Development: What Now? Past, Present and Future Challenges in International Development

Book excerpt: This edited volume on international development is a collection of papers presented at the international postgraduate conference “Development: What Now?” in Hong Kong from the 9th to 11th October 2014. With the support of the Postgraduate Students Conference Grant of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, this conference was organised by the Department of Applied Social Science of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The conference aimed to contribute in answering the vital question for the future of development studies: “What Now?” The conference explored some of the past, present and future challenges in international development. It was a grand success attracting over 60 participants from Germany, Indonesia, Canada, Italy, India, Poland, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, the UK and Hong Kong. The participants presented their research papers on ten major themes. These included (1) Empowering People, Climate Change and Education; (2) Poverty Reduction; (3) Gender Studies; (4) Human Rights, Environment and Wellbeing; (5) Foreign Aid and Development Cooperation; (6) Security and Transnationality; (7) Economic Development; (8) Urban and Rural Development; (9) Governance, Diplomacy and Health in Development; (10) Sociology and Diversity in Psychology, Literature and Advertising. The highlights of the conference were the two defining speeches delivered by Emeritus Professor Robert J. Holton of Trinity College Dublin and The University of South Australia, and Professor Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University, Australia. These two keynote speeches, together with other outstanding conference papers, have been selected and published in this volume.