International Development Studies at Roskilde University

29/06/2026

🌍 The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) Conference “Shaping Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges, (G)local Solutions" is kicking off today at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp.

Tomorrow Conrad John Masabo and Mette Fog Olwig from Dept. of Social Sciences & Business at RUC will present a paper on how development studies can be re-centered through African epistemic agency and a paper on youth climate action and the tensions between global solidarity and unequal local experiences.

These are critical conversations at a time when sustainability debates must move beyond universal narratives to engage with diverse, situated perspectives.

If you are attending, make sure to join! You can also check out their publications on similar topics:

“A Bit Too Simple: Narratives of Development, Sustainability and Climate Change” (Cambridge, Open access: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009344944)

“Knowledge Production as Discourses of Power: A Critique of the Use of Archive” (The Program on African Social Research, https://www.pasiri.org/_files/ugd/d71c2d_4952ce938adc4a8fb35963399cf96957.pdf)

And their research project website: https://ruc.dk/en/global-imaginaries

Roskilde Universitet – RUC

22/06/2026

Emilia Lewartowska defends her PhD thesis on 22nd of June at 13.00 (CET)

Title: Pluriversal Worldmaking in India - Alternatives to Development as Avenues of Transformation
Date: 22nd of June from 13:00-16:00 (CET) in room 25.2-035.
Livestreaming: https://ruc-dk.zoom.us/j/67974619655

Dept. of Social Sciences & Business at RUC

27/05/2026

Only 4%.

That’s how little African countries featured in Danish media’s world news last year, according to a study by Globalnyt.

Associate Professor Mette Fog Olwig, from Roskilde Universitet – RUC, was asked to comment on the consequences of such limited media coverage, drawing on her new book "A Bit Too Simple: Narratives of Development, Sustainability and Climate Change" (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009344944):

“It is, of course, natural that there is more coverage of what is close by. The problem is that our stereotypes about the rest of the world are not challenged – partly because there are so few articles about, for example, Africa, and partly because they tend to focus on need and misery”

“This reinforces a dominant narrative with deep historical roots that portrays the Western part of the world as the one with knowledge and resources, while the rest of the world is seen as needing help. It is a kind of hero narrative.”

👉 See the full article below (in Danish)
https://globalnyt.dk/verden-er-lille-i-hvert-fald-i-de-danske-medier/

Bruger du danske medier til at blive klogere på, hvad der rører sig i eksempelvis Afrika eller Sydamerika? Så besidder du forhåbentligt en tålmodig personli ...

21/04/2026

🧑‍🎓 Karen Lønne Ring defends her PhD thesis on 23rd of April at 13.00 (CET)

Title: Sustaining Legality under Indeterminacy: The Judicialisation of Victimhood and Justificatory Labour at the International Criminal Court

📅 23rd of April
🕰️ 13:00-16:00 (CET)
📍 Room 25.2-035.

ℹ️ Supervisor: Line Engbo Gissel, Associate Professor, ISE, Roskilde University
Co-supervisor: Kerstin Carlson, Associate Professor, ISE, Roskilde University

Assessment committee:
- Angela Bourne, Professor, ISE, Roskilde University, Denmark (chairperson)
- Sarah Nouwen, Professor, University of Cambridge, England
- Mikkel Jarle Christensen, Professor (MSO), University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Leader of the defence:
Somdeep Sen, Associate Professor, ISE, Roskilde University

📖 The dissertation will be available for reading at the Roskilde University Library before the defence (on-site use). The dissertation will also be available at the defence.

🤗 The defence is public, and everybody is welcome; the defence is scheduled for a maximum of three hours and will be held in English.

🥂 ISE will host a small reception afterwards

// Doctoral School at Department of Social Science & Business

14/04/2026

👏 Tillykke til lektor Jacob Rasmussen, der sammen med sine kolleger har modtaget en bevilling på 10 millioner kroner til forskning i samfundsdrevne klimaindsatser i lokalområder i Kenya. De modtager bevillingen fra Danida Fellowship Centre.

Projektets forskere og øvrige aktører vil undersøge, hvordan klimasårbarhed i form af oversvømmelser i den konkrete sammenhæng påvirker de tre tætbefolkede uplanlagte bebyggelser Mathare, Korogocho og Pumwami langs floderne i Nairobi.

Klimaaktiviteter drevet af lokalsamfundet i de uformelle byområder i Nairobi kan bidrage til forståelse og styring af klimatilpasning, og projektet vil bl.a. producere viden om klimafarer og strukturelle sårbarheder i uformelle byområder.

👉 Læs mere på Roskilde Universitets hjemmeside: https://ruc.dk/nyheder/10-mio-kr-til-forskning-i-samfundsdrevne-klimaindsatser-i-lokalomraader-i-kenya

13/04/2026

In this article, PhD student at Dept. of Social Sciences & Business at RUC Emilia Lewartowska together with Lone Riisgaard and Ashish Kothari offer a methodological contribution to the study of alternative organizing. They reflect on the usage of the Flower of Transformation, a grassroots tool created by the members of the Vikalp Sangam, as a co-creative research method which they adopted in fieldwork in three alternative organizations and communities in India and Denmark. They offer insights on the origins of the Flower, its participatory potential, and the reflexive possibilities for researchers who employ it, in our journey towards more emancipatory and decolonial research production.

Open Access:

The Flower of Transformation is a community-based tool originating from grassroots alternative organizing in India. This article discusses the potential of the ...

17/01/2026

🧑‍💻 Participate in EADI's virtual dialogues roundtable that takes point of departure in Associate Professor Mette Fog Olwig's newly published book “A Bit too Simple: Narratives of Development, Sustainability and Climate Change.” 🌱

📅 The virtual dialogue will take place as an online roundtable on January 20, 2026.

🔗 You can register via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/STPTTGxQROeOKQXZTFTmWA #/registration

🎤 Speakers include Mette Fog Olwig, David Andre Karnail Singh, Lisa Ann Richey and Conrad John Masabo. Adam Moe Fejerskov will moderate.

💬 Speakers will discuss metanarratives in their own research pertaining to topics ranging from tree planting initiatives in high schools in Tanzania to celebrity humanitarianism in Congo, the wind energy frontier in India and “sustainability superheroes” in Denmark.

18/12/2025