Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development.
This Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development explores how global development agendas and economic development influence children’s lives. It demonstrates that children are not only the frequent targets or objects of development but that they also shape and influence processes of development and social change in diverse and meaningful ways. The handbook makes the case for the importance of placing children at the heart of development debates, examining the complex social, historical, cultural, economic, epidemiological, ecological, geopolitical, and institutional processes transforming what it means to be young in the world today. Through reports on field research as well as a critical engagement with theories in development studies and childhood studies, contributions unravel the structural connections of global development processes as they relate to children’s life worlds. They tease out and tease apart how global developmental processes influence children’s lives, how children inform and shape development, why it is important to keep children at the centre of debates linked to development and socio-cultural change, and ways of engaging children in development research, policies and practices. Organised in seven sections and 45 chapters showcasing research from both established scholars and early career researchers, and with particular prominence given to the work of authors from the global south, this handbook will be an essential reference for policymakers, practitioners, and for researchers and students across childhood studies, education, geography, sociology, and international development.
In 2023, the government decided that students from countries outside the EU must pay tuition fees to study at Norwegian educational institutions. Since then, the number of students from countries outside the EEA area has plummeted.
At UiA this year, only 17 international students pay tuition fees, nine of whom receive support through various scholarship schemes. This decline is clearly felt in studies such as the bachelor’s and master’s programmes in development studies, which were known for their international diversity among students. Now, almost all students in these programs have either Norwegian or European passports.
During Arendal Week, researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences arranged a panel debate on the societal consequences of Norwegian lecture halls losing much of their diversity. The debate was chaired by Professor Ann Christin Nilsen at the Department of Sociology and Social Work and was arranged in collaboration with the Norwegian Association for Development Research (NFU) and SAIH.
The debate was held four years after the white paper “A world of opportunities”, in which it was argued that global problems require global solutions and more cooperation across national borders. Since then, a lot has changed. The introduction of tuition fees for students outside the EU is part of a pattern in which other support for collaboration with research and educational institutions in the Global South is also either cut or reduced. This includes support schemes such as NORGLOBAL and NORPART, which have long contributed to cooperation with countries outside the West.
A small band-aid on a large wound
To compensate for some of the drop in the number of international students, the authorities have introduced a scholarship scheme for students from selected countries in the Global South.
However, the scholarship scheme is only a small band-aid on a big wound, according to panelist and associate professor Arnhild Leer-Helgesen at the Department of Global Development and Planning. She pointed out that the scholarship scheme applies to few students and is also covered by the aid budget, which means that it in reality affects Norway’s ability to provide aid.
Came like lightning from a clear sky
UiA Rector Sunniva Whittaker also participated in the panel. She emphasized that the introduction of tuition fees came like lightning from a clear sky, but that it nevertheless draws into a pattern where the international aspect is given lower priority in research and education policy. Economy and savings were used as the main arguments for the introduction, but Whittaker wondered about the cost. UiA has largely managed to fill the study places with other students, but the diversity among the students has decreased. Whittaker fears this will affect the quality of the studies.
This view was shared by Professor Iver B. Neuman, director of the Fritjof Nansen Institute. He emphasized that discussions among fellow students from different backgrounds provide invaluable training in globalization and cosmopolitan conversation, which is essential for solving global challenges and living together.
Important to stand up for the principle of free higher education
SAIH leader Selma Bratberg also participated in the debate. She pointed out that the global situation for higher education is serious, with rising tuition fees and pressure on students’ freedom of expression.
“It is important that Norway stands up for the principle of free education,” she continued.
Bratberg also claimed that students, both now and throughout history, have been an important driving force for democracy, human rights and social change.
“In a world where authoritarian forces and nationalism are on the rise, it is extra scary
In the autumn of 2020 – while the pandemic was still raging – the Storting’s report on student mobility called “A world of opportunities” came out. The foreword to the message states: “Spring 2020 has clearly shown us how dependent we are on each other and how intertwined the world is. International cooperation and dialogue across national borders are prerequisites for being able to handle the major global social challenges the world is facing. Global challenges require global solutions.” Just over two years later, tuition fees were introduced for students from countries outside Europe and the result is markedly fewer international students at Norwegian universities. This is part of a larger picture where support for collaboration with higher education institutions and researchers in the global south is cut or reduced (e.g. NORGLOBAL and NORPART). What are the immediate consequences of this for the quality of education and research? Should we see these policy changes as something more than domestic education and research policy? What long-term consequences could this have for the labor market and Norway’s international relations? At Arendalsuka, we invite you to a discussion about who the Norwegian authorities have in mind when exchange and academic cooperation are to contribute to finding global solutions to global challenges.
Hey NorDev community! 🎉 We’ve got some thrilling news to share – the opportunity to host the NorDev Conference 2025 is knocking on your door! NFU is looking for partners to host the Conference in Norway!
The General Assembly of NFU unanimously supports the movement resisting school fees for international students from outside EU/EØS and Switzerland and applauds the strong opposition from the higher education sector and parts of the political parties. As a global development research community, we are deeply worried about the consequences these fees will have on the quality and relevance of education and research in Norway.
In a time when we lift the Sustainable Development Goals as a common global project, we need knowledge, perspectives and cooperation that include all regions of the world. School fees do not only affect individual students, but the entire higher education system in Norway. The quality and relevance of our education will be weakened, as we will miss important critical perspectives and be more narrow-minded. As researchers and educators within the field of global development, we know how teaching a truly international student group challenges all involved and leads to a unique co-creation of knowledge. In addition, relationships between students from different places have lasting effects and create bonds that lead to more cooperation in research and current or future workplaces. If these school fees become a reality, Norway will lose both in terms of quality of education and research, and international networks.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that in a world that is ever more connected, the plurality and diversity brought by students from different parts of the world can help Norway become a more rounded and inclusive country.
The introduction of these school fees for students from outside EU/EØS and Switzerland can be seen as discriminatory and cause students from other parts of the world to not feel welcomed, which in the long run will be detrimental to Norwegian educational environment.
Therefore, we at NFU stand in opposition of these fees.
This week we will introduce you to one of our board members and Co-chair of NFU: Jason Miklian.
Jason has been a part of NFU for 5 years and is a key member in our organization. He became a part of NFU because he thinks that given how diverse the topics housed under the “development studies” umbrella are, he feels it is essential for scholars both in Norway and the Nordics more broadly to have the opportunity to untie and grow together, especially given the challenges that development studies and adjacent fields are facing globally.
He has two main research areas: 1. Business, development and peacebuilding. 2. Climate and Conflict.
He chose his research fields due to a mix of interest and happenstance! He started his career as a South Asia studies scholar, then became interested in the connections between business and conflict in places of “economic underdevelopment”, as the Indian government put it. This led to his PhD at Noragric in development studies, with a qualitative / mixed-methods focus studying the role of the Maoist conflict and extractive firms on development.
He currently works for the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo and his main projects now are an NFR-funded qualitative collaborative project on the role of small businesses in crisis and urban fragility, and an NFR mixed-methods project on the role of business and development on conflict in Africa.
Since he is living in Bogotá, Colombia at the moment, he is enjoying the sunshine and wonderful people while enjoying a bit less needing to get up early for the occasional 4AM call with his Oslo colleagues. 🙂
In his opinion, development studies is an worthwhile field because in an era of increasing specialization (yet hosting demands to be more cross-cutting and interdisciplinary), development studies provides an ideal platform for understanding complex societal relations in a way more holistically and critically-oriented than many other point-specific fields. In a time of increasing global uncertainty over inequality, climate change, and international order he believes that we are overdue for a renaissance in development studies, and he is excited for NFU to be a part of this leading edge.
For his more recent works, he chose to share with us a recent narrative non-fiction book on the Liberation of Bangladesh and the climate-conflict links therein, called The Vortex. Even though it is a less academic work, he is still very proud of it and thought it would be very intersting to share it.
This week we will introduce you to one of our board members and Co-chair of NFU: Randi Solhjell.
Randi has been a part of NFU for 10 years and is a key member in our organization.
Her research area is: Cross-disciplinary social scientists, I have worked on topics including statehood in contested areas (easter DR Congo) and gender-based violence in war and conflict. I am currently finalizing research on the topics on policing hate crime and prevention of violent extremism. In my upcoming position (2023-2027) I will be part of the project “JustExport” led by Prof. Kjersti Lohne at the University of Oslo, Institute of Criminology, focusing on how Scandinavian states engage in penal export internationally. And she currently works for the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, the Faculty of Law, The University of Oslo.
She chose her research field because she have always sought perspectives from ‘unkowns’ – people and societies I want to learn more about. It can be both within my home country Norway but also from places more distant from where I am situated (Nepal, Liberia, Chad, DR Congo). This has led me to different topics and societies.
And she believes that development studies is an important research area because it opens your mind to a world of injustice, difference and new knowledge fields. Knowledge is not taken for granted in a Eurocentric manner but critically explored theoretically and methodologically.
To access some of her most recent work, please follow the links below: