SID Nederland Weblog

RECENT SID ACTIVITIES

21 May 2012 | SID-Lecture by Tak-Wing Ngo ‘The Relevance of the State in a Globalising World’

In his lecture in May, Tak-Wing Ngo, University of Macau in China, discussed the several contradictory trends that states are presently facing. He argued that a very important adaptation of the modern state during the past few decades is the rise of the sub-national state. In contrast to the national economy as the main unit of growth in earlier times, sub-national territorial units have increasingly become the source of growth, competition, and political contention in a changing global order. This happens in tandem with the current development in the global capitalist economy where cities and metropolitan regions have become the focal points of exchange and accumulation. He highlighted the case of China as an example. Its integration into the global capitalist system is now more than obvious. This happens under a decentralized system with multiple levels of administration across a vast number of regions.

Please find the Summary Report here.

The lectures in the 2011-2012 series are organised in cooperation with NCDO and VU University

16 April 2012 | SID Lecture by William Savedoff ’Towards Multipolarity? New Models for International Cooperation’  

William Savedoff (Center for Global Development) discussed the new challenges for international institutions to adjust to geopolitical shifts, new forms of civil society organisation and the expanding power of global corporations. Savedoff argued that mixed coalitions are promising compared to our global governance institutions. Altough mixed coalitions present problems, he argued that they allow individuals, NGOs, foundations, agencies and countries that want to take action, to come together and move.

Evelijne Bruning, director of The Hunger Project, moderated the discussion.

The report of this lecture can be found here.

26 March 2012 | SID Lecture by James Cameron ‘The State and Global Common Goods: The Challenge of Interdependency’

In his lecture, James Cameron (Climate Change Capital) discussed the challenge for international relations that lies in the demand for global common goods and services. As resources decline and prices escalate, the interdependencies among countries for food, water, energy and migration will become a reality. No country can handle the issues in isolation. Cameron discussed how these changing interdependencies affect the concept of nation and state and thorougly discussed the possibilities to develop a concept of interdependency where states can productively engage and negotiate in this resource constrained world.

Jochem Wiers (MFA) commented on the lecture, after which Ton Lansink (MFA) moderated the discussion.

The report of this lecture can be found by clicking here.

23 March 2012 | Colloquium and launch of new volume Development – ‘Greening the Economy’

In 2012, SID, together with the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and HIVOS organises a series of four colloquia on the ‘Green Economy’. The first in the series took place on Friday, 23 March, during which SID launched the new volume of Development, entitled ‘Greening the Economy’.

More information including background material, about the series can (soon) be found on www.iss.nl/greeneconomy and on our own website www.sid-nl.org.

The first colloquium ‘Environmental Studies’ included keynotes by Joan Martinez-Alier (University of Barcelona), Ken MacDonald (University of Toronto), and Esther Turnhout (Wageningen University). A Summary report of this meeting can soon be found on this website.