Young Scholars Think Piece Series

UNRISD periodically invites contributions from postgraduate students (Master’s degree and higher) to its Young Scholars Think Piece Series. The first edition, held in 2014 and now completed, was based on the theme of extractive industries and social development. We anticipate that the next edition, for which we will select a new topic, will take place in 2016.

The Series aims to provide promising young researchers with an opportunity to present their research on social development on a wider platform than is possible in a university setting, thereby contributing to the diversity of ideas within the development community. Preference is given to original pieces offering alternative perspectives, highlighting marginalized viewpoints and bringing neglected issues to the fore. Think pieces can be based on previously written essays, dissertations or theses. The think pieces are published on the UNRISD website and promoted through its social media networks. Successful participants also receive a certificate, in pdf, to print out or use electronically.

Why participate?

There are good reasons for Young Scholars to send in a contribution to the Think Piece Series:

• Get feedback from UNRISD social development experts from a informed, critical point of view.
• Get published on the UNRISD website, which has over 40,000 subscribers.
• Get connected with the UNRISD network of academics, policy makers and civil society activists.
• Get recognized as a contributing scholar to United Nations research on social development.

Winners in the First Edition

The following think pieces were selected as outright winners:

• Duygu Avci: “Paving a national avenue on top of a complex network of trails: Contentions around mineral extraction in Ecuador.”
  (Turkish, studying at Erasmus University Rotterdam)
  
• Michael Marchant: “Corporate social responsibility and oil in the Niger Delta: Solution or part of the problem?”
  (South African, studying at the University of Edinburgh )
  
• Karolien van Teijlingen: “The extractive industries, power struggles and the battle of ideas.”
  (Dutch, studying at the University of Amsterdam )
  
• Martin Tengler: “Activists and extractive industries: An alliance against social development?”
  (Czech, studying at the University of Oxford)
  
  

We would like to congratulate the winners on the originality of their work and on submitting well-argued, convincing think pieces. Their prize is the publication of their pieces on this web site and a pdf certificate in recognition of their participation and achievement.

Four runners-up

• Stephen Yeboah: "'Crops' or 'Carats'? Interaction between gold mining and cocoa production and the livelihood dilemma in Amansie Central District of Ghana."
  (Ghanaian, studying at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)
  
• Siddarth Sareen: "Programmed to fail? Development as security and Asia’s biggest iron ore deposit."
  (Indian, studying at the Universities of Copenhagen and Padova)
  
• Johanna Sydow: "Corporate Social Responsibility: A globally applicable tool to standardize and manage community-company relations? An analysis of CSR in the extractive sectors of Ghana and Peru."
  (German, studying at the University of Sussex)
  
• Anja Tolonen: "African mining, gender and local employment."
  (Swedish, studying at the University of Gothenburg)

The authors of these pieces have been offered the chance to revise their texts based on detailed feedback from UNRISD experts. They also receive a pdf certificate recognizing the originality and potential of their research.

Photo: Kent Yoshimura via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)