The future of international development studies: final debate

Closing evening of the International Development Studies Lecture Series in cooperation with the Governance and Inclusive Development group of the University of Amsterdam

Event

The field of international development studies must evolve to stay on top of the many changes affecting the world of today. Global trends indicate rising inequality and degrading ecosystems. Extrapolated into the future in a business-as-usual scenario these trends may exacerbate even further. In this final debate five experts will discuss how development studies can and should make a difference in the future. With: Joyeeta Gupta, Arthur Mol, Isa Baud, Valentina Mazzucato en D. Parthasarathy (Bombay, India).

In times of growing inequality and degrading ecosystems, development studies need to be more assertive in their role of questioning and exposing existing development and environmental discourses, contextual power politics, governance patterns and the so-called neutral ‘instruments’ used by governance actors. They will  need to come up with alternatives. In combatting the dominance of the neo-liberal tendency to focus on economic growth, deregulation, and the individualization of society, inclusive development can be a key discourse.

The historical context coupled with globalization have led to integrating financial, economic, social, technological and ecological systems to such an extent that the causes of many problems themselves operate at multiple levels of governance. This implies that international development studies need to understand and assess the multiple levels, actors and networks engaged in the process. Since global trends tend to hide local disparities and contextual characteristics, international development studies need to understand the extent to which global politics and instruments have shaped and affected local life (e.g. how extractive companies influence the people living in the deepest forests) and vice versa (e.g. how greenhouse gas emissions in one place can lead to global impacts). 

How can we ensure that the field of international development studies is able to tackle these challenges? Joyeeta Gupta leads a debate with Arthur Mol, Isa Baud, Valentina Mazzucato en D. Parthasarathy (Bombay, India).

About the speakers

• Prof. Joyeeta Gupta (moderator) is professor of Environment and Development in the Global South at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam and UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft. She is also a member of the Amsterdam Global Change Institute and editor-in-chief ofInternational Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics . She was and continues to be lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore and of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which won the Zaved Second Prize. 
• Prof. dr. ir. Arthur Mol (Wageningen University) was trained in environmental studies (MSc) and sociology (PhD). Besides chair and professor at Wageningen University he is also professor of environmental policy at Tsinghua University, China, and at the National University of Malaysia UKM. He is joint editor of the journal Environmental Politics, and book series editor of New Horizons in Environmental Politics. His main fields of interest and publications are in globalization, social theory and the environment, informational governance, ecological modernization, China, sustainable production and consumption and urban environmental governance.
• Prof. Dr. Isa Baud (University of Amsterdam) is Professor in International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Behavioral and Social sciences, Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, and Chair of the Board of CERES, National Research School.
• Prof. Dr. Valentina Mazzucato (Maastricht University) heads three international, multi-year and interdisciplinary research programmes on transnational migration at the University of Maastricht, in which she collaborates with European and African universities. She has served on the 15-member international expert committee on migration and development research of the Social Science Research Council of the US. She also served on the World Connectors' Migration and Development group charged with brining issues related to migration to a broader public. She regularly gives keynote speeches in academic and policy-oriented events. Before coming to Maastricht, Prof. Mazzucato lived and worked in and on Africa for over twenty years, focusing on West Africa (Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana).
• Prof. Dr. D. Parthasarathy (IIT-Mumbai) is currently Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology. To mention a few of his academic fellowships and memberships, he is on the board of the Commission on Legal Pluralism, International Union of Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences, and he was also ICCR Visiting Chair Professor in India Studies, at the National University of Singapore. His research interests include Sociology of agriculture, Sustainable development , and Ethnic conflicts. 

 

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES: PROSPECTS AND VISTAS

The field of international development studies must evolve to stay on top of the many changes affecting the world of today. Such changes challenge the traditional divide between the ‘South’ and ‘North’ as well as the types of issues that need to be addressed. What do they mean for our understanding and the practice of development? This public lecture series, organized by the Governance and Inclusive Development group of the University of Amsterdam, aims to find answers to these questions and stimulate new thinking. By including presentations by key thinkers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the series seeks to highlight southern perspectives on new development issues. 

Published by  Spui25