this wider context foregrounded the passions, violence and resistance generated around issues of diversity, another picture emerges from what Squires calls ‘an injunction to promote diversity’ in government bodies, banks, corporations, universities globally and the emergence of diversity management as a key human resource management strategy and ‘good for business’ practice (Squires, 2006: 3). The corporate turn to diversity is fuelled by marketing strategies to expand access to new customers, capitalise on creativity from diversity and increase corporate gains. Diversity is expressed for instance in photographs on company and university websites of different people in rainbow colours, presenting an image of one happy family. Such representations often put a gloss on the structures of discrimination within these institutions. Perhaps the latest Benetton advertisement launched in February 2016, ‘Face of the City’ illustrates the contrast1 . The advertising firm ‘180 Amsterdam’ (hired by Benetton) drew on demographic data and census reports to construct an ethnic profile of the top fashion cities in the world. A group of women representing different ethnic groups in the city were photographed and these were then combined using an algorithm that represented the proportion of different features (skin tone, shape of eyes/nose, hair type, colour) in a composite photo which ‘assimilates’ difference. The photo for the Face of London is shown here - I leave it to readers to decide what it actually reflects.
Benetton: Face of the City. Image from Benetton website (http://nl.benetton.com/magazine/a-collection-of-us/face-of-the-city/)
Epistemologies Clearly there are multiple meanings of diversity and its deployment as policy or strategy is embedded in particular epistemological standpoints, social justice perspectives, histories and specific political projects. The Terms of Reference to develop a diversity policy for the International Institute of Social Studies (2015-2016) seemed innocuous and clear yet it implied making conceptual/strategic choices on what we meant by diversity and what were to be the objectives of the policy. These issues have been the subject of contentious philosophical/political/ social debates on equality and justice, the politics of difference and identity, of recognition, redistribution and representation. In this brief article I will share some of the ways in which these debates informed the reflections, discussions and rationales of the members of the taskforce in formulating the final document. One of the first challenges was the title of the policy- should it just be called a Diversity Policy? The initial discussions on what constituted diversity also raised questions about its scope - should it include differences in personality, working styles and competencies? The general title and wide scope posed the danger of the policy being too diffuse, treating all
1 .Benetton, a global clothing company founded in Italy, is known for its social commentary and provocative ads and was one of the first to celebrate diversity in its advertising campaigns
differences as having equal status. What was missing and what needed a stronger articulation in the title as well as scope was an alignment of diversity with equality. This linkage (obvious for those in the UK where universities have to show compliance to the Equality Act 2010, but interestingly not clearly articulated in the Dutch University policies we noted) asserted the importance of historical processes of discrimination (colonialism, racism, casteism, sexism, etc.) which continue to permeate educational institutions globally. In making equality an essential component of the diversity policy we were also asserting the importance of structural and cultural inequalities that required restorative justice. As Babasaheb Ambedkar (architect of the Indian Constitution, iconic social/ political activist) said on the movement for dalits (untouchables) to have the right to enter Hindu temples, ‘the issue is not entry but equality’ (cited in Rao, 2009: 85). As many critical scholars have noted, the turn towards diversity and a new vocabulary has shifted the focus from affirmative action and the histories of struggle for equality to diversity management geared only towards individuals and their talents. The framing of diversity in the ISS policy hence moves
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away from seeing diversity in ‘cuddly’ terms as embracing and equalizing unproblematically all kinds of difference, as well as from a limited focus only on token representation. The policy aims to address two interconnected aspects: the implicit biases and discrimination that result in an exclusionary institutional and organizational culture, as well as the structural disadvantages that prevent different categories of people from accessing equality of opportunity. It aims to enable both - equality of opportunity as well as equality of outcomes. This implies deconstructing what A. Rich called ‘white solipsism’: not the consciously held belief that one race is inherently superior to all others, but a tunnel vision which simply does not see non-white experience or existence as precious or significant unless in spasmodic impotent guilt reflexs, which have little or no longterm continuing momentum or political usefulness’ (Rich, 1975: 306). Such a tunnel vision would equally apply to solipsism in relation to all the other categories of gender/sexual orientation/ age/disability/nationality. In a sense all of us are implicated in one form of solipsism or another. Recognizing the importance of how location in different positions provides a vantage point for different ways of knowing, leading to an expansion and enrichment in the production and content of knowledge, requires the next step of ensuring representation. Immediately this raises the vexing issue of sameness and difference. Too often arguments for the added value of these new perspectives tend to be essentialist, reinforcing notions of inherent biological difference between men and women, black and white etc. Differences in location and perspectives are the result of complex systems of historical, cultural and social processes, not fixed pre-existent essences. The resolution of the dilemma requires challenging a framework based on binary Cartesian positivist logic, which would lead to an either/or position. The significance of asserting both sameness
In a sense all of us are implicated in one form of solipsism or another
as well as difference is expressed most forcefully in the lines of a poem by Pat Parker For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend: The first thing you do is to forget that I’m Black. Second, you must never forget that I’m Black. These complex considerations, many still open for debate and contestation, went into adopting particular terminologies and formulating strategies in the ISS Diversity and Equality Policy.
Strategies: Why we took an intersectional approach We were asked to develop a policy that covered ‘diversities based on gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability, and sexual orientation’. It is interesting that this was a broader definition than the one in the Covenant, drawn up and signed by the ISS in 2014, which only mentioned gender and cultural background, and yet more specific than what was contained in the EUR (see Programme Diversity 2015-2017, PID, November 2015), which sees diversity as: All aspects in which individuals within the organisation differ from each other, both visible and invisible differences (values, attitudes, culture, personal beliefs, personality, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, life experience, etc.). Formulating measures to address levels of discrimination for each category were straightforward. However, in dealing with each category separately we would be reinforcing the homogenization of groups that had beset the early politics of identity. There were several reasons why we adopted an intersectional approach (see pages 11-14, ISS Diversity and Equality Policy 2016).
Terminologies Identifying and naming categories also involved a process of discussion and choice. Each of the categories could be deconstructed. We choose not to use the terms foreign heritage and non-western which were used in Dutch diversity policies. Rather than a negative connotation where the west was seen as the norm and the rest as non-western we felt that using the term Southern background was a more positive affirmation of difference. Similarly, rather than the somewhat diffuse term ‘cultural background’ we choose nationality as an objective location – a practical criteria that could be backed up with available data.
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Slotting people into one category freezes their identities into just one form of existence
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First is the contradiction between discrete categories specified in the policy and the lived experiences of socially disadvantaged groups. Slotting people into one category freezes their identities into just one form of existence - one is either a woman or disabled or from a Southern background. Yet clearly discrimination was often experienced as occurring at multiple intersections of belonging to several of these categories simultaneously. Feminist scholars from the South for instance have frequently highlighted the intersectionality of gender with other axes of difference and inequality (Chhachhi, 2014). The inability of policies and laws to acknowledge the intersection of multiple disadvantages was highlighted in Crenshaw’s statement: Because of their intersectional identity as both women and people of color within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, the interests and experiences of women of color are frequently marginalized within both (1991: 1242). Second, in deciding on priorities for implementation, an unseemly race is initiated on hierarchies of disadvantage what has been called ‘‘Oppression Olympics’’ (Martinez quoted in Hancock, 2007: 68) where each category tries to gain attention and support to direct policy towards their specific concerns. For instance, why should only gender be given priority? It is argued that the movement for gender parity at higher levels in the university has been glacial and indeed the data from EUR, including ISS, do reflect this. However, there has also been no movement at all on disability, age, sexual orientation and in fact a reverse movement at ISS in relation to staff from Southern backgrounds (see pages 17-22, ISS Diversity and Equality Policy 2016). So who decides and what are the criteria for such decisions? From an intersectional perspective, one cannot privilege one group over the other - the multiple exclusions/disadvantages based on gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, age, and disability, interlace with each other and ‘create social and political stratifications, requiring policy
Why should only gender be given priority?
References: Ahmed, S. (2007) ‘You end up doing the document rather than doing the doing’: Diversity, race equality and the politics of documentation. Ethnic and Racial Studies 30(4): pp. 590–609.
solutions that are attuned to the interactions of these categories’ (Hancock, 2007). A diversity policy should be all-encompassing and priorities, which of course need to be made on practical and feasibility considerations, should take intersections into account. Such an approach would also align with the policy shift in the EU from a singular focus on gender equality to now addressing multiple inequalities.
Chhachhi, A. & Abeysekera, S. (2014) ‘Forging a
Related to the point above, we felt that recommendations for single categories would foster competition and resentment. Single categories go against the objective of forging inclusivity and a culture of belonging where each individual/group felt her/his/their voices are heard and interests represented.
Hancock A.M. (2007) When multiplication
The ISS diversity policy we submitted is the result of navigation through contentious debates and positions. Will it end up as just ‘doing the document, rather than doing the doing.’ (Ahmad, 2007)? The success of anti-discrimination policies globally was due to the pressure of social movements. If the ISS diversity policy is to translate into truly ensuring social justice and substantive equality of opportunity and outcomes for all socially disadvantaged groups in the university, each one of us at ISS needs to own it, engage with it and ensure that it gets done! Will the Face of ISS be similar to the Benetton advertisement or will it go beyond the gloss?
Rao, A. (2009) The Caste Question: Dalits and the
New Political Imaginary: Transnational Southasian Feminisms’, in R. Baksh & W. Harcourt (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 553-577. Crenshaw K (1991) ‘Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color’, Stanford Law Review 43(6): pp. 1241–1299.
doesn’t equal quick addition: examining intersectionality as a research paradigm’, Perspectives on Politic 5(1): pp. 63–79. Martinez, E. (1993) ‘Beyond Black/white: The racisms of our time’, Social Justice 20 (1–2): pp. 22–34.
Politics of Modern India. University of California Press. Rich, A. (1995) Disloyal to Civilization: Feminism, Racism, Gynephobia, 1978 in On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978. W. W. Norton & Company. Squires, J. (2006) ‘Equality and Diversity Policy Frames: Intersectionality and Diversity Management’. Paper presented at the Conference ‘Revisiting Governance from Feminist and Queer perspectives’, 29 June 2006 by the AHRC Research Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, University of Kent, UK.
ISS Alumni
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Where are they now?
Sara Castro (Hallgren)
Musuto wa- Chirangi
Dawood Mamoon
Study Population, Poverty and Social Development, 2007
Study Employment & Labour, 2000
Study MA, 2001; PhD,2008
Country of origin El Salvador
Country of origin Tanzania
Current occupation Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris, France
Current occupation Executive Director at Nyerere D. D. Hospital & Kisare College of Health Sciences in Serengeti, Tanzania
What made your time at ISS special? Everything! But most of all the global diversity of students and the chance we had to come together and apply our diverse backgrounds and experiences in discussing global development challenges. Also, the bicycle rides, The Hague itself and the wonderful teachers such as Loes Keysers. I really appreciated the freedom we had to organize events and to attend the many mindopening lectures and events.
What made your time at ISS special? The integration and sensitivity to the universality of human rights, the diversity of multicultural values, human development and the gender parity in all courses offered at ISS.
Your most memorable moment? Reading the Malthus Factor by Eric Ross and his lectures. They really jumpstarted my career and interest in what I work on today!
What does ISS mean to you now? A policy-oriented graduate college that stirred my inspiration for the creation of a strategic conducive environment for the working class and the belief in the critical ideals of human development locally as well as globally.
What does ISS mean to you now? A centre of knowledge - an oasis to learn freely and think critically about sustainable development. I wish I could go back to explore, write and learn as freely as we did then!
Your most memorable moment? While taking an oath of allegiance to the students’ association (Scholas) as the Vice – President after a ferocious political battle.
Country of origin Pakistan Current occupation Professor of Economics at the University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan What made your time at ISS special? ISS provides the best academic environment for students to learn how development studies provides solutions to the world’s myriad issues: from gender discrimination, pollution, poverty, inequality, and national and international conflict, to understanding interactions between markets and societies. Whilst conceptualizing my PhD, I started writing on Pakistani society, then under a dictatorship, promoting ideas on bringing democracy to Pakistan. My learning is the best thing about ISS and what it stands for. Your most memorable moment? Other than my graduation, I also remember when, in 2007, my work on the India-Pakistan conflict got me an invitation from the Mayor of the Hague, Wim Deetman, to attend his farewell speech on the role of The Hague in strengthening global peace, justice and security. What does ISS mean to you now? ISS is now the most important part of my global identity. I present the colours of ISS through my research.
Nasereldin Noureldaim Ahmed Study Economic Policy and Planning, 1988 Country of origin Sudan Current occupation Corporate Sales Manager for Agricultural Machinery with CTCGROUP in Sudan What made your time at ISS special? My studies helped me strengthen my thinking on economic problems and enabled me to move away from ready-made solutions. Second, ISS makes it possible to practice living in a multinational community. The dialogues, discussions, exchanges and cultural interactions all help develop a positive and broad way of thinking. This multinationality makes ISS special. I liked living in the hostel on the Obrechtstraat and of course will never forget our gatherings in the Butterfly Bar. Your most memorable moment? The most interesting lecturer was Professor Sidiri who taught on international trade & its impact on development. He taught us that ‘there is no free lunch’ and about the ‘persistence of underdevelopment’. What does ISS mean to you now? Free thinking and democracy.
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ISS students present their diversity report
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Diversity according to ISS students
Freek Schiphorst is Deputy Rector for Educational Affairs at ISS
Kees Biekart is Associate Professor in Political Sociology at ISS
ISS prides itself on having a truly international classroom. Students come from over 50 countries and with a great variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Indeed, the ISS student body is very diverse. As a post-experience educational institution, we have tried, as ISS staff members, to explore this diversity in the course on ‘mixed methods’. This was also a way to provide input on the work of the Diversity Task Force that was drawing up a new ISS diversity policy (see other contributions in this issue).
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n January/February of this year eight student groups implemented research learning exercises on diversity amongst their peers. Through interviews, surveys and focus group discussions, students gave feedback on their experiences with this overwhelming diversity at ISS. They concluded that on the whole, the diverse composition of the student body has its merits and delivers on its promises, as one group succinctly reported on the basis of interviews with their fellow students: We were able to conclude that diversity promotes social networking. This social networking is usually lifetime networking where students will continue to be friends despite the fact that most of them will live very far from each other after their study. Diversity provides a podium where a student is able to make friends with people from different nationalities, which in turn will enable him/her to cultivate and develop an attitude of tolerance, patience and co-operation. Beside the sociocultural benefits such as social networking, friendships, the cultivation of an attitude of patience and tolerance, intercultural communication, and appreciation of individuals’ differences and uniquenesses, diversity also provides very important academic benefits like broadening students’ worldviews, an exchange of ideas and experiences (in group works/assignments), and it helps in the development of a critical mind as students interact with people from different backgrounds.
Many students revelled in this: Diversity is everywhere in ISS . . . I didn’t expect to meet people from this many of different countries... For example we had a chance to see traditions and cultural clothes, and enjoy foods, music and performances by each other during the international day. For several students, however, this diversity can also be pretty intimidating.
One is not required to be in conformity with the world views and culture of a specific group in the school One group in particular wanted to know whether student diversity also presented challenges or pitfalls to students. It turned out that it was not all delight. On the one hand students were aware that: …diversity doesn’t require you to accept everything that is different from yourself. However, it enlightens you about the way people in different cultures with divergent worldviews live and behave. One is not required to be in conformity with the world views and culture of a specific group in the school.
Other experiences showed that diversity is also daunting: Before I came here I was aware of the existence of this diversity and I prepared myself to engage and interact with people from different places and cultures. I had a lot of plans to learn from this diversity: culture, cooking and dancing etc. But all of my expectations are not realised because I faced several challenges.
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Unfortunately, sometimes these experiences have a sharper edge: I saw some incidents which seem racist. Some people do not want to associate with me because of my colour. I heard other students have also had similar experiences. These kinds of exclusions are manifested for example when we are given assignments that involve two or more students. I have seen when some students from particular places are not willing to work with others.
The group’s report concludes: From the data presented we can deduce that racism based on colour, discrimination/exclusion, grouping and stigmas and stereotyped behaviour exists. We were also able to conclude that this racism, discrimination/ exclusion and stigmas and stereotyped behaviours are pitfalls that hamper students from enjoying the benefits that diversity provides. While this seems to point to the fact that ISS students are just like ordinary citizens from around the globe, it is clear that not all of them are yet ‘global citizens’. Therefore, work remains to be done in and outside the classrooms in order to accomplish a truly diverse ISS.
These challenges relate to taboos rooted in different cultures or religions, to prejudices and stereotypes, but also to the uneven mastery of English: I see a group of students from the same place sticking together; I really have a problem of lack of confidence in front of this group. There are lots of students who are fluent in English. My English is not so good compared to these guys. I have to adjust myself to the situation here.
All quotes come from the research report submitted by Siyum Adugna Mamo, Temkin Mekonen Mohamed, David Okwor, Memihiru Worku, Harun Hassen and Ridwan Abukari
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ISS news
ISS news alumni awards EUR events PhD projects research staff students
ISS PhD researcher, Natalia Mamonova receives 2015 'Graduate School Award for PhD Excellence' awards The award was for her article 'Resistance or adaptation? Ukrainian peasants’ responses to large-scale land acquisitions', published in the Journal of Peasant Studies, 42 (3-4): 607-634.
Georgina Gomez and Manolis Tzouvelekas granted Marie Curie Fellowship on Monetary Spaces and Hierarchy in Europe reseach The research on ‘Monetary spaces and hierarchies in Europe. Impact of complementary currencies’ seeks to measure and analyze the social and economic impact of selected community currencies in Europe and their potential role in alleviating the Greek crisis.
Arjun Bedi part of group to win Erasmus research grant reseach The grant will finance 3 PhD researchers working on ‘Optimizing choices in health care in an ageing society’. The research team will examine the risks posed by medical expenditure for chronic conditions in low-middle income countries in Asia.
Alan Fowler appointed visiting Professor in African Philanthropy at Wits Business School staff The work of the Chair will bring an African narrative and perspective on gifting and contribute to international debates about the role of philanthropy.
Inaugural lecture Professor Inge Hutter event On 18 February 2016, ISS rector Professor Inge Hutter held her inaugural lecture entitled ‘Participatory and qualitative research in global development'.
Roy Huijsmans co-winner of research grant into educational aspirations in rural areas. reseach The research aims to provide insight into how education systems can develop effective polices and interventions that work with young people's aspirations to enhance learning outcomes and address structural disadvantage in remote rural places of India, Laos and Lesotho.
ISS news
Andrew Fischer wins the 2015 CROP International Studies in Poverty Prize awards The prize was awarded for his book proposal entry, Poverty as Ideology: Rescuing Social Justice from Global Development Agendas and the Poverty Industry.
Collaboration agreement between ISS and University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City projects
Professor Irene van Staveren joint coordinator of Rethinking Economics projects
The collaboration envisages the establishment of a PhD programme at the UEH as well as the participation of certain of their staff in the regular ISS PhD programme, and the commencement of a programme of research
ISS professor Irene van Staveren is part of a group of economists which has set up Rethinking Economics NL, a network of students, academics and passionate thinkers coming together to diversify and reinvigorate economics.
Sylvia Bergh and Sony Pellissery win ICSSR-NWO grant reseach They will conduct research on the topic of ´Service with Accountability: Examining public service characteristics in differing political regimes´. Fieldwork on social accountability initiatives and community score cards in the health and education sector in particular, is planned both in Morocco and India.
Professor Wil Hout appointed Research Associate at Murdoch University's Asia Research Centre staff The appointment was made in light of Professor Hout's research activities with fellows at the Asia Research Centre over the past decade.
Inaugural lecture Prince Claus Chair events On 23 May, 2016 Professor Saradindu Bhaduri delivered his inaugural lecture as PCC chairholder 2015-2017. His lecture was entitled ‘Frugal innovation by “the small and the marginal”: an alternative discourse on innovation and development’.
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Inaugural lecture Professor Jun Borras events
ISS listed on Global Go To Think Tank Index Report reseach The Global Go To Think Tank Index is the result of an international survey of over 7,500 scholars, public and private donors, policy makers, and journalists who helped rank more than 6,600 think tanks. This is the first time that ISS has been included in the Index, one of only three Dutch institutes on the list.
Valedictory lecture Professor Bert Helmsing events On 21 April 2016, Professor Bert Helmsing gave his valedictory lecture on 'How to value chains for local development'.
150 PhD Graduates at ISS PhD On 21 April, Atsushi Sano became the 150th ISS PhD graduate. To celebrate this milestone, ISS has produced a special booklet listing all 150 graduates and their theses.
On 14 April 2016, Professor Jun Borras gave his inaugural lecture on ‘Land politics, agrarian movements and scholar-activism'.
Rosalba Icaza appointed research member of the Diversity Commission at University of Amsterdam staff The Commission conducts research on the state of diversity at UvA. Rosalba Icaza's research will focus on the formal and informal obstacles to diversity in the processes of knowledge validation for curricula design.
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ISS news
Rolph van der Hoeven delegate at 54th session of UN Commission for Social Development staff ISS Emeritus Professor Rolph van der Hoeven, participated in the discussion on the role of social policy in achieving people-centred, inclusive sustainable development for all. He addressed challenges for social development in the 2030 Development Agenda.
Erasmus among best universities Europe 2016 EUR Erasmus University is ranked 25th of the best 200 universities in Europe in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Ben Radley receives prestigious Leverhulme Trust grant reseach The award will fund Ben Radley's PhD fieldwork and initial write-up phase, to be conducted through an 18-month placement with the Centre of Mining Expertise at the Catholic University of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In Memoriam alumni/staff Partia Dacalos ISS alumna Portia Dacalos (67) from the Philippines died in a motorbike accident while visiting Brazil. At ISS she was in the MA programme Employment and Labour Studies in 1994/1995. Marcelina Bacani ISS alumna Marcelina Bacani (62) passed away on 25 January 2016. She studied at ISS in 1982/1983 in the Regional Development programme. Novah Rose S. De Leon-David ISS alumna Novah Rose S. De Leon-David from the Philippines passed away in March this year. She studied International Law and Sustainable Development in 2003. Harold Anthony Minott ISS alumnus Harold Minott from Jamaica died on 7 April 2016. He completed his MA in 1996, specializing in Employment and Labour. Professor Hans Linnemann ISS Honorary Fellow Hans Linnemann died on 6 May 2016. Professor Linnemann lectured at ISS on development economics and after leaving ISS continued as a mentor and PhD supervisor.
PhD graduations PhD
Atsushi Sano (21 April 2016) Victimhood and Agency in the Sex Trade: Experiences and Perceptions of Teenage Girls in Rural West Java
Gloria Otieno (3 March 2016) Standards and Development: Perspectives from Kenya’s Horticultural Export Industry
Wilson Enzama (17 December 2015) Reconstructing Post-War Local Economies: Institutional Dynamics and Smallholder Value Chain Interventions in Northern Uganda
Debebe Zelalem Yilma Debebe (4 December 2015) Essays on the Economics of HealthRisk and Insurance
FulgĂŞncio Lucas Muti Seda (30 November 2015) Border Governance in Mozambique: The Intersection of International Border Controls, Regional Integration and Cross-border Regions
Staff-student dialogue
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Diversity policy at ISS – discussion between senior lecturer Rosalba Icaza Garza and PhD researcher Juan David Parra Heredia Rosalba (R): The new ISS diversity policy addresses some of the broader problems that ISS and higher education in the Netherlands have been facing over the years, namely the lack of any diversity policy or approach to diversity. It is very important that higher education is beginning to discuss its role in fostering or reducing diversity. Juan David (JD): Indeed, because by discussing diversity I believe that we are also discussing the foundations of relationships between people. In terms of assessing what is a good policy, I reflect on my consultancy
experience in Colombia when I was required to measure, for example, the gender perspective of a particular policy. The difficulty I have with such measurements is that they simply measure results and see the policy as the end of the process. However, if we conceptualize policy as a dialogue between various stakeholders we have a different tool by which to understand diversity – as a way of offering different stakeholders the same opportunity to present their view and enter into a dialogue with each other.
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Staff-student dialogue
R: So for you the policy is preceded by a conversation; for me policy is the beginning of a conversation. As a researcher at the University of Amsterdam’s Diversity Commission, I have found that policies on diversity in higher education in Europe see the policy itself as the end of the road, with some mechanisms to monitor progress, but none see it as the beginning of a long conversation. Furthermore, such policies often equate diversity with gender equality. Yet gender is not the only mark of difference that we should be paying attention to. Collapsing diversity into simply reducing the ‘gender gap’ obscures other experiences of discrimination and inequality. JD: I agree. For me it’s also very important to situate our analysis. In my own research, I try to bring in concepts such as intersectionality by asking ‘to what extent’ certain intersections between different things are causing problems. For instance, to what extent are certain personal or individual characteristics related to each other when we seek to understand cases of discrimination? Broad concepts are useful but we need to ask to what extent they are present. R: I see intersectionality as an approach that can help us to make differences visible as expressions of the mega diverse world in which we live, a world that is also marked by deep inequalities. This allows me to question whether academia is asking the right questions in a way that does not collapse differences. Are we proposing action plans that collapse differences or are we showing how important it is to keep differences visible and alive? JD: It’s also important to ask what types of diversity problems we experience at ISS that are perhaps different to those being experienced in other Dutch universities.
R: It is often assumed that our international student population equals diversity. But just as diversity is not equal to gender, it is also not equal to internationalization. JD: Hence, I would insist that diversity is about allowing people to express themselves freely. There is an idea that diversity means bringing in more international staff but I’m not convinced. It’s not about numbers, it’s about creating a space where people have equal access to solving a particular issue. I wonder to what extent the ISS policy is the outcome of a real dialogue. Because what it reflects is simply some of the views of some of the members of the ISS community. R: I think that this policy is a very welcome initiative – it enables us to start talking to each other about the different meanings we attach to the notion of ‘diversity’ within ISS, about why diversity should be defended and about why we need to address diversity in ways that brings members of the community together. This is just a first step. JD: We also have to look at the management, monitoring and accountability of ISS – these need to be grounded in the expectations that people in this building have about the community. In that way, managerial tools and devices become more efficient because they reflect a particular dynamic, expectation and dialogue.
The difficulty I have with such measurements is that they simply measure results and see the policy as the end of the process
Diversity is not an output but one explanation of why things work or not
R: Ivy League US universities are addressing the question of diversity as an indicator of efficiency but I feel this obscures other problems: at Harvard, for example, there is an assumption that the institution will become ‘diverse’ simply by bringing in people who do not represent ‘the norm’. It would be better to ask what kind of nonnormative perspectives of the world, of leadership, of learning are left out from the institution and how can these be made central to its everyday learning activities. JD: I think that’s why it’s problematic to try to measure diversity – diversity is not an output but one explanation of why things work or not. Secondly, I think that diversity is also about embracing conflict. We have to stop thinking that we have to avoid conflict – we have to learn how to deal with conflict. R: Such an understanding of diversity seems to rest upon the assumption of egalitarian conditions or an ideal environment for a dialogue. Then, as ‘some people’ cannot access the institutions, the focus is on promoting their access instead of transforming the institution. This approach is functional to the status quo and existing discriminations and exclusions. So we unavoidably get into conflictive situations because the moment we speak about these discriminations we touch the status quo. This is the difficult conversation that I hope we can have at ISS: students come here to have these difficult conversations. JD: If not here, where?
ISS publications
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Some recent publications by ISS staff and PhD researchers
‘Challenging Social Exclusion: Multi-Sectoral Approaches to Realising Social Justice in East Africa’ Edited by Helen Hintjens, Jimmy Maguru, Florence Nyakaisiki and Jackson Odong, this book investigates the question of social justice in East Africa. It delves into thorny issues in social justice and recommends ways of addressing them.
‘The South China Sea and Asian Regionalism’ Published by Springer, this book by Thanh-Dam Truong and Karim Knio explores recent developments, including the environmental and security dimensions, in the highly contested region of the South China Sea using critical realist approaches.
‘The Best place in the World: Life in Jakarta’s slums’
‘Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics’
Book by ISS researcher Roanne van Voorst on slum life in Jakarta. Only available in Dutch, the book is based on her fieldwork in a flood-prone and extremely poor riverbank settlement in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Irene van Staveren and Des Gasper published chapters in this Handbook which brings together 36 essays on ethical issues involved in economics. It investigates the ethical entailments of academic and applied economic practice.
‘The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Development: Critical Engagements in Feminist Theory and Practice’ Edited by Wendy Harcourt, this publication reveals the diverse ways that feminist theory and practice inform and shape gender analysis and development policies, bridging generations of feminists from different institutions, disciplines and regions.
‘Natural Hazards, Risk and Vulnerability’ Published by Routledge, this book by Roanne van Voorst offers a unique insight in the everyday life of a group of riverbank settlers in Jakarta - one of the most vulnerable areas worldwide in terms of exposure to natural hazards.
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Focus on ISS
Focus on ISS as a host for international colloquia
Elyse Mills ISS researcher
One of the most appealing aspects of ISS, which draws students, researchers and lecturers from around the world, is its focus on linking research, teaching and practice in the field of international development. The importance of this is reflected, not only in the highly varied background of ISS students – who have worked in NGOs, governments, the private sector, or have come directly from undergraduate studies – but is also evident in the teaching methods used by the staff. ISS has developed a well-grounded reputation for its critical approach to development studies, and for the somewhat alternative teaching techniques employed in its Masters programme. The general approach in all five of the majors within the MA in Development Studies Programme – Agrarian, Food and Environmental Studies (AFES), Economics of Development (ECD), Governance and Development Policy (GDP), Social Justice Perspectives (SJP), and Social Policy for Development (SPD) – is to engage in open, rigorous debates, draw on a wide range of literature and perspectives, and to create an interactive environment where students are encouraged to share their opinions and experiences. The themes that are the focus of both the MA and PhD Programmes are simultaneously diverse and interconnected, spanning a wide range of issues within the development field. Such themes were well-reflected in the recent international colloquium hosted by ISS on 4-5 February 2016 – ‘Global Governance/Politics, Climate Justice & Agrarian/Social Justice: Linkages and Challenges’. This colloquium focused on the broad and multifaceted issue of the convergence of multiple global crises (food, energy, environmental, climate change and finance), its relationship to the rise of important global political economic actors (BRICS and Middle-Income Countries), and how this has triggered profound agrarian and environmental transformations in both the Global North and South. The convergence of these crises, and their implications, have brought up questions
about whether conventional international governance interventions can actually be effective in addressing persistent issues, and what kind of governance instruments need to be developed in order to address new emerging issues. The colloquium, which was co-organized by ISS, Initiatives in Critical Agrarian Studies (ICAS), Transnational Institute (TNI), and FIAN International (among others), tackled the multiple interpretations of global governance, and the complexity of such processes when they involve a wide range of interactions between state and non-state actors. Some of the colloquium’s guiding questions included: How can dynamics between these actors be interpreted? Where are the key intersections between social justice movements and global governance and politics? How can a mutually beneficial relationship be strengthened between academic researchers, development practitioners and activists? And which global governance instruments, institutions and actors can be mobilized to strengthen or extend social justice? The first day of the colloquium began with a keynote presentation from Olivier de Schutter, University of Louvain (Belgium) (former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food), who opened up the discussion for the first plenary panel on ‘The Politics of Global Governance Institutions, Principles, Instruments & Standards’. Plenary speakers included academics from universities in the United States, the Netherlands, Canada and Mexico, as well as a researcher and activist from an Italian NGO.
Focus on ISS
The afternoon session included a keynote presentation by Raj Patel, University of Texas (United States), who opened up the discussion for the second plenary panel on ‘Climate Change, Natural Resource Politics & Agriculture’. Plenary speakers included academics from universities in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and Spain, as well as researchers from NGOs in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The second day of the colloquium began with a keynote presentation from Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ambassador of Ecuador to the United Nations (Switzerland), who opened up the discussion for the third plenary panel on ‘The Politics of Transnational Corporations & Corporate Alliances, Trade & Treaties’. Plenary speakers included an academic from a university in Canada, a researcher from a policy institute in the United Kingdom, researchers and activists from three international NGOs based in Italy, Uruguay, and the Netherlands, and the General Secretary of an international workers union. The afternoon session included a keynote presentation by Godwin Ojo, Environmental Rights Action (Nigeria), who opened up the discussion for the fifth plenary panel on ‘Social/ Climate/Agrarian/Environmental Justice, Social Movements & Alternatives’. Plenary speakers included an academic from a university in Spain, a researcher and activist from France, and activists from Mozambique, Palestine, South Africa, Canada and Italy. The colloquium closed with some inspiring words from several academics and activists on how to move forward with the debates and issues discussed during the previous two days. The closing speakers eloquently summed up the importance of forging stronger and more collaborative relationships between academic researchers, policymakers, and civil society groups, in order to effectively address the multiple environmental and financial crises the world is currently facing. This was a key theme framing the colloquium, which was intended as a space for scholars, activists, scholar-activists (those who take on both roles), to meet, reunite, and discuss new ways to understand and work through their common struggles. Such a space is crucial for expanding the scope of both scholarly and activist work as it helps to link the two and unite their individual strengths, which can facilitate a mutually reinforcing relationship that has the capacity to create real, long-term change.
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In his inaugural lecture at ISS on 14 April 2016, Professor Jun Borras discussed the significance and dynamism of these relationships, highlighting that despite the often-contradictory nature of academic and political rigor, the two can also be complementary and synergistic. What is the most difficult, and a challenge constantly faced by scholar-activists, is figuring out ways to address academic and political rigor simultaneously – particularly because the two spheres are usually very disconnected and often sceptical of each other. He further notes that scholar-activism is ‘movement oriented because it aims to carry out research both individually and collectively, within and through a research movement – a research movement that has the characteristics of a social movement, based upon shared assumptions and visions about the world as we know it and the alternative world we want to build. It values formal research networks, but goes beyond them’. The importance of scholar-activism is also reflected in ISS’ approach to research and teaching, which emphasises a link between theory and practice that is too often absent in international development studies programmes. Providing a space to explore how the relationship between the two can be both strengthened and expanded is part of what has continued to attract students and researchers to ISS from around the globe for the past six decades. Furthermore, applying dual importance to both research and teaching has played a key role in facilitating the richness of discussions that emerge at ISS, as staff and students alike contribute their diverse personal experiences to its seminars, lectures, conferences and colloquia. This is central to ISS’ international reputation as a rigorous development studies institute, which not only produces critical and relevant research, but also provides fundamental tools of analysis to new generations of researchers and practitioners from around the world. More information on the colloquium, including the programme and the papers presented, can be found at http://www.iss.nl/ agrarianjustice2016. Video footage of keynote and plenary speakers is available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/ TransnationalInst
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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. 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 researchers and visiting fellows, and award-winning research papers by graduate students. Subscribe to the Woking Papers free notification service at www.iss.nl/subscribe
Volume 47, Number 2, March 2016 Original articles Clara Capelli and Gianni Vaggi Why Gross National Disposable Income Should Replace Gross National Income Benjamin Neimark, Sango Mahanty and Wolfram Dressler Mapping Value in a ‘Green’ Commodity Frontier: Revisiting Commodity Chain Analysis Nicola Banks Livelihoods Limitations: The Political Economy of Urban Poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh Jong-Woon Lee and Kevin Gray Neo-Colonialism in South–South Relations? The Case of China and North Korea Luca J. Uberti Can Institutional Reforms Reduce Corruption? Economic Theory and Patron–Client Politics in Developing Countries
A study of Egyptian and Palestine trans-formal firms – A neglected category operating in the borderland between formality and informality ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, Volume 619 p. 1-25 Floridi, A., Wagner, N. and Cameron, J. Aid and the symbiosis of global redistribution and development: Comparative historical lessons from two icons of development studies ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, Volume 618 p. 1-25 Fischer A.M. Gender, ethnicity and teaching evaluation: Evidence from mixed teaching teams ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, Volume 617 p. 1-32 Wagner, N., Rieger, M. and Voorvelt, K.J. Colombian women and U.S. servicemen: Encounters and experiences from Melgar, Colombia ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, Volume 616 p. 1-49 Arévalo N.L.
Filip Reyntjens Legal Pluralism and Hybrid Governance: Bridging Two Research Lines
Are women better police officers? Evidence from survey experiments in Uganda ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, Volume 615 p.1-34 Wagner, N., Rieger, M., Bedi, A.S, and Hout, W.
Tatiana Argounova Low and Mikhail Prisyazhnyi Biography of a Road: Past and Present of the Siberian Doroga Lena
Intuitive cooperation in The Hague: A natural field experiment ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, 614 p. 1-65 Artavia Mora, L.D.
Alice Evans ‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics
An autoethnographic study on Dutch society: Narratives of being and belonging from the perspectives of young allochtoon Dutch-Muslims ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, 613 p. 1-50 Sadjad, M.S. Dutch social entrepreneurs in international development: Defying existing micro and macro characterizations ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, 612 p. 1-37 Helmsing, A.H.J., Knorringa, P. and Gomez Gonzalez, D. Subjective expectations of medical expenditures and insurance in rural Ethiopia ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, 611 p. 1-46 Debebe, Z.Y., O’Donnell, O.A., Mebratie, A.D., Alemu, G. and Bedi, A.S.
Student life
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STUDENT LIFE ‘Living in The Hague means opening yourself to new horizons - getting to know lots of people from all over the world, tasting new cuisines and pursuing intellectual paths through learning at ISS or working for peace and justice issues in various NGOs, or simply seeing the tulips bloom during the spring and walking in Scheveningen on a sunny afternoon.’
Thanks to the photographers: Amartya Gautam, Dick de Jager, Jed Alegado, Pallavi Karnatak & Piet Gispen.
International Institute of Social Studies Kortenaerkade 12 2518 AX The Hague P.O. Box 29776 2502 LT The Hague The Netherlands (+31) 70 426 0460 info@iss.nl www.iss.nl www.facebook.com/iss.nl www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=42258 www.youtube.com/user/issmedia www.Flickr.com/photos/issthehague/ www.instagram.com/iss_erasmus