CCDP Seminar Series

  • 16 March 2009 "Haussmann in the Tropics: Paris, Managua, what’s the difference?"

    A Seminar by Dennis Rodgers: Senior Research Fellow, Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester & Research Fellow, CCDP, Graduate Institute of International and Development.
    This presentation will compare and contrast the mid-19th century “haussmannization” of Paris – as the paradigmatic example of planned urban change – with the dramatic metropolitan makeover that Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, has undergone over the past decade. It does so in order to highlight the systematic and purposeful logic underlying what at first glance seems to be a highly diverse and chaotic process of urban development, more often than not linked by commentators to the post-revolutionary unleashing of market forces in Nicaragua following regime change in 1990.

    As was the case in mid-19th century Paris, however, the transformation of contemporary Managua has clearly been a direct response to elite concerns, including the fear of “popular” violence, a concomitant wish to “securitize” the city, as well as a desire to “beautify” and “modernize” the metropolis, thereby re-shaping it in the aesthetic and economic image of this elite. Similarly to Paris, much of the re-modelling of Managua has involved the construction of wide, well-lit avenues that connect the living spaces of the urban elite, the edification of grandiose architectural features, and the transformation of the metropolitan economy, all of which have fundamentally changed the nature of the city’s urban fabric in ways that bear comparison with Haussmann's "city of light". Furthermore, as was also the case in Paris, Managua’s urban re-development has involved biased construction patterns, widespread land speculation, the clearing of slums and poor neighbourhoods, and the establishment of a particular financial regime, both at the municipal and national levels.

    To this extent, Parisian “haussmannization” can be said to provide a useful heuristic trope through which to understand the underlying nature of Managua’s transformation, which also highlights how contemporary processes of urban development in developing world cities frequently “recapitulate older logics of imperial control” and (re)produce forms of “urban exclusion and social separation” (Davis, 2006: 96-98). At the same time, however, the presentation concludes by drawing on Alain Badiou's (2008) recent work on chronological cycles of political contention and domination in order to consider the way that Parisian "haussmannization" and Managua's recent urban development are imbued with very different forms of historical significance.

  • 15 October 2008 “Violence and Reconstruction after Peace Agreements”

    Seminar by John Darby (Professor of Comparative Ethnic Studies at the Joan C. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame). The seminar will be given at 6:30pm at the Auditorium Jacques-Freymond (AJF), Rue de Lausanne 132, 1202 Geneva.

  • 16 JUNE 2008 “Terror, (In)Security, Liberty”

    Seminar by Didier Bigo (visiting Professor at Kings College, London and Maître de Conférences à SciencesPo, Paris) examining the subject of his recent co-edited book with Anastassia Tsoukala entitled: “Terror, Insecurity, Liberty: Illiberal Practices of Liberal Regimes after 9/11.”

  • 10 APRIL 2008 “The Politics of Insecurity: Threats, Speech Acts and Beyond”

    Seminar by Jef Huysmans (lecturer at the Open University, UK).

Roundtable Discussions and Workshops

  • 11-15 May 2009 Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

    Co-organized by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the CCDP.

    Location:
    Geneva, Switzerland


    11 Décembre 2008 “La Palestine et les conflits du Moyen-Orient ”

    Table-ronde organisée pour la sortie du volume thématique de la revue « a contrario ».

    Avec:
    Pascal de Crousaz, Docteur en histoire (IUHEI, Genève)
    Benoît Challand, Docteur en science politique (Institut Européen de Florence)
    Wassila Mansouri, Chercheuse MENA - UNHCR (Genève)

    Modérateur:
    Daniel Meier, Docteur en sociologie politique (IHEID), rédacteur en chef de la revue « a contrario »

    Descriptif/Résumé :
    Au cœur du Moyen-Orient, la Palestine concentre des dimensions conflictuelles à la fois territoriales et symboliques. A la manière d’un révélateur, elle permet de comprendre l’horizon des conflits régionaux par l’analyse de sa situation politique interne d’une part. D’autre part, elle met en lumière un environnement externe qui n’est pas négligeable à l’échelle de la région, qu’il s’agisse du puissant voisin israélien ou de la communauté internationale laquelle se manifeste à travers un processus de paix et l’aide internationale. Issu d’un colloque organisé en 2006, cette publication qui réunit une douzaine de contributions, constitue un jalon important permettant le décloisonnement du conflit israélo-palestinienne et son inscription dans une perspective régionale et internationale.

Conferences

  • 09 January 2009 (13:00 - 15:00) Public Discussion on a new UNDP report: "Post-Conflict Economic Recovery: Enabling Local Ingenuity"

    Organised by the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), under the auspices of the Geneva Peacbuilding Platform.

    Site Barton, Auditorium Jacques Freymond, 132 rue de Lausanne, Geneva

    Chair: Ms. Kathleen Cravero, UN Assistant-Secretary General and Director, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, United Nations Development Programme

    Presentation of Report: Mr. John Ohiorhenuan, Senior Deputy Director (retired), Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, United Nations Development Programme and lead author of report on 'Post-Conflict Economic Recovery'

    Commentator: Prof. Keith Krause, Professor of International Politics, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Director, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding


    Hard copies of the report will be available at the presentation. The report is also available here.

  • 6-8 November 2008 “Writing the History of Iraq: Historiographical and Political Challenges”

    International Conference on Iraqi Studies to be held at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva Switzerland. The Conference is being organized and co-hosted by the Swiss Society for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Société Suisse Moyen orient et Civilization Islamique, SSMOCI) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID).

  • 25 JUNE 2008 “Engaging Civil Society in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: Challenges and Prospects”

    Panel co-hosted by the CCDP and the Duke Summer Programme on Global Governance and chaired by Oliver Jütersonke, Head of Research (CCDP). Speakers included: Thania Paffenholz, Researcher (CCDP); David C. Atwood, Director and Representative, Disarmament and Peace, Quaker United Nations Geneva Office; and Raj Rana, Independent Consultant and former ICRC delegate.

  • 24-25 APRIL 2008 “Transnational and Non-State Armed Groups: Legal and Policy Responses”

    Conference co-hosted by the CCDP at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (HPCR). The Conference was part of the ongoing collaboration between the two institutes on the project entitled: “Transnational and Non-State Armed Groups: Legal and Policy Responses.”

    Subjects covered included: the composition of Non-State Armed Groups (NSAG) and their role in the changing nature of warfare; issues surrounding the engagement of NSAG; the impact and use of human rights and humanitarian law on NSAG; and the economic dimensions of contemporary armed conflicts. A report of this conference is anticipated to be published soon.

  • 10 April 2008 “Faire des Affaires dans un Contexte Economique Fragile – La Republique Democratique du Congo”

    Conférence co-organisée par le CCDP et la Fondation Guilé où sont intervenus: Barbara Rigassi, directrice des programmes de la Fondation Guilé; Joseph Amisi Matongo, directeur adjoint du cadastre minier en RDC; Philippe Grobéty, Swisscham Africa, délégué en Suisse pour la RDC; Ernst A. Brugger, membre du conseil d'administration de Precious Wood S.A; et Gilles Carbonnier, vice directeur du CCDP et professeur à l'IHEID.