The balance sheet of 50 years of development aid
Over the past 50 years the West has invested over 3000 billion euro in development aid and already tackled many problems. Now more and more countries and organisations present themselves on the development aid scene, including China, India, and foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Companies, trade unions, co-operatives, schools and towns set up their own projects in remote African regions.
But can each and everybody become a development worker? Who decides what is acceptable and what is not? What is the role of the developing countries themselves? Who can tell what is good aid and what is bad aid? Is it a free market allowing everybody to do what he wants? A market without rules, with a lot of competition and little cooperation?
This book draws up the balance sheet of 50 years of development aid and provides an overview of all relevant players, of opportunities and obstacles, of successes and failures. It details numerous examples and information on development projects from all over the world. Readers may be tempted to get involved in development aid, but they will also be more cautious than before.
Introduction to Hui ethnic diversity in China.
As yet very little academic research has been done into the Hui people, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in China. With particular attention to the Yunnan district community, this collection of contributions skilfully presents a wealth of information on Hui Muslims and introduces readers to the issues of Hui ethnic diversity in China. Reviewing the many aspects of the religious, educational and cultural life of Hui Muslims in China, the authors provide an ethnography in which becomes clear how traditional institutions and everyday life are adapted to local customs with respect to the Islamic identity. At the same time, the relationship between the China Republic and the Hui, an official minority of China, is discussed thoroughly.
Contributors
Lesley R. Turnbull (New York University), Liang Zhang (Yunnan University), Ross Holder (Trinity College Dublin), Aaron Glasserman (Columbia University), Frauke Drewes (University of Münster), Chuang Ma (Yunnan Open University), Yu Feng (Yunnan University), Suchart Setthamalinee (Puyap University)
'European Muslims and New Media' offers perspectives on the various ways in which Muslims use new media to form and reform Muslim consciousness, identities, and national and transnational belongings, and contest and negotiate tensions and hegemonic narratives in Western European societies. The authors explore how online discussion groups, social media communities, and other online sites act as a 'new public sphere' for Muslim youth to voice their opinions, seek new sources of knowledge, establish social relationships, and ultimately decentre established discourses that are projected on them as Muslims in Europe. The possibilities and challenges of new media transform existing debates on Islamic knowledge, authority, citizenship, communities, and networks. European Muslims and New Media critically explores the multifaceted transformations that result from Muslims using online spaces to present, represent, and negotiate their identities, ideologies, and aspirations.
Thought-provoking insights on the nexus of migration and integration beyond the national context
Across the world, and due to ongoing globalisation, migration is increasingly becoming a part of daily life. But more than ever, migration can no longer be viewed as a simple linear trajectory from A to B. The emergence of transnational communities and intense interactions between regions of origin and of destination have led to new forms of social-cultural praxis and (sub)cultures which exert an important influence on the integration of immigrants. The case of Flanders, the northern part of Belgium and a reference point for the impact of these processes across Europe, is presented as a case study in this book.
Migration and Integration in Flanders is structured in three thematic parts, opening with chapters on the imaginaries and perceptions of people in changing migration contexts. The book then proceeds with chapters which present theoretical and empiric data on changing integration dynamics in multicultural societies. The final chapter concludes with a discussion of social networks' mediating role.
The growing complexity of migration leads the contributing authors to look beyond borders, both of national frontiers - as migration by definition implies cross-border research - and of disciplines and research methods. In doing so, the present volume offers thought-provoking essays on topical issues that stir public and political debates across Europe, and contributes to fundamental discussions on changing societies.
Considering the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between gender relations and migration, the contributions in this book approach migration dynamics from a gender-sensitive perspective. Bringing together insights from various fields of study, it is demonstrated how processes of social change occur differently in distinct life domains, over time, and across countries and/or regions, influencing the relationship between gender and migration. Detailed analysis by regions, countries, and types of migration reveals a strong variation regarding levels and features of female and male migration. This approach enables us to grasp the distinct ways in which gender roles, perceptions, and relations, each embedded in a particular cultural, geographical, and socioeconomic context, affect migration dynamics. Hence, this volume demonstrates that gender matters at each stage of the migration process. In its entirety, Gender and Migration gives evidence of the unequivocal impact of gender and gendered structures, both at a micro and macro level, upon migrant's lives and of migration on gender dynamics.
Radicalisation is a topical and a much-discussed concept in current European societies. Its use in policy and societal discourses, such as media coverage and educational contexts, is very sensitive. This thought-provoking collection of essays critically addresses the topic of radicalisation from different angles, combining discipline-specific insights from the fields of sociology, philosophy, history, religious studies, and media studies, with new empirical data.
The authors step away from readily available explanations and rethink the notion of 'the radical'. Rather than merely focusing on individuals or ideologies, they advocate for a contextual perspective that allows to consider the complex interaction between individuals, groups, and institutions, both at a national and international level. Radicalisation: A Marginal Phenomenon, or a Mirror to Society? provides the reader not only with much-needed knowledge of the complex nature of the concept of radicalisation, but also offers insights into the various ways radicalisation processes can be triggered, prevented, or addressed.
Over the past 60 years high-income countries have invested over 4000 billion euros in development aid. With varying degrees of success, these investments in low-income countries contributed to tackling structural problems such as access to water, health care, and education. Today, however, international development cooperation is no longer restricted to helping by giving. Instead, it is rather about opportunities, mutual interests, risk taking, and an inclusive societal approach. With the arrival of major new actors such as China, India, and Brazil, and the manifestation of private companies and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, development aid is being eclipsed by new forms of international cooperation, increasingly accompanied by investments, trade, and give-and-take exchanges.
The agenda for sustainable development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 and to be realised by 2030, is a case in point of new influential frameworks that usher in a global rather than a traditional North-South perspective.
This book reviews 60 years of international development aid and its relevant actors, outlining today's challenges and opportunities. Richly illustrated with case studies and examples, International Development Cooperation Today maps successes and failures and synthesises visions and discussions from all over the world. By pointing out the radical shift from the traditional North-South perspective to a global paradigm, this book is essential reading for all practitioners, academics, and donors involved in development aid.
Co-creative methods are increasingly used to understand and facilitate integration processes of migrants in immigrant societies. This volume aims to contribute to the debates on the ways in which co-creative methods may advance migrant integration. More specifically, the contributions investigate how co-creative research strategies can provide insights into how integration processes into various domains of immigrant society (e.g. language learning, housing, employment) are shaped, and how they can contribute to policy making and new policy practices. Because co-creative methods are relatively new approaches to research and policy making, the authors evaluate and demonstrate the pitfalls and benefits of using them. Starting with a theoretical and methodological overview of co-creative methods, empirical chapters document and critically assess ongoing research experiences and studies to incorporate co-creative methods in academic research across Europe.
Co-creation in Migration Studies analyses the use of co-creative methods in migrant research and policy making, reflects upon the conditions required to successfully implement these methods, and offers new insights and recommendations for future research and policy making practices.
Multiculturalism in present-day Europe.
How to understand Europe's post-migrant Islam on the one hand and indigenous, anti-Islamic movements on the other? What impact will religion have on the European secular world and its regulation? How do social and economic transitions on a transnational scale challenge ethnic and religious identifications?
These questions are at the very heart of the debate on multiculturalism in present-day Europe and are addressed by the authors in this book. Through the lens of post-migrant societies, manifestations of identity appear in pluralized, fragmented, and deterritorialized forms. This new European multiculturalism calls into question the nature of boundaries between various ethnic-religious groups, as well as the demarcation lines within ethnic-religious communities. Although the contributions in this volume focus on Islam, ample attention is also paid to Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. The authors present empirical data from cases in Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway, Sweden, and Belgium, and sharpen the perspectives on the religious-ethnic manifestations of identity in the transnational context of 21st-century Europe.
Contributors:
Chris Allen (University of Birmingham), Cüneyt Dinç (Süleyman Sah University, Istanbul), Frédérique Harry (University of Paris-Sorbonne), Goedroen Juchtmans (KU Leuven and IKKS, Antwerp), Vincent Legrand (Université catholique de Louvain), Johan Leman (KU Leuven), Kathryn Lum (European University Institute, Florence), Marcel Meciar (Yeditepe University, Istanbul), Ephraim Nimni (Queen's University Belfast), Murat Sevencan (Suleyman Sah University, Istanbul), Ismail Mesut Sezgin (Leeds Metropolitan University), Erkan Toguslu (KU Leuven), Katarzyna Warmi´nska (Cracow University)
The method of biographical story-telling applied to newly emerging fields of research.
Realist Biography and European Policy is the first concerted attempt to integrate the separate strands of (critical) realism as a developed philosophy for social science with biographical narrative methods as a concrete methodological approach. The main goal is to demonstrate that the combination of critical realism and biographical methods is not only possible, but it is exceptionally well suited for the exploration of newly emerging research fields within European policy studies.
This volume offers new insights to and is an indispensable reference for researchers in search of solid underpinnings for their own empirical research.
Foreword by Miriam Kennet, Director of the Green Economics Institute, Founder and Editor of the International Journal of Green Economics.
Contributors:
Tatiana Bajuk Sencar (Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology), Bob Carter (University of Leicester, Department of Sociology), Prue Chamberlayne (Open University, Faculty of Health and Social Care), Markieta Domecka (independent researcher), Norbert Kluge (coordinator and adviser for the European Works Council of ThyssenKrupp AG), Lyudmila Nurse (director of Oxford XXI), Elisabetta Perone (University of Naples Federico II), Valeria Pulignano (Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven), Antonella Spanò (University of Naples Federico II), Tom Wengraf (Middlesex University)
Innovative research of 'Islam at work' in geographical and social contexts.
Modern Islamic Thinking and Activism presents a series of scholarly papers in relation to Islamic thinking, activism, and politics in both the West and the Middle East. The reader will apprehend that Islam is not the monolithic religion so often depicted in the media or (earlier) in the academic world. The Islamic world is more than a uniform civilization with a set of petrified religious prescriptions and an outdated view on political and social organization. The contributions show the dynamics of 'Islam at work' in different geographical and social contexts. By treating the working of Islamic thinking and of Islamic activism on a practical level, Modern Islamic Thinking and Activism includes innovative research and fills a significant gap in existing work.
Contributors:
Erkan Toguslu (KU Leuven), Thierry Limpens (KU Leuven), Eric Geoffroy (University of Strasbourg), Jonathan Benthall ( UCL, London) Thomas Michel (Georgetown University), Egbert Harmsen ( Leiden University), Ihsan Yilmaz (Fatih University), Emilio Platti (KU Leuven), Roel Meijer (Radboud University)
First volume in the new series CeMIS Migration and Intercultural Studies
Moroccans are one of the largest and most debated migrant groups in Belgium. Moroccan Migration in Belgium analyses diverse facets of this community from a multidisciplinary perspective and addresses the most relevant and some underexposed topics in the rapidly developing field of migration studies. Combining various academic disciplines and different research methods, the book offers a panoramic introspection into the dynamic nature of migration studies in general and Moroccan studies in particular. The contributions of established academics and young researchers will not only appeal to scientific peers working on this domain, but also to teachers, social workers, policy advisors and other interested people who work from close or afar with this minority group.
Contributors
Chaïma Ahaddour (KU Leuven), Goedele Baeke (KU Leuven), Anna Berbers (University of Amsterdam), Bert Broeckaert (KU Leuven), Frank Caestecker (Ghent University), Noel Clycq (University of Antwerp), Sam De Schutter (Leiden University), Leen d'Haenens (KU Leuven), Emilien Dupont (Ghent University), Karim Ettourki (KADOC-KU Leuven), Nadia Fadil (KU Leuven), Idesbald Goddeeris (KU Leuven), Mieke Groeninck (KU Leuven), Philip Hermans (KU Leuven), Jürgen Jaspers (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Norah Karrouche (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Joyce Koeman (KU Leuven), Iman Lechkar (Vrije Universiteit Brussel/KU Leuven), François Levrau (University of Antwerp), John Lievens (Ghent University), Rilke Mahieu (University of Antwerp), Albert Martens (KU Leuven), Karel Neels (University of Antwerp), Wim Peumans (University of the Witwatersrand), Christiane Timmerman (University of Antwerp), Layla Van den Berg (University of Antwerp), Stef Van den Branden (KU Leuven), Bart Van de Putte (Ghent University), Nicolas Van Puymbroeck (University of Antwerp), Jonas Wood (University of Antwerp)
'A Truly Golden Handbook, No Less Instructive than Delightful, by the Most Learned and Distinguished Professors of the Renowned University of Leuven.' 500 Years Utopia. What would the ideal society of the future look like? In 1516, the eminent English humanist Thomas More tried his hand at imagining a perfect society on a distant island. His Utopia was published in the Flemish town of Leuven, home of a university that was established almost a century earlier. 500 years later, scholars of this university revisit More's best-known work and reflect on the ideal society of the future, using the scientific insights of today, including perspectives which More could never have imagined. What will our cities look like a hundred years from now? How will stem cell research and 3D printing change the world? Will we be able to cure all diseases? Will we be traveling to other planets? Will computers take over? Or will humanity find a way to improve the quality of life for everyone and feed a growing world population? In 'A Truly Golden Handbook', more than fifty KU Leuven scholars share their science-based utopian dreams. From the creation of spare organs, artificial intelligence and the genetic future, to global governance, ecological sustainability and pathways to more equality, this visionary book offers a broad interdisciplinary look at the world of tomorrow.
In-depth case study of memorialisation processes after the November 2015 Paris attacks.
On November 13, 2015, three gunmen opened fire in the Bataclan concert hall at 50 Boulevard Voltaire in Paris and subsequently held the venue under a three-hour siege. This was the largest in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that eventually killed 130 people and injured 500. During the aftermath of these attacks, expressions of mourning and trauma marked and invariably transformed the urban landscape.
Sarah Gensburger, a sociologist working on social memory and its localisation, lives with her family on the Boulevard Voltaire and has been studying the city of Paris as her primary field site for several years. This time, memorialisation was taking place on her doorstep. Both a diary and an academic work, this book is a chronicle of this grassroots memorialisation process and an in-depth analysis of the way it has been embedded in the everyday lives of the author, neighbours, other Parisians and tourists.
