Erarmus Brochure 001.indd

270 Pages·2016·8.63 MB·English

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Perspectives in Development:
an Exercise in Worldmaking
Best student essays of
2015/16
Editors: Peter Bardoel, Margarita Mecheva, Joseph Edward Alegado
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Published by the International Institute of Social Studies,
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX The Hague, Netherlands
Published in 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission of the editors, authors or
publishers.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Royal Library, The Hague,
The Netherlands
Printed in the Netherlands by De Bondt, Barendrecht
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Who Participated
All 2015-2016 Masters Students
Editors
Peter Bardoel, ISS Faculty – Academic Skills
Margarita Mecheva (Russia, ECD)
Joseph Edward Alegado (Philippines, AFES)
With Assistance From
Emma Frobisher (UK, SPD)
Oleksandra Pravednyk (Ukraine, SPD)
Amod Shah (India, SPD)
Azmarina Tanzir (Bangladesh, GPPE)
Contributors
Joseph Edward Alegado (Philippines, AFES)
Diana Ardila Vargas (Colombia, AFES)
Marina Cadaval Narezo (Mexico, SPD)
Laurie Calverley (Canada, SPD)
Laura Cooper Hall (USA, Mundus MAPP)
Emma Frobisher (UK, SPD)
Belén Giaquinta (Argentina, SJP)
Belén Moro (Mexico, SPD)
Jack Mullan (Ireland, Mundus MAPP)
Christopher O. Ogwang (Uganda, SJP)
Oleksandra Pravednyk (Ukraine, SPD)
Fausto Ribeiro (Brazil, GPPE)
Oliver Rix (UK, Mundus MAPP)
Pablo Ruiz (Ecuador, GPPE)
Shikha Sethia (India, SPD)
Asmita Vaidya (India, AFES)
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Front and back cover design
Miguel Angel Salinas
Layout design
De Bondt Grafimedia Communicatie, Barendrecht
Acronyms
AFES – Agrarian, Food, and Environmental Studies
ECD – Economics of Development
GPPE – Governance, Policy, and Political Economy
Mundus MAPP – Mundus Masters in Public Policy
SJP – Social Justice Perspectives
SPD – Social Policy for Development
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Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the ISS Editorial Commit-
tee, Margarita Mecheva and Joseph Edward Alegado, who took charge of the
project and dedicated a huge amount of time and attention in making sure it
came to publication.
Furthermore, essential contributions came from the following people:
The teachers, who selected the outstanding pieces of work from their respec-
tive courses.
The volunteers, Emma, Oleksandra, Amod and Azmarina, who kindly gave their
time and care during their anxious post-ISS lives to work with the ISS Editorial
Committee to edit and proofread the essays.
The ISS Arts Committee led by Luz Chimal, who designed the book cover at the
last minute.
Peter Bardoel, whose valuable assistance helped to guide us through the
process of the project from start to finish.
Sandra Nijhof and Jane Pocock, who provided crucial support in bringing the
book to print.
Finally, the Institute of Social Studies and SCHOLAS for their financial support of
this book.
Thank you.
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Foreword
Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways. The point,
however, is to change it.
Karl Marx
Putting together this book has not been easy. Immediately after the research
paper deadline, a small group of outgoing Masters’ students gathered to expe-
dite the collection of some of the batch’s best essays before the convocation
ceremony in December, a tradition repeated at the end of every year.
Sending emails to course leaders for the best student essays. Coming up with
a set of criteria. Editing. Copyreading. Formatting. Layouting. Proofreading.
Publishing. We did all of these steps in three to four weeks despite everyone’s
apprehension with post-ISS life, anxiety over the release of research paper
grades and nostalgia over leaving The Hague.
At first, balancing the themes of the best essays vis-à-vis the geographical and
major representation of the students seemed not to be an easy task. After all,
we do believe that each of us in the batch has something to say about how we
see and interpret the world and how we make development happen in our own
spheres.
Looking at the themes of the essays in this collection reminds us of our
sixteen-month intellectual and personal journeys at the ISS. This book may not
be able to encapsulate all of these concepts and themes. Nevertheless, we hope
that this collection will do justice to the knowledge and perspectives gained
from our course leaders and friends, and the many things we have learned from
class discussions and group activities.
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We have an essay from Belén Moro (Mexico, SPD) that explores how the artistic
movement can be considered as a social movement and a civic innovation.
There are policy analyses from governance and social development per-
spectives: Fausto Ribeiro (Brazil, GPPE) writes about the feasibility of reform in
Brazil’s state-owned enterprises; Oleksandra Pravednyk (Ukraine, SPD) describes
Ukraine’s structural pension reforms; and Marina Cadaval Narezo (Mexico,
SPD) investigates the possibilities of higher education for indigenous people in
Mexico.
The book also contains chapters that deal with issues of sexual health and rights
in relation to the development process. Emma Frobisher’s (United Kingdom,
SPD) essay examines female genital modification (FGM) and young men in
affected communities in the UK, while Chris Ogwang’s (Uganda, SJP) essay
looks at access to justice for male victims of sexual violence as a result of the
conflict in Northern Uganda.
We also have essays that focus on the political economy and socio-economic
underpinnings of commodities. Laurie Calverly (Canada, SPD) analyzes the com-
modity chain of cocoa through an historical lens. Asmita Vaidya (India, AFES)
examines the political and socio-economic effects of globalization through
the lens of saffron. Joseph Edward Alegado (Philippines, AFES) writes about the
shifting meanings of the cultural heirloom, like brown rice, in the Filipino diet.
Discourse and narrative analyses are undertaken by Shikha Sethia (India, SPD)
who provides a critical analysis of the Protect, Respect, Remedy framework for
business and human rights as presented to the UN Human Rights Council, and
Pablo Ruiz (Ecuador, GPPE) who develops a narrative and rhetorical analysis of
Steve Job’s speech at a Stanford graduation ceremony.
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We also have three essays from students of the Mundus MAPP Programme:
Laura Cooper Hall (USA, Mundus MAPP) takes a critical realist approach to
analyze the phenomenon of Hurricane Katrina within the neoliberal structure.
Jack Mullan (Ireland, Mundus MAPP) discusses the Latin American trading bloc
MERCOSUR and welfare governance in the region. Oliver Rix (United Kingdom,
Mundus MAPP) looks at the demands made by developing countries with
respect to the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) and potential benefits that might
arise from this Agreement.
Finally, the book contains two critical definitions of development terms. Diana
Ardilla Vargas (Colombia, AFES) discusses glocalization and how it relates to
development, and Belén Giaquinta (Argentina, SJP) examines the concept of
gender.
It is our hope, dear reader, that as you turn the pages and make your way through
this book, you will find the following sixteen essays to be thought-provoking
and inspiring as you go forward in your journey to make, unmake, and remake
development.
Joseph Edward Alegado and Margarita Mecheva
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