Beatrice Gibertini (ESR 2) presented first results from her field research in South Africa at the 19th Development Dialogue Conference (DD19) at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Eramus University Rotterdam (EUR). The conference took place on November 13 and 14, 2023, and brought together PhD candidates and practitioners from all around the world to discuss future(s) of development policy and practice in light of persistent structural inequalities. Under the theme of "Reckoning with the past and imagining the futures of development research and practice", individual presentations contributed to the broader theme of addressing the limitations of dominant development approaches by challenging systemic issues of power as well as calling for greater epistemological diversity in development studies.
In particular, Beatrice's presentation was part of the panel "Challenging growth-oriented development: examining the limits of growth and the need for alternatives" where she contributed insights from within a movement against extractivism in the context of the mining sector in South Africa. In her research, she addresses the question whether the mining sector contributes to economic empowerment of women or rather to maintaining structures that perpetuate social and economic marginalization. The findings presented at the DD19 conference are based on extensive field research conducted over the year with support from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and SOMO.