Conclusion - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

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The 2007 SYLFF Africa/Europe Regional Forum
at the Ruhr-University Bochum, 25-27 June 2007
Draft report on student presentations
- days 1 and 3 -
Background
The Forum brought together an extremely diverse group of SYLFF students, scholars
and practitioners from African, Middle East and European universities. Student
presentations were held during the first and third days. This is a draft report based
on rapporteur’s conclusions in the last day of the forum.
Common themes
The forum was held under the theme “Human Rights and Creative Leadership”.
Participants examined a wide array of topics through various lenses: protection of
individual and collective rights under diverse legal and political regimes,
historiographic, theoretical and normative aspects of leadership in the context of
human rights protection, case studies and theoretical approaches.
Despite their variety, the presentations were bound together by a joint spirit of
original research and, occasionally, interdisciplinarity. The spirit of fellowship was
present throughout the individual presentations, the questions and answers
sessions, and the informal discussions that ensued.
An integrative theoretical framework was proposed by Prof. Löwenstein of the
Institute of Development Policy and Development Research, focusing on the multidimensional
concept of human security. A fundamental question was raised to the
participants regarding the lack of creative leadership in the reality and theory of
human security.
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There was consensus amongst the participants that marrying the two themes of the
forum – human rights and creative leadership – stimulated individual and collective
search for “bridges”: conceptual and inter-personal.
Specific issues
Day 1 examined fundamental questions such as:
o Current threats to our environment and related risks for human development:
the concepts of population vulnerability and resilience, and the correlations
between them were analysed in a practical perspective
o Rights of women: the frameworks of social network theory and identity
formation and transformation were used as references when discussing the
factors that enable creative social action in human rights protection and
promotion
Day 3 addressed similarly complex issues:
o Inter-societal relations between converging cultures: geopolitical
determinants of identity changes were approached from a historiography
and political economy angle, and stimulated a rich discussion. Two
provocative conclusions emerged:
o An over-supply of “creative leadership” on the part of a dominant
partner (e.g. through the use of “democratic conditionality”) may
create obstacles for the other partner’s internal reform processes,
which in turn would spoil the chances of reformist parties on both sides
o Globalization stimulates the formation of multiple identities which often
challenge the consolidation of national democratic regimes,
particularly in “borderline” regions or nations. The task of policy-makers
and leaders in such countries thus needs to be analysed not only from
a realpolitik perspective but also within the often unregulated fluxes of
globalization (e.g. migration and “deterritorialisation”, issues which
were briefly tackled within the proposed human security framework)
o The nature of leadership: heated exchanges were sparked by a presentation
on the possible factors explaining this dynamic area.
We closed the presentations with a set of conclusions:
o We need to place our research endevours within a holistic, human rights
perspective
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o We need to go beyond traditional, individual research, and work more
through collaborative networks. SYLFF associations are important nodes in
such multi-layered networks. We recognized that we could make a better
use of information technologies in maintaining these virtual communities of
practice.
o Choosing the right level of analysis could greatly help in addressing global,
highly complex issues
o True leaders are those who give back more than they receive
A bridge-building forum
The presentations advanced a wealth of working hypotheses for further study,
individually or through joint projects. Peer review and validation was appreciated,
all the more given the informal, friendly spirit of the forum.
We greatly benefited from a genuine heuristic spirit on the part of the presenters
and contributors.
We affirmed that the pragmatic application of the knowledge gained would keep
this atmosphere alive, and reinforce the overall culture of sharing within the SYLFF
network. Research was seen as an important factor in furthering human rightscentred
agendas of social action.
There was a clear recognition of the value-added of the forum in building bridges
across regional and scientific frontiers.
Diversity – of participants and presentations – created a unique opportunity for
reflecting on the world around us through multiple perspectives. Excellent
organization and facilitation greatly helped in forging a feeling of discovery and
cross-disciplinary fertilization.
But perhaps the main lesson was that it is our responsibility to become effective
leaders in stimulating sustainable action and cooperation, both in research and
applied projects.
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