In this seminar, Samer Abdelnour will share a decade-long journey conducting research on what appear for many a simple, domestic technology: improved cookstoves. In 2006, he first encountered international NGOs competing over different stove designs in Darfur’s camps for the internally displaced. This led to a study unpacking how humanitarian advocates framed cookstoves as a solution to sexual violence, and today, an expanded research portfolio exploring how actors organize around and legitimate cookstove interventions globally and in intervention settings. More than a personal narrative, the presentation will explore a number of thematic, theoretical and methodological directions that may be of interest to those working on humanitarian issues, particularly energy poverty and health policy.
About the speaker
Samer Abdelnour uses organization theory to explore a variety of international development and relations themes, including gender and humanitarian technology, collective enterprise and development, and increasingly, the role of science in development policy. The main contexts of his work have been Sudan (Blue Nile, Darfur) and Southern Sudan, and more recently Morocco. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship by the European Commission to further policy-relevant research on the topic of ‘Humanitarian Technology’. He completed a doctorate at the London School of Economics and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
A light lunch will be served.
