OCTOBER 2017 VOL .19 – NO. 2
ISS 1952-2017 From ‘technical assistance’ to social justice
From the Editorial Board Development studies has undergone a significant transformation since its appearance in the post- Second World War academic scene. The field is now more fragmented and argumentative than it was when the first theorists laid the groundwork for analysing the problems of poverty and wealth at a national level. These theorists had an academic grounding in the fields of economics and political economy and focused on the macroeconomic determinants of growth. They worked in what was mostly a void in empirical data and their analyses were a series of logical arguments based on what were widely accepted as clear and largely defendable propositions and assumptions. Their prescriptions were easily distilled into policy advice that they believed were fungible across nations and cultures. The large differences in developing country experiences in the first five decades of the post-war environment have, however, led to the emergence of a series of dissenting voices that question both the theoretical claims as well as the distribution of the cost and benefits of economic policies. These voices, based in a more diverse set of academic disciplines, have led to a democratization of the field with more representation from anthropology, sociology, law and other disciplines. Moreover, we are also witnessing among development scholars an emergence of and tension between the dual roles of academic and activist as well as among development scholars, governments, and communities. In short, the field is becoming more contested and conflictual.
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 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. ISSN 1566-4821. DevISSues is printed on FSC certified paper
In this environment, the student of development faces special challenges in coming to terms with the state-of-the-art in the field. Unlike in other fields where knowledge is more sequentially accumulated, development studies requires constant reevaluation and questioning and often the rejection of past precepts. As a development studies institute, we have a challenge and a great responsibility to present, as honestly and as analytically as we can, the different viewpoints and methodological and ideological approaches of development studies to our students and to equip them to become discerning thinkers and practitioners with a healthy outlook towards debate and deliberation. In particular, this requires us to constantly revisit, reevaluate and revise what we would consider the core of development studies and to present to its diversity in a manner which is neither confusing nor overwhelming. Our success in the coming decades will depend on how well we address this challenge.
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Rector’s Blog ISS: 65 years young This year, ISS is celebrating its 65th birthday and organizing several festivities to take place in the week of 9 October. Activities include a performance of the play Seven, representing strong women from around the world who faced political and gender violence yet remained faithful to their motivation to change women’s lives; the hosting of the annual Development Dialogue by our PhD researchers; and our birthday itself, the Dies Natalis, on 12 October with alumni meetings and Professor Mohammed Salih’s valedictory lecture. During its presentation, NUFFIC will tell us more about our own history: how and why we were established. In order to understand where one stands today and to see how one can move forward, it is important to know where one comes from and to understand the societal context of the period. Since its foundation in 1952, social justice has been a key value for ISS but over time ideas have changed about how to achieve this. For example, although ISS has gradually developed into a more academic institution, especially since joining Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) in 2009, social justice and societal relevance continue to play important roles.
Inge Hutter Rector ISS
It is clear that ISS has to take all changes in the outside world into consideration when thinking about its future. For example, we are examining whether and how we can shorten the residential period of our MA programme to 12 months, with students finishing their research paper at home. First explorations show that students are enthusiastic though we have to think carefully about distance supervision. ISS also focuses more and more on global development, i.e. research and teaching on development in the global North and South. Within EUR, for example, ISS collaborates in the Vital cities and citizens research programme with projects in The Hague and among its diaspora. Likewise, more ISS students conduct their research paper in The Hague on global issues, e.g. the identity of Muslim youth.
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In the past decade the world has changed enormously, and so ISS is changing too. While most of our student fellowships previously came from the Netherlands, now they increasingly come from the South and we have an increasing number of self-financing students. Our students too are changing – their average age is lower than ever: 28 years. Moreover, they are increasingly familiar with ISS when they arrive, with many joining the special Facebook group before they come to the Institute.
So, our 65th birthday is the right moment to both reflect on our past and to look forward.
Last August I visited the EADI (European Association of Development Institutes) in Norway during which we discussed the highly interesting new concept of decolonizing knowledge. In the Netherlands, current societal discussions focus on racism (against people of colour) and on the decolonization of our primary education programmes, while the Zwarte Piet discussion still continues. I believe that ISS, with its strong critical social science focus, can play a role in global development, thus also in societal discussions like this, by sharing experiences and expertise from the global South. In this way, I believe, ISS, and especially our students, can enrich Dutch society. I wish everyone a wonderful and festive anniversary week and Dies.
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Contents
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Thriving, dynamic community creating 354 4 7 a strong global 14network 2049 Education as the Research ISS ISS news A global network ofatprofessionals in practice of freedom of ISS Alumni development: • knowledge career 10 ISS Alumni: Where are they•now? 19 Societal Impact throughout the years 265 • professional development 11 A brief history of ISS 22 ISS publications - WP/ D&C 17 ISS publications - staff & PhD 65
23 Student life
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Education as the practice of freedom In this contribution to DevIssues Wendy Harcourt reviews the impact of teaching practices in ISS in conversation with some of the students she has taught in the last three years.
S Wendy Harcourt is Professor of Gender, Diversity and Sustainable Development
ince 2015 I have been leading the ISS General Course which is the only course that all MA (160 or so) students have to take. The current General Course engages students in critical thinking on development as a process as well as an area of study. We encourage students to reflect critically on their personal experience of living and doing development in response to Arturo Escobar’s call for ‘the unmaking of development’ (Escobar 2012).
Escobar is an inspiring thinker who writes about different encounters of development. We try to open an exploration of the possibility of change in their own lives outside the classroom. Experiencing with students the excitement of listening, learning and engaging in debate is the best part of teaching at ISS. At the end of the course, students prepare a creative audiovisual on five key entries for an ISS General
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Course Development Dictionary. The students’ videos vividly illustrate how they have learnt to work together to ‘unpack’ development as a cultural, political, economic and historical process. In writing this article I contacted some students over email to ask them what they thought about ISS critical pedagogical practices both while they were at ISS and in their life after ISS.
The ISS experience Students both welcome and feel unsettled by the ISS pedagogical critical approach to development. J sees ISS as enabling her ‘to ask those very necessary but uncomfortable questions … which is not limited to the study of theory, but engages with analysing policy and practice at the global and local level’. Likewise, T comments that ISS ‘taught me ways to critique mainstream development practices’ through a liberating if ‘unsettling process of reading, discussions with peers and struggling to write something of relevance’. Working with others is something students appreciated. B saw ISS pedagogical practices as promoting a ‘horizontal class environment’ which allowed for ‘meaningful and extensive student participation’ where students could lead the learning process. Others appreciated the ISS Socratic method. For example, L writes that ISS has ‘taught us by raising questions. It has never been about being right or wrong … it has changed the way I see, feel and experience development itself’. P confirms that ‘ISS unexpectedly pushed me to unlearn many ideas and assumptions’. Z reflects that it ‘was not easy at the beginning’ but it opened ‘a door for a deep understanding of what development is and has been in the history of the world’. N also enjoyed the ‘enriching and constructive places of reflection in the MA programme’. She felt challenged to un-pack her own thinking: ‘Learning to listen in order to respect diversity’ helped
her to see ‘the path to transform every day practices’ as part of the ‘the political process of the unmaking of development’. C saw ISS as providing ways to think ‘otherwise’ and to embrace the ‘imaginary of what is possible’ which dominant ideas tell us ‘isn’t possible/ realistic/practical/worthwhile’.
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ISS [provides] ways to think ‘otherwise’
Students come from all over the world, and this in itself creates a special learning environment. E found that ISS allowed her to become more consciously aware of her ‘deeply normative and Westerncentric’ position. ISS dramatically shifted her way of thinking; helped by the ‘informal and personable teaching practices’, she was encouraged to think in new ways and ‘ask ourselves why we thought how we did’. The more informal student-teacher relationship was appreciated by many but also questioned. While S sees ISS pedagogical practices as part of an attempt by teachers to unmake ‘the power-based distance teacher-student and the making of a trust-based and enriching relationship’, M, on the other hand, felt that the diversity of thought among teachers and students needed to be pushed more. She missed deeper probings into questions of ‘positionality, privilege and complicity.’
Life after ISS Among the students I contacted, some have continued at ISS to do their PhDs. They are at home with the ISS pedagogical approach. J considers that: ‘The critical pedagogy of ISS has taught me the broader context and perspectives in studying both historical and current debates … now I dare to ask, delve and try to reply the very necessary “why and how” questions.’ P has chosen to do a PhD at ISS because she felt her own experiences and background were acknowledged and she could integrate what she learnt in the MA programme ‘while being guided by people who care about me not only in terms of what kind of research I can produce but what kind of person I am’.
The sense of care that nourished P’s ISS experience is also reflected by those who now try to put into practice what they learnt at ISS back home. L, in her work in development projects since ISS, focuses on ‘who are excluded in the policies’: she asks them ‘personally how they want to be treated.’ And when writing up her reports, she ensures that local peoples’ experiences and strategies are included. In her work in a global public health NGO, E writes that her ISS experiences ‘have significantly helped me to contribute to modes of good practice when doing development projects, research and monitoring and evaluation … generally being more cognizant of the potential harm brought about by top-down, north-south development work.’ V, now working at the Central Bank, states that after ISS she can now see ‘clearly all the power relationships and ine-qualities that surround me’. At the same time, ISS has taught her to ‘to be tolerant with other people’s ideas’ and she notes that ‘little by little’ she is opening the minds of the ‘conservative elite’ with whom she is working.
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After leaving ISS, S has engaged in practices of ‘unsettling mainstream development’ in a popular education project. She carries the legacy of her ISS experience as she regularly questions her own role as an NGO, asking ‘who are we in this social practice? Why and how to acknowledge our position and role?’. C, in reflecting on her current job in a public service employees’ union, ‘a militant organization that has had amazing successes and its own rigidities’, sees herself as continuing to unmake development in ‘close to home contexts’. Z, working back in the development sector, states that her ISS training helped her ‘to question the rationale behind my practice’ and to ‘be a more reflexive and responsible professional’. Some students, on the other hand, found the experience at ISS did not help them prepare for what was to come. T feels that the ‘value of the insights I learnt at ISS were not easy to convey to family back home, nor to prospective employers at NGOs or development agencies’. In her job in a funding agency she felt that her ‘critical thinking was not appreciated’. She writes that it is hard to ‘come to terms with the contradiction of challenging hegemonic development processes, yet needing to conform to the institutions and discourses of development and education … Being critical without proposing alternatives is not productive’.
…continuing to unmake development in ‘close to home contexts’
Similarly, A warns that critical pedagogy is a very ‘risky business’. In her current job as a gender expert, she is ‘constantly doubting whether, when performing a consultancy or a research project on gender related topics, I can stay what they call “professional”’. She is rueful when she states: ‘many of us can suffer from anxiety as we become politicized subjects’. M is also in that camp. She feels that ‘ISS definitely gave me a critical edge’ which she has taken into her working life. However, ISS also made her ‘cynical about the mainstream field of international development [and] this is often a difficult position to be in’. She wonders whether ISS is too radical. And whether ISS can support its former students ‘to survive in mainstream development practice’ and provide them with alternate networks of development practice that appreciate ‘critical practice skills’.
Conclusion
…education as ‘the practice of freedom…’
My small sample confirms that those students who embrace the challenges ISS provides can enjoy education as ‘the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world’ (Freire 2000: 34). Such freedom can open new insights and path-ways to challenge contradictions and uncomfortable situations in work life or further studies after their ISS experience.
References: Escobar, A. Encountering Development. The Making and UnMaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Freire, P. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000 hooks, bell. Teaching to Trangress: Education as the Practice of Freedom NY/London: Routledge.2014.
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Research at ISS
Global Development and Social Justice We live in a fast-changing global society characterized by instability, conflict, inequality and climate change. The nature of globalization is such that all these issues are currently global issues and are no longer limited to the Global South. During its 65-year history, ISS has seen a shift from an almost exclusive concern with development issues in developing countries to embracing a broad agenda of global development.
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his article considers the impact of the research carried out at ISS and shows how its approach to development research fits into the changes in attitudes towards development and development studies in general and at ISS in particular. ISS was founded in 1952 to answer the need for capacity-building institutes, primarily for people working in the public sector in the then so-called developing countries. Its stated aim was the creation of ‘one (better) world’. Yet despite this ‘First world-Third world’ divide, both teaching and research at ISS have always been pluralist in orientation and this is even more so now, when theoretical and methodological diversity and various disciplinary perspectives form the foundation of our research.
Community based health insurance in Ethiopia – a project combining research and policy relevance.
Societal impact and capacity development Beyond this multidisciplinary, theoretical foundation, research at ISS is explicitly set up to have a measurable impact on society. Our researchers are steered by a desire to contribute to the problemsolving capacities of communities, organizations and societies; in other words, capacity development. They do not conduct research for its own sake, but design and participate in projects which contribute to a more just world and which bring about improvements in the situation of the poor and vulnerable.
…our distinct commitment to critical and socially engaged academic research…
Societal impact also means that research findings and outcomes have to be readily available in a form that can reach and appeal to both the academic and non-academic communities. That is why research findings are not only published in top academic journals and by top publishers but are also, as part of normal practice, ‘translated’ into policy briefs, social media contributions and other outlets aimed at reaching a wider public. A good example of a project which is engaged in societal impact and in dispersing its findings beyond academia, is the research carried out in Ethiopia on community-based health insurance. This research, carried out by senior ISS researchers and PhD candidates, aims to assess the impact of a community-based health insurance project carried out in Ethiopia in 2011, and to provide training on health equity and financing, and on methods of impact evaluation. It thus combines research and policy relevance to provide the data and analysis needed to achieve social impact. In this context, the community-based health insurance scheme not only has the potential to help Ethiopia achieve universal health coverage but may also yield lessons for other counties.
Research with and for people, not only about people Like our inclusive and knowledgesharing teaching methods, research carried out at ISS also focuses on the co-creation of knowledge. Our research aims to include and engage with the poor and vulnerable who have traditionally been seen primarily as the objects of development rather than as its subjects. Being open to the experiences, knowledges and capacities of these communities also opens the way for insights and options that may be missed in perspectives directed solely by dominant groups and organizations.
Development studies and globalization The ISS approach to research – research which is societally relevant, pluralist and multidisciplinary with a strong capacity development element – has been informed by a similarly broad understanding of development studies which itself responds to the processes of globalization and change. Major conflicts, poverty and climate change are a consequence of global processes and lead to global problems: tens of millions of vulnerable people are on the move; climate change is leading to
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‘natural’ disasters; and more and more migrants can be identified as climate refugees. In the context of globalization, these issues have to be seen as global issues which require global solutions. The replacement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, with their focus very much on so-called developing countries, with the Sustainable Development Goals, which have an explicitly global reach, is a sign that the global dimensions of development have moved centre stage. This shift in the focus of development studies is also apparent in the ISS teaching programme, especially our MA in Development Studies. Although always global in outlook, the focus in the early decades was very much on ‘developing counties’ and helping them to achieve the same level of development, i.e. economic wealth, as ‘developed countries’. This approach has gradually changed over the years and, like our research, the ISS teaching programme is now very much concerned with the co-creation of excellence. This is not only expressed in our academic approach, but also in our teaching methods which recognise that knowledge is situated in different social, economic and cultural contexts. Our staff and students share their knowledge, experience and worldview with each other, thus contributing to a holistic learning and teaching environment. The strength and importance of this reality is seen again and again in the comments by our alumni who mention this co-creation of knowledge as one of the most positive elements of their time at ISS.
Global Development and Social Justice The institute’s research portfolio is therefore deeply influenced by and in turn influences development studies. Our approach (to both teaching and research) is to see development studies not so much as an academic discipline but as a process of social, economic and political transformation and to investigate the impact of these processes on justice and equity. The organizational umbrella under which all research projects fall is the ISS-wide research programme Global Development and Social Justice. Within this broad framework, our researchers lead and participate in projects which fall under four broad cross-cutting themes:
• • • •
migration and diversity social protection and inequality conflict and peace environment and climate change
Being at the heart of current political and societal debates, these four themes offer ISS researchers an opportunity to link their research interests to activities and discussions with potentially major societal impact. By linking the attention to the cross-cutting themes with issues that have traditionally been core to the ISS research agenda – such as rights, gender and well-being – we aim to provide analyses of issues such as migration, conflict, climate change and inequality that reflect our distinct commitment to critical and socially engaged academic research. The majority of our projects, be it one that
…projects which contribute to a more just world and which bring about improvements in the situation of the poor and vulnerable.
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…the co-creation of excellence…
explores the political economy of international development assistance; investigates how state and non-state actors respond to disasters in conflictaffected situations; evaluates community-based monitoring of the social and environmental liabilities in the Amazon; or investigates the value of text messaging in the adherence to medical treatment in Burkina Faso, will feature elements of one or more of these themes. The cross-cutting themes are thus embedded in our research projects and our researchers work together across disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach stimulates, for example, the production of joint publications, leads to joint PhD supervisions, strengthens collaboration across individual projects and forges a strong coherence in approaches to societal relevance. The themes thus ensure that the research carried out at ISS is homogenous in its approach whilst stimulating the multidisciplinarity which ISS holds so dear.
Conclusion The ISS research portfolio has come a long way since the establishment of the institute in 1952. But it has not developed in a vacuum. It is intrinsically linked to the ISS teaching programme but also to the concerns and changes in development thinking globally. Being deeply integrated in the field of development thinking, our Global Development and Social Justice research programme influences and is influenced by the global reality of the problems and issues it investigates.
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ISS Alumni
Where are they now?
Catherina Rozario
Hyacinth Guy
Juan Cheaz
Novi Anggriani
Study : Employment & Labour Studies, 1996 Country of origin Bangladesh Current occupation Vocational rehabilitation supervisor. Dept of Education, Florida, USA
Study Labour and Development, 1991 Country of origin Trinidad and Tobago Current occupation Principal Director, Human Resource Company
Study Public Policy Administration, 2002 Country of origin Indonesia Current occupation Senior Development Officer, Global Affairs Canada (Embassy of Canada in Indonesia)
What made your time at ISS special? ISS broadened my horizons, I got to know people from different countries and their cultures. ISS brought together scholars from diverse disciplines and the courses were innovative, transdisciplinary and fostered informal, cooperative exchanges and collaborations. My time at ISS is very special to me because it was my first lesson in adaptability and respect for other cultures.
What made your time at ISS special? I was overawed by the environment – the different cultures, the constant activity, the intellectual stimulation! I learnt more about myself than ever before. My mind was opened to different possibilities, ways of knowing, world views and approaches to dealing with conflict.
Study Economic Policy and Planning, 1991 Country of origin Dominican Republic Current occupation Senior Programme Coordinator Agricultural Policy and Value Chains at Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) ACP-EU. Wageningen, the Netherlands
Your most memorable moment? The visit and speech of World Bank President James David Wolfensohn. I was able to connect myself with a greater cause. Not only his speech but the connection that was made by ISS by inviting him illustrated its holistic approach to development. What does ISS mean to you now? It is my third eye which helps me see beyond ordinary sight.
Your most memorable moment? International Night – I thought that my culture was fantastic, yet when I saw performances from other cultures, I realised that there were equally wondrous cultures all over the world. What does ISS mean to you now? A place to connect with friends from around the world. I still marvel at this place which provides the environment for people from multiple cultures to interact. An education at ISS creates a special kind of person – one who is able to contribute so much more to the world.
What made your time at ISS special? Knowing people from so many cultural backgrounds. Your most memorable moment? Graduation Day! What does ISS mean to you now? A global network of people who remain connected and find opportunities to collaborate within and across fields of expertise.
What made your time at ISS special? Meeting people from 58 countries with different personalities and backgrounds. It was the first time that I had travelled abroad and learnt how to manage life on my own. I am glad I experienced this during my stay at ISS. Your most memorable moment? The graduation day. Just one night before, my supervisor congratulated me that my research paper was nominated as one of the most outstanding papers. Such a pleasant surprise! What does ISS mean to you now? ISS is a place to learn about development in both practice and theory. It inspired me to think, respond and act in development, and equipped me to advance my career. Thank you ISS!
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A brief history of ISS 1950 marked the beginning of a new post-colonial world and an era of widespread European interest in reconstruction. Within this context, and with the aim of maintaining relations with ex-colonies, the Dutch government set up a committee to explore the idea of a training institute for civil servants that would adopt a policy-oriented, multi-disciplinary approach to the needs of developing countries.
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n its inception, ISS was the vanguard of development studies in Europe and the one of the earliest of such institutes. Although it made its mark, it was also very much an island – a very conventional, centrally-run, inwardlooking community cut-off from society around it. It was not until the 1970s that the Institute started to become more open, both in its own organization and in its approach to development studies. The Institute developed a more democratic management system, increased the proportion of non-Dutch staff, and, probably partly as a result of this, became more critical in its intellectual approach and broadened its academic interests and expertise. By the late 1970s the Institute had become more demand-oriented, changing from an institute that trained administrators to one that ‘trained the trainers’ (NGOs, universities, trade unions, women and other organized groups). It emphasized research,
increased the level of its consultancy and advisory work, and established new links with international organizations and relevant groups in both the north and south. The period also marked a new thinking on development, exemplified, for example, in pathbreaking work on women and development (from 1976 onwards), and its research on money and finance. The critical approach that had started a decade earlier flourished in this period, focusing on issues such as international economic and political relations, basic needs, employment and technology, labour relations, women and development, rural-urban relations, and land reform and agrarian politics. Since that period, the Institute has continued to develop – in response to global changes but also itself forming these changes. It forged closer collaboration with international agencies, ministries, NGOs and corporate companies and began to reassess what it offered that
differentiated it as a research-led, teaching-based institute on problems of transition and change, both in the developing and developed world. ISS is now more firmly embedded in the Dutch university system, joining Erasmus University Rotterdam as a University Institute in 2009, and has become recognized in both the Netherlands and globally as a centre of critical expertise on development problems, policies and individual countries.
Timeline of ISS
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1970 Establishment of Development and Change, a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal, one of the leading international journals in the field of development studies and social change.
1968 Start of a long cooperation and exchange of staff members with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. ISS helped set up the Centre for Development Studies, nowadays known as Institute for Development Studies.
1977 Move to the former Hotel Wittebrug
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1952 ISS established as a special postgraduate English-language institution bringing Dutch knowledge to bear on a distinctive brand of higher education concerned with problems of development. Launching ISS was one of the first tasks of the new Netherlands Universities Foundation for International Cooperation (NUFFIC). Queen Juliana generously offered part of the royal Palace Noordeinde to house the Institute and NUFFIC.
1979 Opening of an ISS-Development Studies and Research Center in Khartoum; an institutional strengthening programme of teaching and research in regional development planning. (Closed in 1985).
1975 ISS takes a leading role in the creation of EADI – the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes – and remains one of the premium members.
1986 1st PhD defence at ISS by K.P. Kannan
1983 The ISS MA programme was restructured with more space for differentiation and the choice of 8 different themes.
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1996 Involvement in a capacity-building project to strengthen the teaching and research capacity of the Addis Ababa University in the field of regional and local development. (Till 2004).
2003 Collaboration with the FHR Lim A Po Institute for Social Studies in Surinam. A Master in Public Administration and International and Comparative Law were developed.
1990 Involvement in major projects developing capacity in high quality teaching and research programmes in developing countries. From 1990 – 2004 e.g. Development of an Economics MA Programme at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
2007 Establishment of the Mundus MAPP programme: a two year international joint Masters programme in Public Policy, offered by ISS, Central European University in Budapest (Hungary), Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (Spain) and the University of York (UK).
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1 July 2009 ISS becomes a University Institute of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). ISS retains its mission, location in The Hague and relative autonomy whilst benefiting from the resources available from an internationally renowned university. In this new setting, ISS is able to develop innovative research in cooperation with other EUR faculties and gain greater access to Dutch and international research funding. Students graduating from ISS receive diplomas and degrees which bear the names of both ISS and EUR.
2009 ISS is the first university to receive the Orange Carpet Award from Nuffic for best practices in internationalization.
2017
2009 100th PhD defence at ISS
2017 Launch of the general research programme Global Development and Social Justice.
2012 Overhaul of the MA programme: new programme consisting of 5 majors, replacing the 15 specializations.
2016 150th PhD defence at ISS 1993 ISS moves to its present location near the city centre, the former headquarters of the Netherlands Post and Telecommunications (the PTT).
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ISS news
ISS news alumni awards EUR events PhD projects research staff students
PCC Inaugural lecture by Fatima Suleman events
On 16 May this year, the 2016-2018 Prince Clause Chairholder, Professor Suleman, held her inaugural lecture on ‘Affordability and equitable access to (bio)therapeutics for public health’. She will conduct research into affordable (bio)therapeutics with scholars in the Netherlands and the WHO.
MA thesis award for Belén Gianquinta alumni
ISS honorary doctor, Professor Bina Agarwal wins international prize awards
ISS alumna Belén Gianquinta won the first prize in the LOVA/Marjan Rens MA Thesis Award in the field of women and gender studies in anthropology in the Netherlands. The title of her thesis is ‘Silenced Subjectivities and Misrepresentations – Exposing the contradictions of the international child marriage discourse’. Belén wrote her thesis as part of her MA at ISS from where she graduated in 2016.
Professor Bina Agarwal was awarded the 2017 Louis Malassis International Prize for an ‘Outstanding Career in Agricultural Development’. The prize recognizes individuals for their exemplary contributions to enhance food and agricultural systems sustainability, food security and poverty reduction.
ISS news
Application for 2018-2019 MA now open students Want to do your MA in Development Studies at ISS? Whether you are interested in agrarian politics, gender, conflict, children and youth, governance, social policy or economics, the ISS MA in Development Studies offers you the possibility to share and expand your knowledge. The application procedure is now open – www.iss.nl/applynow.
Mundus MAPP in Public Policy wins EU grant research The European Commission granted the Mundus MA Program in Public Policy an Erasmus+ Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degrees grant. The grant will enable Mundus MAPP to award fully funded Erasmus Mundus scholarships to outstanding EU and non-EU students starting from September 2018.
The many faces of ISS projects ISS’ 65th anniversary year coincides with the 100th anniversary of De Stijl art movement. The best known artist from this movement, Piet Mondrian, had a very distinct style, using blocks of colour. To celebrate this double anniversary, ISS photographed staff and students and used the photos to decorate the façade of the building.
Julien-François Gerber wins Early Career Research Fellowship grant research Julien-François Gerber was awarded the grant by the Independent Social Research Foundation for his research entitled ‘When economic expansion transgresses all limits: indebtedness and extractivism as two major causes of social unrest in the coming decade’.
MA opening students
Ali Bilgiç Prince Claus Chairholder 2017-2019 awards As chairholder, Professor Bilgiç will focus on the relations between migration and the ‘human security approach’ in order to understand migration more comprehensively as a social, political and economic process and to identify and respond to associated policy challenges and dilemmas.
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On 8 September ISS welcomed 152 new students to its MA in Development Studies programme. The students spent their first week getting to know each other, ISS and The Hague. And after all the festivities and excitement they have now started fullswing with their studies.
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ISS news
Joint research and PhD opportunities ISS and Bahir Dar University PhD
In Memoriam alumni/staff Dr Peter Waterman Dr Peter Waterman passed away on 17 June 2017 after a short bout with cancer and heart problems.
On 5 July 2017, a delegation from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia met with ISS rector, Professor Inge Hutter and Deputy Rector, Professor Wil Hout to discuss opportunities for: • support to the Bahir Dar University PhD programme in Social Sciences in general and Political Science and International Studies in particular; • collaboration in research on issues such as migration, conflict, water and climate change.
Purnima Purohit Purnima Purohit passed away in August as a result of a brain haemorrhage. Purnima was in the 2006-2007 MA batch, majoring in Economics of Development.
Peter Waterman joined ISS in 1972 and worked here as a senior lecturer in the Labour Studies and Politics of Alternative Development Studies programmes until his retirement in 1998. Peter was a good and valued teacher and colleague and well-known in internationalist labour circles. Sylvia Tjahjakaerani ISS alumna Sylvia Tjahjakaerani passed away at the end of May 2017 due to cancer. Sylvia was is the Public Policy and Administration programme in 2001-2002.
Professor T.K.N. Unnithan Professor T.K.N.Unnithan passed away on 2 July 2017 in Jaipur, India at the age of 90. Professor Unnithan was a student in the second batch at ISS, studying here from 1952-1954.
PhD graduations PhD
Selwyn Moons (14 July 2017) Heterogeneity in Economic Diplomacy: Instruments, Determinants & Developments
Sarah Schmidt Zipp (3 July 2017) Changing the Game or Dropping the Ball? Sport and Human Capability Development for At Risk Youth in Barbados and St. Lucia
Binyam Afewerk Demena (16 June 2017) Essays on Intra-Industry Spillovers from FDI in Developing Countries – A Firm-Level Analysis with a Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
Karem Sánchez de Roldán (12 June 2017) Land of Contrast, Context of Exclusion. Social Capital in Policy Formulation: Valle Del Cauca – Colombia, 1998-2008
Getrude Isimon (2 June 2017) Understanding the Complex InterConnections of Civil War and Communal Violence: the Case of Uganda
ISS publications
Some recent publications by ISS staff and PhD researchers Humanitarian Action in Disaster and Conflict Settings: Insights of an Expert Panel In this new publication, Roanne van Voorst and Thea Hilhorst help scholars and practitioners to better understand the complexity and perverse outcomes that characterize the engagement of the international aid sector with local political realities in conflict settings.
People, Aid and Institutions in Socio-Economic Recovery This book, co-edited by Professor Thea Hilhorst, theorizes the meaning of socio-economic recovery and provides five main lessons, based on a series of ethnographic case studies.
Non-State Social Protection Actors and Services in Africa PhD researcher Elizabeth Ngutuku and Assistant Professor Auma Okwany published their chapter on ‘Social Citizenship Rights of Vulnerable Children: A Perspective on Interventions by Non-State Actors in Western Kenya’ in this book edited by Nicholas Awortwi and Gregor Walter-Dorp. In their chapter, the authors discuss the inability of the Kenyan state to provide social protection to its citizens, including children.
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Focus on ISS
Societal Impact throughout the years Ever since its establishment, the ISS mission has been to combine academic best practices with relevance for development practice and to use this combination as the basis for its teaching programme. The photos on these two pages show just a few of the activities ISS has carried out in line with this focus on societal impact.
ISS students organized a charity food fair, cooking and sharing food from their own region.
Former rector, Geertje Lycklama à Nijeholt, at the opening of the Human Rights programme in 1995.
Refresher course in Nairobi, 1994 – ISS regularly organized refresher courses for its alumni with the aim of prolonging the impact of the original training and contributing to the institutional development of the alumni's employing organizations It’s not the economy, stupid! – In 2009, ISS held a series of meetings to discuss the impact of the global economic crisis.
Focus on ISS
The then Princess Maxima attended a conference on young people in Africa held at ISS in 2009.
Every year, ISS PhD researchers organize the Development Dialogue to exchange the results of recent and ongoing research by young scholars and doctoral candidates in different fields of development studies.
On 22 October 2014, Mohamed Salih was presented with a booklet edited by Peter van Bergeijk and Linda Johnson on ‘Social impact @ sciences: the end of the ivory tower?’ The book was a result of a seminar on ‘Social Impact @ Sciences: Why Does Science Matter?’ held at ISS earlier that same year.
Disaster fund – in 1953 ISS students organized a collection for victims of the disastrous flooding that hit parts of the Netherlands.
Where Art meets Science – In 2016 Lee Pegler and artist Julia dos Santos Baptista jointly developed an exhibition on cross-border trade and cultural interaction. The art exhibition was opened at the Keizer Karel Galerie under the A9 highway in Amstelveen.
ISS held a policy workshop on small scale industrialisation in June 1997.
5th anniversary of the Prince Claus Chair in Development and Equity which was established by ISS and Utrecht University in honour of Prince Claus of the Netherlands.
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A unique global netw 8
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Thriving, dynamic community creating a strong global network of professionals in development: • knowledge • career • professional development
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By maintaining close contact with alumni, ISS strengthens its position within the global society, facilitates contact opportunities between students, staff and alumni, and receives support and input from active alumni, whether regarding advice, research cooperation, capacity development or promoting the ISS brand.
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Backbone of Alumni Relations: alumni database with updated contact details, employers and positions
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connecting the world, sharing vacancies and job opportunities
Post-graduation services: lifelong learning and career support
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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 ISS in 1969, in response to the perceived need for a multidisciplinary journal dealing with all aspects of development studies.
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, as well as award-winning research papers by graduate students.
Volume 48, Number 4, July 2017 Timothy Hildebrandt and Lynette Chua Negotiating In/visibility: The Political Economy of Lesbian Activism and Rights Advocacy Annina Kaltenbrunner and Photis Lysandrou The US Dollar’s Continuing Hegemony as an International Currency: A Double Matrix Analysis Sharmin Afroz, Rob Cramb and Clemens Grunbuhel Exclusion and Counter-Exclusion: The Struggle over Shrimp Farming in a Coastal Village in Bangladesh Barrientos Alford and Margareet Visser Multi-scalar Labour Agency in Global Production Networks: Contestation and Crisis in the South African Fruit Sector Vani Borooah Caste and Regional Influences on the Practice of ‘Untouchability’ in India Pal Nyiri South-South? Culture Talk, The Spectre of Socialism, and Labour Relations at ChineseOwned Factory in Hungary Dennis Arnold Dennis and Stephen Campbell Labour regime transformation in Myanmar Alice Evans ‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics Review essays Engelbert Stockhammer Branko Milanovic’s Long Waves in Income Distribution and GrowthWatching Charles Hale and Tathagatan Ravindran Rethinking the Left in the Wake of the Global ‘Trumpian’ Backlash
Dilemmas of externally financing domestic expenditures: Rethinking the political economy of aid and social protection through the monetary transformation dilemma A.M. Fischer ISS Working Paper Series / General Series Vol. 629, pp. 1–41 Has growth been good for women’s employment in Pakistan? H. Majid and K.A.Siegmann ISS Working Paper Series / General Series Vol. 630, pp. 1–33 Has populism reached economics? Two criteria for assessing normative empirical concepts in economics I.P. van Staveren ISS Working Paper Series / General Series Vol. 631, pp. 1–34 Measurement error of global production P.A.G. van Bergeijk ISS Working Paper Series / General Series, 632. pp. 1-18
Student life
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STUDENT LIFE
Martin Blok The Dutch really do wear clogs…
Martin Blok …and there really are windmills!
Martin Blok The new batch getting to know each other.
Ana Cristina Canales Gómez The peace tree at the Peace Palace entrance – visitors add their personal peace wishes.
Danilo Suarez From the Dorus rooftop – the unique sunset that The Hague brings to us: history and justice with the Peace Palace, and the great colours formed by the clouds of this cloudy city.
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