{"id":105586,"date":"2019-11-12T19:01:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T18:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=105586"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:34","slug":"theory-practice-and-activism-at-iss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/11\/12\/theory-practice-and-activism-at-iss\/","title":{"rendered":"Theory, practice and activism at ISS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The auditorium on The Hague\u2019s elegant Kortenaerkade, a stone\u2019s throw from Noordeinde Palace, is gradually filling up. Looking out over the colourful crowd, it isn\u2019t hard to guess where we are: the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). People converse among themselves in English, Dutch or Spanish.<\/p>\n

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Sara Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti, the 200th recipient of an ISS doctorate<\/span><\/p>

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A lady welcomes everyone who enters the hall, enthusiastically introducing herself as \u2018Sara\u2019s mom\u2019. In a few minutes, her daughter Sara Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti, will be defending her doctoral thesis: Geopolitical Ecologies of Environmental Change, Land Grabbing and Migration: comparative perspectives from Senegal and Cambodia.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti together with her mother and rector Inge Hutter.<\/span><\/p>

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This is cause for celebration in its own right, but today\u2019s extra special: Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti has the honour of being the two-hundredth recipient of an ISS doctorate. The institute, which became an official part of Erasmus University Rotterdam just over a decade ago, has taken the occasion to put out the flag. Since 1952, ISS<\/a> has been educating students \u2013 most of them from developing countries \u2013 in \u2018policy-oriented critical social sciences\u2019 that focus on research into development issues.<\/p>\n

Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti, who hails from Spain, performed her doctoral research in Senegal and Cambodia. Her \u2018lay presentation\u2019 about her dissertation is a brief but passionate account of small farmers who are forced to migrate under the pressure of foreign investors and climate change.<\/p>\n

Interests of the farmers<\/h2>
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After this, the candidate is given the traditional public grilling by the doctoral committee. This committee is as international as the ISS itself, consisting of an American (Jesse Ribot), a Fin (Anja Nygren), a French-speaking Belgian (Philippe Lebailly) and a Turk (Murat Arsel). The alleged \u2018opponents\u2019 more or less unanimously call Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti\u2019s thesis \u2018ambitious\u2019 while simultaneously lauding its high quality.<\/p>\n

The Walloon professor does initiate a topical discussion after posing various searching questions to the doctoral candidate about the fate and autonomy of peasants who are often lost out to developments like scaling up. Lebailly: \u201cAs a social institution, it should be evident that our duty always lies in defending the interests of the individual farmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewel in the crown<\/h2>

Per tradition, the lay presentation and the doctoral defence last exactly one hour. This part of the programme ends with the jingling sound of the beadle\u2019s sceptre, at which point the doctoral committee retires. While a relieved Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti hugs the numerous family members who have come to her ceremony, The Hague\u2019s Deputy Mayor for Education Saskia Bruines takes the stand. \u201cIt\u2019s an honour to be here. Two hundred doctorates is quite an achievement! This is a major milestone. We\u2019re a jewel in the crown of Erasmus University \u2013 and in that of The Hague itself.\u201d She is happy that the institute calls \u2018her\u2019 city its home. \u201cThe ISS\u2019s fields of study and profile are a good match with this city: peace and security, peace and justice, humanitarian issues, women\u2019s rights, migration. How to hold wicked regimes accountable. It is clear that many students from countries faced with a lot of challenges find it an honour to study here.\u201d Bruines occasionally checks in on the institute. \u201cAnd vice versa, your rector Inge Hutter is also closely involved in what goes on in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social engagement<\/h2>
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Tsegaye Shegro.<\/span><\/p>

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Hutter\u2019s speech is followed by the official conferral of Vigil D\u00edaz-Telenti\u2019s doctorate and the presentation of a booklet celebrating the 200th doctoral ceremony to the Deputy Mayor. And after that, it\u2019s time for the reception: the non-alcoholic bubbly and cream pies have already been laid out. Out of the 200 doctoral candidates, several alumni are present. Tsegaye Shegro for instance: after rounding off his dissertation in 2016, he has been researching land politics for ISS in the capacity of assistant professor. \u201cI wanted to obtain a doctorate after I finished my degree programme in Ethiopia. This is one of the few institutes worldwide where they perform research into developing countries.\u201d According to him, the ISS is the best place you could imagine for developing a critical perspective on global developments and social justice. \u201cI learn something new here every day. We don\u2019t just work on theoretical science. For me, working in the field and activism are just as important. At the ISS, we contribute in all sorts of ways to greater social justice and a sustainable climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rector Inge Rutte agrees that the ISS has a pronounced social commitment. \u201cThis has been in our genes from the very beginning. Some of us achieve this by combining research with activism. I refer to myself as a \u2018researcher for action\u2019.\u201d When it comes to this feature of the faculty, today\u2019s festivities are about more than just the number 200. Rutte: \u201cOur students and doctoral candidates take everything they\u2019ve learned here back home. It\u2019s this impact that we are celebrating here today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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