Featured image for “Counter-terrorism laws are undermining humanitarian relief, and are set to get worse today”

Counter-terrorism laws are undermining humanitarian relief, and are set to get worse today

November 12, 2019
By Dorothea Hilhorst and Isabelle Desportes of the Institute of Strategic Studies. The Netherlands has recently joined a handful of other Western countries in passing new laws with the hope of stifling terrorist activity and threats. The new legislation on counter-terrorism recently passed by the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) will be discussed in the Senate (Eerste Kamer) today. Thea Hilhorst
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How feminist research can help confront the climate crisis

November 11, 2019
As the impacts of global heating are already being felt and we are warned of the irreversible impacts, Maria Tanyag (@maria_tanyag) reflects on how an intersectional lens, an ethics of care, and women’s situated knowledge will increasingly prove to be key and advantageous tools for confronting the climate crisis. Maria Tanyag is a Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Coral
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Featured image for “4 Practical Ways to shift power and resources to Grassroots Movements”

4 Practical Ways to shift power and resources to Grassroots Movements

November 8, 2019
Civicus, the international network of civil society organizations, has some really interesting work on how donors and INGOs can get their act together in supporting the grassroots. Take your pick from the short summary, the full report (by Jennie Richmond, Matt Jackson & Bethany Eckley of impact works) or a short op-ed. Or just read these excerpts: The problem: A
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Doing better on defending civic space

November 6, 2019
In a new Carnegie Endowment paper, “Defending Civic Space: Is The International Community Stuck?”, Saskia Brechenmacher and Thomas Carothers take stock of and argue for bolstering transnational efforts to push back against the global trend of closing space for civil society. During the past five years, the international aid community has woken up to the disturbing global trend of governments
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Featured image for “Four female activists tell us what they need from their international allies”

Four female activists tell us what they need from their international allies

November 5, 2019
As part of Power Shifts, I have started highlighting more grounded perspectives from activists, doers and thinkers around the world that speak to the question of ‘being a feminist in difficult places’. As a mini-series of sorts, I am hoping this conversation highlights how feminism, as well as backlashes against it – although diverse in both approach and outcome – ,
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Obama v ‘the woke’; Seagull Power and other Links I Liked

November 4, 2019
The horror; the horror. ht Sony Kapoor The amazing ideas hoover: Dave Evans is at it again for CGD: A Quick Guide to 100+ Publications by Economics Nobel Winners Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. ‘Chile is the country where billionaires’ share of wealth, in terms of GDP, is the highest in the world.’ Branko Milanovic on the roots of the
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The ‘NGO-ization’ of research: what are the risks?

November 1, 2019
Pierre Basimise Ngalishi Kanyegere is a researcher for the Land Rush project and an IT technician at ISDR-BUKAVU. This piece is part of the new “Bukavu Series” blog posts by the GIC Network. In the DRC, academic research is very often conducted within the framework of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These organizations commission research to support their activities. One might call such a shift
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