{"id":30434,"date":"2026-11-12T12:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=30434"},"modified":"2026-11-12T12:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:13:25","slug":"reframing-international-development-for-a-changing-world","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/11\/12\/reframing-international-development-for-a-changing-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Reframing international development for a changing world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Keynote speaker \u2014 and former Clark professor \u2014 Laura Hammond (center) reunited with former student Ruth Rhoads Allen, M.A.-IDSC \u201903 (second from left) and current Department of Sustainability and Social Justice faculty members (from left) Ellen Foley, Tim Downs, and Laurie Ross, during the \u201cReclaiming International Development\u201d event.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Clark symposium explores how shifting global realities are challenging long-held assumptions \u2014 and shaping new approaches\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The world that shaped the field of international development looks very different from the world it serves today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in the aftermath of World War II amid postwar reconstruction, decolonization, and Cold War geopolitics, international development was formed by the defining challenges of its time. It now operates in a vastly different landscape, where food insecurity, forced migration, climate change, and complex social, economic, and environmental pressures transcend national boundaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These evolving realities were at the center of \u201cReclaiming International Development,\u201d a day-long symposium hosted by Clark University\u2019s School of Climate, Environment, and Society<\/a> and Department of Sustainability and Social Justice<\/a>. The Nov. 7 event in the Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons brought together scholars, practitioners, alumni, and students \u2014 both in person and virtually \u2014 to examine long-held assumptions that have shaped development and explore more equitable, collaborative approaches grounded in local expertise and shared decision-making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018There has never been a more important time\u2019 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Laura Hammond, who began her teaching career at Clark 25 years ago, the current moment represents both a profound challenge and an opportunity to reconsider the foundations of international development. Now deputy vice-chancellor of research and knowledge and a professor of development studies at SOAS University of London, Hammond returned to campus to deliver the event\u2019s keynote address. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The field is facing unprecedented disruption, Hammond said, pointing to the closure of USAID, reductions in foreign assistance and research funding, and broader political shifts that have affected global commitments to climate action, human rights, and sustainable development. But rather than signaling a reason to step away from the field, she asserted, these changes make studying and understanding development more important than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere has never been a more important time to study and research these dynamics,\u201d Hammond said. \u201cThe social, political, and economic challenges that we are experiencing now will transform what we understand as developmental processes: how they happen, who controls them, and who benefits from them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, Hammond explained, development operated around an informal funding structure: the United States was expected to provide roughly one-third of global humanitarian assistance, with another third coming from the European Union and its member states, and the remaining third from other countries. The erosion of that implicit arrangement has prompted broader questions about how power and priorities shape the distribution of resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n