Mobilising Social Justice in South Africa - perspectives from Researchers and Practitioners

How do civic actors in South Africa deal with contemporary developmental challenges such as socio-economic inequality, limited access to basic services, xenofobic tensions and governance constraints. At a time of rising social tensions, the country’s institutions are in danger of losing the legitimacy they gained in the wake of democratic dispensations of the 1990s.

Challenges in Trans-disciplinary and Value Critical Research on Social Movements

ISS MA-student in Human Rights and Development Cyprianus Jehan Paju Dale (read profile here) is currently in Papua to conduct research on key actors of social movements in Papua. He explores the leading discourse of indigenous people of Papua on development and human rights. Cypri’s is grappling with the ‘western’ concept of ‘social movement’ in the Papuan context. How is it understood in Papua and by whome? And what about the ethics of research: how to analyze your research findings and cri...

A Matter of Religion? Really?

ISS-student Rima Irmayani is currently blogging from Indonesia about her fieldwork that she’s undertaking for her MA research on understanding community participation in post-conflict reconstruction programmes. (see profile here). As farming is one of the main livelihood strategies in Poso-Central Sulawesi local government and NGOs put considerable effort into helping farmers to rebuild their agricultural practices after the violence ended in 2001. By interviewing the farmers in Sintuwulemba...

"Marriage or Death!"

By Marten van den Berge. The time has come: Argentina is the first country in Latin America where at national level, marriage is permitted to non-heterosexual couples. They also have the opportunity to adopt children or to use artificial insemination. On July 15, following a 15 hour debating marathon of the Argentine Senate, the law was adopted by 33 votes to 27 votes against and 3 abstentions. There was a tense mood between the conservatives in alliance with the Catholic church and the pr...

Nothing as it Seems

What is the role of external donors in local development and local governance in Ethiopia? ISS-student Ephrem Shiferaw is currently blogging from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reflections and thoughts give us the feeling that there's so much more lurking under the surface of the muddy development-waters. We're looking forward to finding out more about his discoveries in the coming up weeks. The power of community-based organizations/CBO’s It has been three weeks since I started my researc...

Behind the Veil of Discourse

A few weeks into their field assignments, the ISS researchers have started to unpack their questions and issues, venturing into complexity beyond the veil of discourse.

Who Cares About Sustainability?

Why is it so hard to sustain the effects of NGO interventions? Agnes Nalubiri explores this question working from the Rwenzori region with Hivos’ partner KRC. The emerging findings in a messy context suggest that a toxic mix of aid chain dynamics is at work.

Southern Perspectives on Civil Society Building

Civil Society Building continues to figure prominently in the development policy realm and so too does its northern bias, especially with regard to processes in Africa. Through the MA-research facility, the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Knowledge programme enables researchers and civil society organizations from the South to develop and share their views on key issues in the Civil Society Debate.

The art of framing

NGOs have been joining forces to increase their effectiveness, but what they really need to do is to form alliances with social movements as well to avoid working in isolation from broader social currents.

What Has the World Cup to Do With Civic Action?

Meghan Cooper, former ISS student and currently employed by UNIFEM in Sydney Australia, has recently finalized a working paper for the Knowledge Programme on citizenship and social movements in South Africa. On 13-16 June Meghan Cooper attended a conference organized by the South African Sociological Association (SASA), where she presented the outcome of her research. While the World Cup is reaching its boiling point, enjoy reading Meghan's critical take on development, sport and social deli...