Back | Programme Area: Special Events (2000 - 2009) | Event: UNRISD Conference on Social Knowledge and International Policy Making: Exploring the Linkages
UNRISD Conference on Social Knowledge and International Policy Making: Exploring the Linkages
Wednesday 21 April 2004
9.00 – 12.45 SESSION 4: ENGAGING SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVES
Chairperson — Enrique Oteiza, former Director, UNRISD
UN Interaction with the Southern Research Community. A panel discussion will examine how UN research networks are constituted, who participates, the extent to which developing country researchers are involved, and how the demands of international research affect national research agendas.
Panellists — Rehman Sobhan (Centre for Policy Dialogue), Marcia Rivera (Latin American Institute of Education for Development), Adebayo Olukoshi (CODESRIA), Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (UNDP)
“Integrating Knowledge, Politics and Policy for Social Change” — Shalmali Guttal (Focus on the Global South) will examine the political economy of knowledge creation, the limits of mainstream development discourse and ways in which these limits might be challenged through local knowledge and activism. Discussant — Inge Kaul (UNDP)
“Universalism versus Regionalism” — Norman Girvan (Association of Caribbean States) will discuss the role of ideology and power relations in the production and reproduction of knowledge and the extent to which Southern thinking and demands associated with policy autonomy and regionalism have impacted international policy. Discussant — Charles Gore (UNCTAD)
14.00 – 18.00 SESSION 5: THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES
Chairperson — Thandika Mkandawire, Director, UNRISD
The Relationship of Research to Activism in the Making of Policy: Lessons from Gender and Development — Gita Sen (Indian Institute of Management) will consider the extent to which, and ways in which, feminist writings and debates on “gender and development” have impacted international policy. Discussant — Yakin Ertürk (Middle East Technical University)
“The Politics of Social Policy Change” — Bob Deacon (Globalism and Social Policy Programme/ University of Sheffield) will examine the changes that are taking place in the way global social policy is made, how reformist and radical thinking engages with the relevant policy making institutions and actors, and what types of alliances, participation and activism might be conducive to global social policy reform. Discussant — Martín Hopenhayn (ECLAC)
Critical Thinking or One Right Way? Panellists will consider the scope, within the UN system, of research that questions mainstream policies and approaches, the ways in which research and knowledge about alternatives might influence the policy making process, and whether recent institutional developments associated with the “post-Washington Consensus”, technocratic governance and public-private partnerships are restricting critical thinking.
Panellists — Elizabeth Jelin (CONICET), Christian Comeliau (IUED), Martin Khor Kok Peng (Third World Network)