NORDIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIES: LESSONS, PITFALLS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Abstract

1. Introduction In November 2015, the Third Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research was organised by the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Development research has a long (and rather strong) history in the Nordic (1) countries. In fact, Nordic development studies have been able to respond continuously (and to some extent jointly) to the challenges over the last 50 years by producing thought-provoking research--as evidenced by a range of new approaches, new methodologies, new theories, extending both mono- and cross/ interdisciplinary areas of study and innovative development policies. Between the 1970s and 1990s, there was a fairly strong sense of 'Nordic-ness' among both researchers and policymakers. However, the so-called 'crisis of development studies' in the 1980s and 1990s impacted negatively on Nordic cooperation and both research and policy became more varied and fragmented. In the early 2000s, attempts were made by leading Nordic development researchers to revitalise cooperation, which resulted in the First Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research in Copenhagen in 2011. The general purpose of the joint conferences is to bring together researchers and practitioners from the Nordic countries (and beyond) to debate and rethink contemporary issues in development research and policy. The inaugural conference of this 'new era of Nordic cooperation', held in Copenhagen in 2011, focused on the contribution of the Nordic perspectives and approaches to development/development studies visa-vis global and other approaches to development. Subsequent bi annual conferences have continued to explore the Nordic approach to development policy and research while at the same time addressing other critical issues in development research. The second Joint Nordic Conference in Helsinki in 2013 focused on the role of knowledge production in and for development while the third held in Gothenburg in 2015 continued and deepened the discussions from previous conferences through the theme A Changing Global Development Agenda?. It aimed, in particular, to address the development implications of global recovery, emerging powers, new patterns of vulnerability, as well as of economic crisis, environmental crises, urbanisation, and humanitarian and governance crises. The conference also reflected on the significance, content, and possible implications for the post-2015 global development agenda and the future of sustainable development. Attracting more than 200 participants from 18 countries, the conference in Gothenburg was organised around 17 working groups that involved more than 100 paper presentations, four thematic roundtables, and two keynote speeches by Professor Inge Kaul and Professor Adebayo Olukoshi. The purpose of this report is to reflect on the status of Nordic development studies in light of the experience of the last conference in Gothenburg. To that end, we reflect on two themes that we consider as essential to the field of study but which causes both friction and fragmentation: (i) the many meanings of development; and (ii) Africa as a continued 'object' of Nordic development studies. The report concludes with a reflection about how we think different standpoints on these issues can be productively balanced. 2. The many meanings of 'development': frictions or creative pluralism? Everybody interested in 'development' knows that is an essentially contested concept, implying that there is no consensus about its meaning and how should be defined. As Sumner and Tribe (2008: 10) rightly point out, it would be an understatement to say that the definition of 'development' has been controversial and unstable over time. There is, as with most 'fields of study', no consensus on an absolute and final definition, only suggestions as to what development may mean in different contexts (Hettne 1995, 2005, 2009). Similar to previous gatherings, development was a contested concept at the recent conference. …