Malin Hasselskog

Peace and Development Research
PhD, researcher, lecturer

About

I am a researcher within Peace and Development Research. I started my undergraduate studies in International Relations and Global Development Studies in 1991, and got a doctoral degree in 2009.

Apart from the education at the School of Global Studies, I hold a degree of Journalism from Gothenburg University and a degree of Education from Linköping University. I have also studied History and Political Science.

Between 1997 and 2000, I worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cambodia.

Areas of interest

My research focuses on the dynamics between local/national development strategies and international development intervention, in the context of reconstruction and reconciliation in post-conflict societies.

My doctoral thesis deals with international cooperation aimed at good governance, with case studies from Cambodia. Fundamental assumptions and rationales are analysed that motivate and shape international intervention. Through ethnographic case studies, experiences, perceptions and behaviour are examined among the population related to interventions, and the interplay between external intervention and local conditions is analysed.

As a follow-up to the Cambodia study, I initiated a project on Rwandan development policy, the role of international development cooperation, and local dynamics as policies are implemented (see below).

Current research

I currently (2011-2013) work mainly on a research project on development policy and poverty reduction strategies in Rwanda. National policy is analysed based on a number of poverty alleviation measures, the relation to and role of international development cooperation are studied, and experiences, perceptions and behaviour among the population are examined through empirical studies in a couple of local communities in Southern Rwanda.

Apart from the Rwanda study, I am involved in research on political reform and decentralisation in Cambodia.

Teaching and tutoring

I am in charge of the bachelor thesis writing in Global Development Studies and International Relations, and supervise as well as hold lectures and seminars at undergraduate and graduate levels, mainly in Global Development Studies. At times when I have been teaching more, the teaching has been primarily focused on development theory and international development cooperation.