Global Development and Social Justice Research programme
As a leader in the field of development studies, the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) finds responses to today’s global problems. Issues such as poverty, inequality, migration, conflict and ecology are important in the ISS research agenda.
Our Global Development and Social Justice research programme takes a critical approach to policy responses that are formulated to social, economic and political issues. The critical attitude is the result of a deeply felt need to analyse the way in which power differences among groups of people result in policies and practices that are highly beneficial to the powerful and detrimental to the powerless.
Research highlights
PhD defencee by Quang Nguyen Minh
Vietnam's Mekong Delta before the floods: Climate adaptation policy and farmer livelihoods
New €6.9m project addressing climate resilience in Africa
How does climate change impact African communities? This project addresses threats and uncertainties
PhD defence by Doi Ra
The politics of land rush in Myanmar
Our research
Research themes, projects and publications
Collaborations
Networks, conferences and other research collaborations
Our researchers
Professors. academics and PhD researchers
Links to teaching
ISS PhD, MA and online programmes
Research values
ISS is committed to a more just social order at a global scale. We combine rigorous academic research with high societal relevance that has the potential to drive action and contribute to change:
- Critical - we use a critical approach and analyze how power relations have produced policies and practices that are highly beneficial to the powerful and detrimental to the powerless
- Participatory - we produce knowledge with stakeholders, rather than only for them and seek to produce knowledge in ways that engage those most affected
- Societally relevant - we work in partnership with others, including NGOs, social movements, and other local, national and global networks and benchmark our research with the needs of society
- Embracing the global North and South - we expect research findings from both areas to inform one another
- Bridging theory and practice - we aim to take our knowledge out into wider world in different ways
- Linking with teaching - we seek to bring the research we undertake into the classroom to inform, challenge and inspire our students
