The thesis “Unpacking the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Decision to Stop Funding UAWC” examines how security narratives led the Netherlands to end its funding in 2022 for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC). For many years, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs had supported this Palestinian NGO, which worked to improve the livelihoods of Palestinian farmers, particularly in Area C — the part of the illegally occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank that remains under direct Israeli military control. The research into the reasons behind the decision to defund UAWC is based on documents obtained through the Dutch Transparency Act (Wet Open Overheid, or WOO), comprising more than 1,100 pages of written communications.
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Agricultural Innovation and Social Sustainability: Gender, Social Reproduction and Labour
This PhD thesis by Daun Cheong explores why social progress towards gender equality in agrarian societies remains slow by analysing policies, academic research, and empirical evidence of farmers’ lived experiences and their interrelationships, paying particular attention to the relationship between agricultural innovation and gendered agrarian labour.
It examines the impacts of innovation that extend beyond the technical and material, investigating the reconstruction and renegotiation of gender and labour dynamics, which ultimately shape the lived experiences of subsistence farmers. By employing post-structuralist feminist approaches, including feminist critical discourse analysis, social reproduction, and capabilities framed as relational autonomy, the thesis demonstrates the gender discourses produced by policies and research, the new subjectivities they construct and frame, and the processes through which they shape reality. Empirically, the research adopted a mixed method approach including micro-focus group discussions, surveys, key informant interviews, and systematic document reviews focusing on women subsistence farmers in Nepal’s Terai region.
Continue readingVideo | Rural Sociology vs. Sociology of Development and Change Explained
Video | Are you a student interested in Rural Sociology (RSO) and wondering how it compares to Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) at Wageningen University & Research?
At Rural Sociology, we study societal change, inequality, and power with a focus on food, agriculture, and rural development. In this video, we explore how RSO and SDC approach these topics differently and what that means for your studies and research opportunities.
How does this relate to your interests? Our PhD researchers take you to Fruitproeverij Zandberg, an alternative agriculture site, to show how both groups conduct real-world research—helping you discover which themes and methods resonate with you.
Watch now to explore your options for courses, theses, or future research. Still unsure? Reach out to our education coordinator or drop by our hallway for a chat. A special thanks to Fruitproeverij Zandberg for allowing us to film at their inspiring location!
You are where you live
“Your house is more than the place where you happen to live. Student houses and residential communities often have their own character. How does that happen? And how does the house influence its residents? Judith Rommens (International Development Studies) wrote her thesis about the house she lived in for eight years – De Wilde Wereld – from the perspective of the building itself.“
A student of International Development Studies wrote a thesis about the house where she lived, as well as her supervisor before her. Resource interviewed her to learn what inspired her to conduct this research and write a thesis not only about the house she lived in but also from the perspective of the house itself.
Read more here: https://www.resource-online.nl/index.php/2024/11/15/you-are-where-you-live/?lang=en
Het verhaal van De Wilde Wereld
Judith Rommens deed haar thesis onderzoek naar de invloed van materiële en sociale aspecten in collectief wonen door de tijd heen
Collectief wonen wordt steeds populairder en biedt aanzienlijke voordelen als oplossing voor hedendaagse huisvestingsproblemen en als inspiratiebron voor maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. Hoewel onderzoek vaak gericht is op de pragmatische en innovatieve aspecten van collectief wonen, ontbreekt het aan diepgaand onderzoek naar de langetermijnontwikkeling van een collectief woonhuis en de interacties tussen het huis en zijn bewoners. Deze thesis verkent hoe materiële en sociale aspecten de ontwikkeling van een collectief woonhuis en de bewoners door de tijd heen beïnvloeden. Om de onderzoeksvraag te beantwoorden, heb ik een huisbiografie van een collectief woonhuis geschreven op basis van archiefonderzoek, auto-etnografie en interviews met (oud) bewoners en betrokkenen. De Wilde Wereld dat al sinds 1986 bewoond wordt en verschillende generaties bewoners heeft gekend, is als casestudy genomen.
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Rural Sociology Wageningen University 