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This blog is a space for sharing knowledge ideas, and opinions around (international) development, (critical) social studies, humanitarian and peacebuilding, human rights defence, political ecology, and much more besides. We welcome new contributors and proposals for blogs. Please email bliss@iss.nl for more information.

Our latest posts

Two farmers tend to crops in a greenhouse

Reframing migrants who feed the Netherlands: Learning across the Atlantic

Paradoxically, public discourse frames the people whose work feeds the Netherlands as a nuisance. In this post, Karin Astrid Siegmann draws on lessons from US movements for migrant justice to explore how a new master frame can be constructed that recognizes migrant food workers’ essential role in society. Food work: essential yet precarious Food is at the core of the life-making processes necessary for the reproduction of the economy and society (Bakker and Gill, 2019). In the Netherlands, a small country and major food exporter, most people involved in cultivating and harvesting food crops are EU migrants. Paradoxically, these essential…

October 14, 2026 No Comments

If Not Feminist, Then What? Situating Feminist Approaches to the Humanitarian Reset

In this blog, Gabriela Villacis Izquierdo (Educator and Academic Researcher), Swarna Rajagopalan (Political Analyst, Educator and Constultant), Catalina Domínguez (Human Rights Lawyer and Gender Specialist), Mihir Bhatt (Director of AIDMI) and Khayal Trivedi (Project Lead, HOISA), discuss the outcome of the panel discussion held in July 2026 on what feminist approaches have to offer to humanitarian action. Organised by the Humanitarian Observatory Initiative of South Asia and EADI Gender Justice Working Group, the panel brought together voices from Colombia, Ecuador, India, and beyond, to ask a very crucial question: how can humanitarian action be anything but feminist? Image by Samithu…

September 1, 2026 No Comments

Beyond 3-day Conferences: From Annual Rituals to Academic Communities

In this blog, PhD researchers Luqman Ọpẹ́yẹmí Muraina and Marta Maria Nicolazzi consider ways in which academic conferences can be transformed from annual rituals with set rules and formats, to being cultivated as communities. They begin by critiquing usual conference arrangements and then propose reimagining academic gatherings not as ‘rituals of accumulation’ but as ongoing communities of practice and care. Photo by Alexandre Pellaes on Unsplash Across universities and academic associations, conference planning is a ritual. Each year, conference committees are formed, venues booked, calls for papers crafted, keynote profiles announced, and statements on sustainability and inclusion posted. Several conferences…

August 18, 2026 No Comments

“Neither climate impacts nor conflict just ‘happen’”: Insights from an Environmental Peacebuilding Workshop

In this blog, Juliane Schillinger (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and Board Member at the Environmental Peacebuilding Association) and Tom Ansell (The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre) discuss the outcomes of a workshop held in May 2026 at ISS to explore commonalities and differences in the use of key concepts at the intersection of environment, climate, conflict, and peace. The workshop was convened as part of the launch of the new on Essential Concepts of Environmental Peacebuilding by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, which contains more than 150 entries related to environmental conflict and peacebuilding, the workshop sought to find answers…

August 4, 2026 No Comments

environment

The shifting geopolitics of deep-sea mining in the Pacific Islands region: An industry poised to merge?

As global competition for critical minerals intensifies, the world’s oceans are emerging as a new frontier in the race for strategic resources. Originally published by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes’ (EADI) blog, Debating Development Research, ISS PhD alumnus Ben Radley and Imogen Eagles explore how deep-sea mining is becoming a focal point of geopolitical rivalry in the Pacific Islands, highlighting the tensions between resource security, environmental protection and the competing interests of states, industry and local communities. The ocean’s seabed contains vast deposits of minerals deemed critical for green transition technologies, military defence systems and AI…

August 3, 2026 No Comments

A close-up shot of two people exchanging currency in an outdoor market setting

migration

Beyond the money transfer: How do diaspora communities mobilise in times of crisis?

When a crisis occurs, diaspora communities do far more than send money home. From emotional solidarity to political advocacy, their forms of engagement challenge dominant narratives about what it means to help from afar. In this blog, researchers Haya Alfarra, Dr Gabriela Villacis Izquierdo and Dr Zeynep Kaşlı reflect on discussions from a community gathering in Rotterdam to explore how diaspora communities understand crises, experience them across borders and mobilise in response. When we talk about diaspora contributions to crisis responses, the conversation almost always gravitates toward remittances, meaning the billions of dollars migrants transfer annually to their countries of…

July 9, 2026 No Comments

Humanitarian

Reflecting on a security and risk management course in humanitarian contexts: ‘there is never only one story’

In this reflection blog, Agostino Luisetti, a Master’s student in Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, recounts a three-day course on Safety and Security for Researchers in Humanitarian Contexts, led by the Safety & Security Research Initiative, at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and what it taught him about doing humanitarian and academic research. I came to the Universidad de los Andes for a course on security and risk management for fieldwork, and what struck me first was the room itself. Around the table sat people that had worked across many parts of the world: humanitarian…

June 30, 2026 No Comments

Man sits on cliff and looks out at ocean as he types on his laptop

migration

Imaginary Mexico and the illusion of the digital nomad

As digital nomads become increasingly visible in cities around the world, they are often cast as the face of gentrification and rising housing costs. Yet focusing on the individual may obscure the broader forces reshaping urban life. In this blog, ISS PhD candidate Alberto Estrada Mares draws on fieldwork in Mexico City to examine how competing visions of the city shape experiences of belonging, exclusion and urban transformation. ‘Gringo, go home!’ was the chant that echoed through the streets of Mexico City during the 2025 protests against skyrocketing rents, casting digital nomads as the villains behind gentrification. But are they really the architects of this phenomenon, or are they, rather, symptoms of a failed and deeply unequal vision…

June 18, 2026 No Comments

Local and National NGOs: Operating in the Spaces Between

In 2025 humanitarian donor funding contracted by between 34% and 45% and international organizations and systems reacted. They have responded not only to financial reductions, but to perceptions of duplication and inefficiency. Immediate solutions have been rolled out to mitigate the financial crisis and improve public perception (e.g., staff reductions, mandate rationalization), and longer-term proposals are being debated to address a new future with less funding and higher expectations of targeted impact. Image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay Among these proposals, and demands, is a genuine pursuit . While there is no single agreed-upon definition of localization, it is generally considered to be…

April 29, 2026 No Comments

digitalisation

The Synthesis Architect: Reclaiming nuance by qualitative researchers in the age of AI

As AI transforms social science, development practitioners must navigate the tension between scaling qualitative data and falling into a ‘hivemind’ of Western-centric consensus. In this blog Arul Chib collaborates with AI to discuss how in shifting from data collectors to synthesis architects, researchers can utilize local models to protect privacy while ensuring the ‘soul’ of the narrative remains human-led. History suggests that the panic surrounding new technologies often follows a predictable pattern of resistance, moving from initial bans and surveillance toward eventual integration. In the 1970s, the introduction of the calculator sparked fears that it would lead to mental atrophy…

April 21, 2026 No Comments

migration

The Silent Exhaustion of the Global Talent Race in CEE Nations

In the global competition for innovation, the ‘attraction of high-skilled labor’ in countries like Slovakia might still be dictated by the friction of administrative inertia. By recounting his own experience as a South American researcher navigating a postdoctoral offer in Bratislava, Dr Jorge Mantilla’s PACES Perspectives blog illustrates how analog bureaucracy – from ‘wet ink’ requirements to linguistic gaps – remains an important and often invisible barrier to attracting certain groups of high-skilled migrants. The promise of highly-skilled migration The way some academic theories frame the attraction of high-skilled labor can be metaphorically compared to a magnet pulling steel filings…

April 15, 2026 1 Comment

Women’s Month Series 2026 | Beyond Finance: Rethinking Gendered Outcomes in Africa’s Commodity Transformation

As the world marks the International Year of the Woman Farmer, it is worth asking how far our financing models actually go in recognising women’s labour, leadership, and power in Africa’s commodity value chains. Financing agriculture in developing economies is never just a technical exercise, it is a political one. My work with the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) revealed

March 17, 2026 1 Comment

healthcare

“Experts from Below”: Why Local Health Educators are Leaders, Not Just Helpers, during Outbreak Response in Lagos, Nigeria

In this blog, Olawale Fathiah Olamide, of the Humanitarian Observatory for Central and Eastern Europe, and the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, dives into the ways in which local actors co-define humanitarian governance through their interactions with international humanitarian ‘experts’. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and Cholera epidemic responses in Lagos, Nigeria, local health educators took an important role as ‘translators’ of international scientific knowledge to make it relevant for people in their everyday lives. The blog ends with a call to include local actors as active participants in sector-wide reform efforts, rather than simply as passive implementing partners….

March 13, 2026 No Comments

Women’s Month Series 2026 | Scaffolding the Future: Women farmers and the institutions that make leadership possible

This blog post is part of a Women’s Month series marking the International Year of the Woman Farmer, drawing from interviews with Mary Portillo, Yuri Tabora and Araceli Peraza women working at the Capucas agricultural cooperative. Their narratives show that real transformation requires more than visibility; it depends on the institutional scaffolding that shapes who gets to lead, learn and

March 10, 2026 No Comments

iran

Women Month Series 2026| The Contested Idea of ‘‘Connection’’: Digital sovereignty and resistance in the 2026 Iranian protests

For decades, Iran has remained a site of conflict, characterized by tensions between the nation and the state as well as disputes with the USA (United States of America) and Western countries. Within these conflicts, ‘Internet connection’ emerged as a central point of contention. The Iranian regime framed free access to the internet as a national threat, citing ‘enemy’ conspiracies

March 8, 2026 No Comments

Against all Odds: How Local Communities Achieve Forest Conservation in Colombia

n early November, Indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon raised their voices, reminding us that without forests there is no future: “sem floresta, não há futuro”. During the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), global leaders discussed how to protect tropical forests as a collective effort. However, it ended without a binding agreement to stop deforestation. Given that tropical forests

February 26, 2026 No Comments

Bridging climate change and disaster scholarship

A long-standing debate has emphasised the need to move beyond explanations of disasters that focus on hazards and instead to focus on vulnerability in order to show how hazards become disasters. Climate discourse is reintroducing an emphasis on hazards, much to the frustration of disaster scholars. However, Hyeonggeun Ji (PhD researcher at the ISS) and Douwe van Schie (PhD researcher at the University of Bonn) argue that a divide between the hazard and vulnerability paradigms exists in both fields, and that bringing together critical vulnerability scholars from disaster and climate studies is essential for understanding and addressing contemporary climate-related disasters….

February 23, 2026 1 Comment

Politics of Food and Technology Series | India’s protracted hunger crisis and the digitalisation of its Public Distribution System

The Public Distribution System (PDS) of India, one of the largest food security programmes in the world, is a rights-based legal entitlement that distributes food grains to below poverty line households. In 2015, digitalisation, using a biometric Aadhaar system, was introduced to deal with the problems of corruption and leakages and make it more efficient. In this blog, C. Sathyamala

February 19, 2026 No Comments

decoloniality

Unlearning Colonial Analytics: Rethinking Women in ‘Conservatism’

In this blog, ISS Alumna, Tia Isti’anah invites us to rethink beyond the binary label of conservatism vs progressive. Drawing from decolonial feminist thinkers, it challenges the secular-liberal feminist moral world and invites readers to centre love as an act of unlearned colonial biases.

February 17, 2026 No Comments

Germany

Solidarity under Siege: Germany’s crackdown on the Palestine movement

Since 7 October 2023, German authorities have imposed a far-reaching domestic crackdown on Palestine solidarity in tandem with the government’s political, diplomatic and material backing for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In this blog, Josephine Solanki shares the findings of her recent report for the Transnational Institute. She analyses and contextualises this crackdown, which ranges from legal changes, protest bans and

February 12, 2026 No Comments

humanitarian action

Reset how? A commentary on ‘The Humanitarian Reset’ by members of the Humanitarian Observatories Network

‘The Humanitarian Reset’ is an initiative launched in March 2025 by the (at the time) new UNOCHA Emergency Relief Coordinator, former British diplomat Tom Fletcher. According to the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee, it is a ‘collective effort to deliver for people in crisis today while building a system fit for tomorrow. The Humanitarian Reset is about making our system faster,

February 10, 2026 No Comments

digitalisation

Politics of Food and Technology Series | Food crisis in the UK and the digitalisation of welfare: Bridging gaps or deepening marginalisation?

In this blog, Iris Lim, Susanne Jaspars, and Yasmin Houamed (SOAS) highlight a growing food crisis in the UK, alongside a ‘digital-by-default’ welfare transformation. Digitalisation has created the potential to exclude poor and politically marginalised populations because they are unable to pay for digital access, and because of the way the system has been designed. They argue that this exacerbates

February 5, 2026 No Comments

governance

Paving the Way for Authoritarianism: The Prabowo regime and Indonesia’s colonial continuities

This blog captures the current political situation in Indonesia under Prabowo’s regime. This regime utilizes all possible resources to bring back an authoritarian government; from eliminating opposition and restructuring national budgets, to other structural intervention and subtle measures such as controlling the way people acquire knowledge by controlling media and using a buzzer or ‘thought leader’ who promotes opinions and

February 3, 2026 No Comments

digitalisation

Politics of Food and Technology Series | When the System Says No: Digitalization and Accountability in Food Aid

Digital tools promise efficiency and impartiality in humanitarian response. In food aid, biometric systems are meant to ensure that the ‘right’ people receive assistance. But when the verification of need depends on being readable by a machine, accountability shifts. Drawing on field experience in South Sudan, this post explores how exclusions come to look like a system error rather than

January 29, 2026 No Comments

humanitarian aid

IHSA Conference Reflection: Recentering Protection for Civilians in a Fragmenting World Order

On 16 October 2025 academic and practice thought leaders came together to discuss Protecting civilians in a changing world order at the IHSA conference hosted by Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkiye. This blog, written by Amra Lee with other panelists, is a result of the panel discussions and intends to continue critical discussions on protecting civilians, with a view to

January 27, 2026 No Comments

digitalisation

Politics of Food and Technology Series | The digital paradox: Digital food assistance in Sudan as a tool for efficiency or exploitation?

In this blog, Tamer Abd Elkreem (University of Khartoum) and Susanne Jaspars (SOAS) argue that digitalised food assistance in Sudan presents an extreme case of digitalisation as lifesaving but at the same time its weaponisation through internet shutdowns. It feeds into power relations and a violent, extractive political economy by excluding some of the most marginalised and functioning as a

January 15, 2026 No Comments

Geopolitics

IHSA Conference Series: A shrinking humanitarian space requires a New Way of Thinking

This blog is part of a series contributed by presenters at the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) Conference, held in Istanbul and Bergen in October 2025. Here, Alasdair Gordon-Gibson looks into the changing context for humanitarian action, and argues for a new and broader approach that embraces diversities of actors, approaches, and contextuality.

January 13, 2026 1 Comment

migration

Europe’s Silent Middle: Why Migration Isn’t the Polarised Fight You Think It Is

The Dutch have voted. Migration was once again front and centre. Campaigns warned of crises, headlines framed Europe as divided. Open borders versus closed minds, compassion versus control. It all sounds like Europe has taken sides. But has it? New research from the PACES project, led by Anne-Marie Jeannet, Associate Professor at the Department of Social and Political Science, University

December 16, 2025 No Comments

digital

16 Days of Activism Against GBV Blog Series| Holding Both Ends of the Line in the fight Against Digital Violence

Prevailing responses to digital violence against women and girls remain overwhelmingly reactive. We demand justice only after revenge‑porn, doxxing, or cyber‑bullying has already shattered a woman’s livelihood, dignity, or sense of safety. The scale of the crisis is undeniable: globally, between 16-58% of women have experienced some form of online violence, and in Nigeria, 45% of women self‑report digital abuse.

December 11, 2025 No Comments

infrastructure

16 Days Activism Against GBV Series| The Unseen Infrastructure of Care: Vicarious Trauma and the Systemic Failure in Sexual Violence Response

Sexual violence response systems rely on a workforce of caregivers who bear witness to trauma daily. Yet, the vicarious trauma eroding these responders’ wellbeing is dangerously overlooked. Drawing on her personal frontline experience, Emaediong Akpan argues that caring for survivors is impossible without caring for those who serve them.

December 9, 2025 No Comments

international law

16 Days Activism Against GBV Series| The Future of Transgender Liberation is International Law

International law has an incredible potential to be the vehicle through which global transgender liberation is realized. In fact, international law is already being used to improve the quality of life for transgender peoples across the world. Sadly however, this dream will never be fully accomplished with the continuation of horrific impunity.

December 4, 2025 No Comments

human rights

16 Days Activism Against GBV Series| Beyond Convictions: Rethinking gender justice through survivors’ lived experiences

International criminal law has made remarkable progress in recognizing gender-based crimes, yet conviction rates alone cannot capture the meaning of justice for survivors. In this blog, Abubakar Muhammad Jibril draws on the Gender Justice in International Criminal Law Conference to argue that genuine gender justice must be reimagined through survivors’ lived experiences—centering healing, dignity, and accountability beyond the courtroom.

December 2, 2025 No Comments

conflict

16 Days Activism Against GBV Series| Pursuing Justice for Survivors of CRSV in Ukraine: Gender and Intersectionality Considerations

Since the first recognition of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in its jurisprudence Furundžija) to the recognition of gender as a ground for persecution by the International Criminal Court [para 936], International Criminal Law (ICL) has increasingly addressed CRSV, but there is still a long way to go. Inspired by the

November 27, 2025 No Comments

16 Days Activism Against GBV Series | Effective Gender Justice as a Pathway to Peace

This blog post is based on the keynote speech delivered by Michelle Jarvis at the Gender Justice in International Criminal Law Conference, held on 29–30 September 2025 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The event was organized in partnership with the Gender Justice Practitioner Hub, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, Legal Action Worldwide, the Legal Mobilization Platform and the International Institute

November 25, 2025 2 Comments

climate change

Experiences and observations of Hurricane Melissa’s path through Cuba: preparations, sanctions, and citizen networks

In this blog, humanitarian practitioner and researcher Carla Vitantonio reflects on the immediate experiences of people in Cuba affected by the path of Hurricane Melissa, which slowly approached the Caribbean nation in mid-October 2025. As the Hurricane approached Cuba, various (international) NGO, citizen-led, and civil defence preparations were triggered, despite issues with international sanctions and internal bureaucracy. Though regularly battered

November 18, 2025 No Comments

africa

The Politics of Food and Technology Series | Asserting Digital Sovereignty: The Politics of Internet Shutdowns in Africa

This blog is the second in a series entitled ‘The Politics of Food and Technology’. This blog series has been produced in collaboration with presenters from the panel: “The politics of food and technology in changing global and local crises”, presented at the International Humanitarian Studies Association Conference in Istanbul-Bergen, in October 2025. In this blog, Eiman Mohamed looks at

November 13, 2025 No Comments

digitalisation

Politics of Food and Technology Series | The Politics of Food and Digital Technologies in Changing Global and Local Crises

Digitalisation is transforming how food and humanitarian assistance are delivered across the Global South and the Global North – from Sudan and India to the UK. While promoted as efficient and accountable, these systems often reproduce exclusions and reinforce unequal power relations. This blog argues that digitalisation is not a neutral innovation but a political process, fraught with risks and

November 6, 2025 2 Comments

Artificial intelligence

From Hands-On to High-Tech: How Dutch Care Workers Navigate Digitalization and Robotization

Whether we embrace it or not, digital technologies and AI are here to stay, and they are fundamentally changing the human world of labour. As new technologies revolutionize the healthcare landscape, these changes are reshaping the lives and work of care workers. In this blog, Sreerekha M. Sathi shares insights from her research, which explores important questions about how digital

November 4, 2025 No Comments

gaza

Sanctions and boycotts are a proven way to increase pressure on the Israeli government to completely end the continuing genocide in Gaza after the ceasefire

A red line has been drawn three times now by private citizens, who have not only called for boycotts against Israel to hold it accountable for atrocity crimes, but also the responsibility of their own governments to bring about sanctions. Beyond the ethical imperative, sanctions have legal foundations in international (humanitarian) law. In this blog post, Irene van Staveren and

October 30, 2025 No Comments

education

Risks and Rewards: Why do African graduates in Slovakia stay or move on?

Slovakia is emerging as a hub for African students seeking affordable, EU-recognized education, thanks to competitive tuition, a safe environment, and growing international support. Yet, life after graduation raises questions: Do students stay or leave, and what barriers shape their decisions? In this blog, Terézia Zemeníková and Lucia Mýtna Kureková, from the Slovak Academy of Sciences explore the social, cultural,

October 28, 2025 1 Comment

Finance

What is Frugal About Gig Platforms?

M-PESA, a fintech platform, created alternative banking for those previously excluded from formal finance. While it advanced financial inclusion, it also highlighted deep inequalities and the extraction of value from vulnerable users. In this blog, Anna Elias, Erwin Tuijl, and Jasmin Hofman remind us that frugal innovation is not just about low-cost solutions — it is about addressing the social

October 27, 2025 No Comments

conflict

From mayhem to momentum: How a week of protest changed Nepal forever

In this blog, ISS MA Student and Nepali economic researcher Sagar Jung Karki looks into the rise and success of the 2025 ‘Gen Z’ protests in Nepal, that grew into a society-wide protest movement against corruption in the Nepali government. The protests eventually ended with Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli stepping down. Sagar Jung Karki looks into the way

October 21, 2025 No Comments

decolonisation

Epistemic (Ir)relevance, Language & Passport Positionality The three hurdles I’m navigating as a UK-based Ethiopian academic

In this blog, Eyob Balcha Gebremariam offers a deeply personal yet widely resonant reflection on the invisible boundaries that shape knowledge production in global academia. Drawing from his lived experience, he unpacks how the quest for epistemic relevance often clashes with Western-centric validation systems, how the dominance of English marginalises local languages and worldviews, and how the politics of passports

October 16, 2025 2 Comments

disaster risk reduction day

Early Warning is one of the most important components of Disaster Risk Reduction – and one of the most successful!

In this blog to mark the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction (October 13), HSC Coordinator Tom Ansell dives into the role of ‘Early Warning’ systems and policies as part of Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives. They fit within greater DRR programming to make sure that people are warning in advance and can take precautions, or other measures, to prepare for

October 13, 2025 2 Comments

climate action

Exporting ESG: Can EU Standards Deliver Fair Sustainability in Global South contexts?

In this blog, ISS Guest Researcher Kim-Tung Dao delves into the effects of European Union ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) standards can have on export partners in the ‘Global South’. Whilst ESG regulations are an important tool for the EU to control corporate behavior, they can have unintended consequences on producers, including onerous paperwork, blocking access to markets, and creating

October 7, 2025 No Comments

Humanitarian Observatories series | Conflict-related risks of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies among adolescents, the case of Bukavu

In deprived families in less urbanized zones on the outskirts of Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 2 out of 5 adolescents have become pregnant, have been forced into marriage, or have suffered from Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs), according to new research from the Humanitarian Observatory of DRC. The situation is alarming, and is particularly evident in

September 30, 2025 1 Comment

The politics of land: Introducing an important new collection

Land lies at the heart of contemporary politics. As a site of contestation and negotiation, land is central to struggles that affect us all. The Oxford Handbook of Land Politics , edited by ISS Professor Jun Borras and Jennifer Franco, brings together contributions from leading scholars in critical agrarian studies, offering an invaluable guide to these debates. In this blog,

September 25, 2025 No Comments

kenya

Caring as a Practice of Everyday Peacemaking in the Lives of Sexual Violence Survivors in Kenya

Earlier this year, Bilge Sahin and Phyllis Livaha, with support from Anne Biwott, organized a one-day workshop in collaboration with Grace Agenda—a Kenyan civil society organization that supports survivors of the 2007–2008 post-election violence. The workshop, held in Nairobi, focused on care and healing in the lives of survivors of sexual violence. The goal of the workshop was to shift

September 23, 2025 1 Comment

The Ruling Elites Put Democracy under Duress in Indonesia – and the People are fighting back

Police violence against recent protests by civil society groups and social movements marks the biggest challenge for Indonesia’s Prabowo administration and tests the Indonesian political class’ commitment to democracy. In this blog Iqra Anugrah and Rachma Lutfiny Putri explain how Oligarchic agendas of the elites have led to disastrous policy choices, triggering the protest movement. Progressive politics, despite its lack

September 16, 2025 No Comments

climate action

From the Brahmaputra to the Rhine: Tracing the Currents of Climate Mobility

In this blog, Ranon Jahan, a researcher at the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD, Dhaka, Bangladesh) brings together his thoughts following the Environmental and Climate Mobility Network conference held in Bonn, Germany, in July of this year. Through the comparative case studies of two rivers, he considers the interlocking issues of risk, climate mobility, and disaster governance.

September 2, 2025 1 Comment

conflict

Society Must Be Defended! Rethinking Defence and Security in the age of Cognitive Warfare and the WPS Agenda

In his 1975–76 lecture series at the Collège de France, Michel Foucault famously declared, ‘Society must be defended’. While framed within the context of biopolitics and the genealogy of state violence, this provocation has found renewed relevance in the 21st century as new forms of warfare emerge. Today, the greatest threats to societies are not only kinetic or territorial but

August 26, 2025 2 Comments

Global governance

To address recurring crises, we must attempt global development policy reforms

Global Governance and Policy Analyst Chimwemwe Salie Hara looks into the road towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 in this blog, arguing that reform of financing and governance must be made in the face of significant geopolitical tensions if we are to achieve better outcomes for countries across the world that ‘leaves no one behind’. The world is experiencing an escalation of geopolitical tensions that have impacted development trends in various regions. These tensions have led to uncertainties as various shocks require responses from global development policies that are coordinated and cooperative between the countries in the…

July 8, 2025 2 Comments

Buddhist

What can (Western) philosophers of science and innovation scholarship learn from Buddhist philosophy?

Technological progress is at the core of the modern (Western) philosophy of science and innovation scholarship, as it promises to end human suffering. However, ignoring the ‘inner capacities’ necessary to guide technology design and its interaction with human mind for too long is causing human suffering. In this blog, Birendra Singh explores how Buddhist philosophy, emphasizing simplicity, experiential knowledge, self-reliance,

July 1, 2025 3 Comments

migration

Truth on demand: The politics of using and dismissing migration research (PACES Blog Series)

Despite claims of evidence-based policymaking, migration research is often sidelined – except when it serves political goals. In this blog, Riccardo Biggi explores how governments at national and local levels selectively use expert knowledge, depending on the policy area at stake.

June 24, 2025 No Comments

academia

Decolonising international research collaboration requires us to go beyound the ‘Ts and Cs’ apply approach

In this blog, ISS Alumnus, Eyob Balcha Gebremariam critiques the superficial ethical framing often used in Global North–Africa partnerships. Through reflections on a UK–Africa research network, he highlights persistent power imbalances, where African partners are relegated to the role of data collectors and institutions exploit student fees and metrics.

June 19, 2025 No Comments

armed conflict

A clash of peace(s)? Feminist-decolonial reckoning with extractive disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) programmes in Africa

Conventional Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) frameworks in Africa remain limited by masculinist and colonial legacies that marginalise the knowledge of African women’s and their lived realities. In this blog, visiting International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) researcher, Esther Beckley advances a feminist-decolonial intervention that centres women’s knowledge as indispensable to reimagining peacebuilding beyond militarised and exclusionary paradigms. This shift

June 17, 2025 No Comments

children

Amsterdam’s Troubling Children’s Book

Amsterdam marked its 750th anniversary by distributing 60,000 copies of a commemorative book, Mijn Jarige Stad (“My Birthday City”), to children across the Dutch city. But what was intended as a celebratory gift has instead sparked controversy over its casual perpetuation of racial stereotypes. In this blog, Zhiqi Xu, PhD student at the International Institute of Social Studies, reflects on

June 12, 2025 4 Comments

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