Current and recent funding at ISID

CIDA’s contribution will assist the Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID) in its renewal process, providing resources that will help place McGill at the forefront of multi-disciplinary development research and teaching. This includes support for new CDAS graduate student resident fellowships and field research grants, the launch of a new online publication, Foresight: Investigating Tomorrow's Development Challenges Today, as well as funding for a McGill professor to spend sabbatical time at CIDA and prominent researchers and practitioners from developing countries to spend time in residence at ISID. The funds will also support ISID’s international speakers series and periodic international conferences such as the on the challenges of development in Africa held in March 2007. An unprecedented fourth amendment to the project, recently negotiated with CIDA, has extended the project end date to July 31, 2009.

The ISID is launching a new pilot project to bring two postdoctoral scholars to Canada, one from Latin America and one from Africa. This will enable promising young researchers from developing countries to immerse themselves in a dynamic research environment that includes researchers, other postdoctoral scholars and graduate students specializing in development related research. In addition to providing the postdoctoral scholars with research and networking opportunities, the program will also provide them with important skills for the future. Postdoctoral Scholars would be in residence at ISID for one year. During that time, they will work under the close supervision of at least one of ISID’s faculty members on a research project related to the one of the Institute’s three research clusters : Economic Development and Living Standards, States and State Institutions, and Civil Society: Identity, Diversity, and the Mediation of Difference. After the period of residence, Postdoctoral Fellows will receive continued support for one year after returning to their home countries.

The Institute for the Study of International Development, the Development Research Group of the World Bank and the International Development Research Centre are undertaking a major new cross-regional, interdisciplinary study of the relationship between democratization, poverty reduction and risk mitigation in fragile and post-conflict states. More specifically the project will explore three sets of related issues: 1) Participatory Governance and Service Provision; 2) Powersharing for Peacebuilding and Development; and 3) The Economic Agenda for Post-Conflict Reconstruction. These issues will be addressed through a series of papers addressing the larger theoretical aspects and empirical trends, and detailed case studies of Bosnia, Colombia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Sudan. The first stage of the project is a workshop in which the larger theoretical issues will be discussed with the aim of preparing a shared perspective for guiding the case studies. Beyond its specific findings, the project hopes to serve as a model for developing effective North-South and South-South research collaboration.

This project is part of the renewal process undertaken at ISID with a research focus on “understanding the foundations of democratic governance.” ISID is establishing itself as a major North American nexus for bringing together university researchers, including researchers from developing countries, policymakers and development practitioners to engage in a dialogue intended to breakdown barriers between this distinct groups and work to ensure that university research, policymaking and development practice reinforce one another. In particular, ISID is committed to promoting the development of evidence-based policymaking and capacity building in Southern countries. ISID will be hosting resident fellows from Southern research institutions in the Americas. This program will allow resident fellows the opportunity to take advantage of McGill University’s resources, including access to its libraries and the possibility of interacting with the University’s faculty, as well as graduate and undergraduate students.

This project will promote and further develop an internet-based model that supports on-going North-South and South-South knowledge partnerships based on management of information and learning activities, implemented through ICT-based pedagogical approaches, resources and practices. Specific objectives are to consolidate a model of collaboration supported by a platform, portal and organizational arrangements that provide opportunity, tools, and resources for the activities of learning communities and communities of knowledge and practice (CoPs); to enhance and promote modes of collaboration for the design, exchange, adaptation, and delivery of short online courses for professional updating; to provide short-term work and learning opportunities to Canadian and Latin American (LAC) graduate students, postgraduate fellows, professors, and practitioners; and, to contribute to furthering the development of the Social Analysis System in Latin America. In collaboration with the Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios (CEBEM), the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), the University of British Columbia, York University and Simon Fraser University.

Work on clientelism abounded in the 1960s and 1970s, but gradually subsided as researchers turned their interest to the socio-politically transformative potential of new social movements and democratic transitions. However, over the past ten years, clientelism has steadily reappeared in all manner of publications, pointing to social movements' and democratic transitions' inability to reach their full potential. The contributions to this workshop signal a new direction for theory and practice. The majority of contributors argue not only that impersonal, formal democratic institutions have failed to provide what citizens demand in many new democracies - thus giving clientelism renewed momentum - but that practitioners of democracy have much to learn from traditional, clientelistic exchanges. The contributions cover a range of methodological approaches and geographical areas of interest, including single case and comparative studies, ethnographic research and large quantitative analyses, from Latin America, Africa, as well as South and South-East Asia. Workshop organized by ISID postdoc Dr. Bettina Hilgers.

The crucial role that rural women and girls play in determining the success of the Economic and Development Poverty Reduction Strategy in Rwanda has led to the planning of an innovative workshop, entitled Girls’ and Women’s Visions for Change: Rural Perspectives in Agriculture, Health and Education, to be held in Kigali. The product of a partnership between the Rwandan government, the Imbuto Foundation of Rwanda, ISID, and the Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change at University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, this workshop will focus on the use of participatory methodologies with rural Rwandan girls and women in addressing the issues of health, education and agriculture as they affect rural communities. By giving voice to participants through participatory methodologies, this workshop will highlight rural girls and women as agents of change in their own communities and country, and present participatory methodologies as a cross-sectoral approach to innovative practices in rural areas.

The purpose of the Civil Society Educational Network is to facilitate the mobility and exchange of students, faculty, researchers and learning tools between Canadian and European academic institutions In response to the growing demands being placed on civil society organizations and social enterprises, this project will promote collaborative efforts to strengthen and develop courses, programs, and research agendas to improve both practice and policy, within their own jurisdictions and at a global level. An inventory of syllabi, reading lists, and teaching materials will be accessible to the network as an international curriculum is collectively developed. Co-curricular activities, including internships and community-based learning assignments, will offer practical and contextual experience to complement their classroom learning. This will provide students with a broader range of skill and contacts to pursue careers in the area of civil society within the public, private, and non-profit / voluntary sector. The ISID is a Canadian partner in this network along with Carleton University and the University of Winnipeg.

The project seeks to develop new mechanisms for renewing Canada’s historic relationship with the English Speaking Caribbean by bringing together a select group to discuss issues of mutual concern to both to both communities at the College of the Bahamas in May 2007. Areas of consensus included: 1) the importance of trade proposals designed to focus on areas where progress might be made relatively quickly; 2) the potential for projects focusing on Early Childhood Education for preparing productive citizens and addressing problems of gangs and violence, drawing upon the resources of churches, families, teachers, businesses and others; and 3) the importance of regular meetings of leaders of Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean. Follow-up activities include presentations to the participants’ respective governments and the development of specific projects in the area of Early Childhood Development. For more on the conference, see Preparing for the Future: Identifying Issues and Mechanisms for Renewing Canada's Ties with the English-speaking Caribbean[.pdf]

Funding from two agencies (CIDA: $50,000; IDRC: $11,300.00) enabled 34 scholars from Latin America and the Caribbean to attend the 17th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association in Montréal, September 5-8. 2007. Participants were chosen on the basis of their academic merit and financial need. The purpose of these contributions to ISID was to allow a true north-south dialogue as people from both regions shared their insights.