Research Interests:
- Resistance of Indigenous knowledge systems to neoliberal pressures
- Citizenship rights and social protection for marginalized and displaced groups
- Cultural biodiversity and traditional knowledge loss
- Sustainable livelihoods
- Social movements and political resistance to institutional racism
- Impacts of climate change on development through changing subsistence patterns and forced migration
I am particularly fascinated by how power relationships contribute to inequality both locally and internationally, and how neoliberal globalization facilitates the exploitation of minority groups by hegemonic structures. In other words, I am interested in exploring the overarching mode of thought which allows for some human lives to be put above others by multilateral institutions, governments, NGOs, multinational corporations, and the general public.
What is International Development Studies?
International Development Studies is a cross-disciplinary field of study that examines inequality through a global perspective, examining political, economic, cultural, and social dimensions of our world. I've learned that it is easier to explain what IDS is not than to actually define it for what it is. Here is my best effort at a quick overview for the newbies reading this. Essentially, this field challenges the theoretical underpinnings of "development," an ambiguous term that is often equated to economic modernization and capital accumulation, despite the eurocentric assumptions hidden within these simplistic definitions. Reducing development as a "quick fix" to "poverty" in the "Global South" reduces the complexities of global inequality into unreasonably straightforward copy-and-paste-type formulas that are ultimately unsuccessful, and often cause more exploitation than good. Development relates to poverty reduction, real world policy initiatives, globalization, cultural change, identity and ethnicity, human rights, social transformations, international political economy, and gender issues, to name just a few. More importantly, however, the field of development studies is about being critical about our own preconceived notions of "progress" and "what is best" for "them."
IDST encompasses the fields of political science, human geography, anthropology, and economics.
IDST encompasses the fields of political science, human geography, anthropology, and economics.
