Carleton University participates in new global research project

Ottawa – Carleton University is joining forces to create the Possible Future project, a working group of more than 30 internationally-renowned social scientists, seeking answers to the global economic crisis.

The project is directed by Professor Craig Calhoun, president of the Social Science Research Council in New York (SSRC), with the collaboration of Carleton Professor Piotr Dutkiewicz and Georgi Derluguian from Northwestern University.

“This is another example of the calibre of Carleton’s global partnerships and the university’s important presence on the world scene,” says Dr. Dutkiewicz.

“The group will not only explore issues such as suspect financial practices and lack of regulation, but also examine longer-term questions about the nature of international political economy and the future of global social organization,” says Dr. Calhoun, a professor at New York University.

The project’s plans include working papers, regular web report updates, more formal papers and at least three books. One book will address the crisis from national and regional perspectives. The second will pursue thematic analyses on topics ranging from the political economy of energy and other resources to religion, media, organized crime, armed conflict and clashes between different economic development strategies. The third will focus on understanding long-term systemic change.

The Centre for Governance and Public Management (CGPM) at Carleton University helped co-found the project along with SSRC, World Public Forum (Vienna) and the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. Participants come from more than a dozen countries.

CGPM focuses on political and administrative reform projects in the developing world, post-communist societies and post-conflict regimes. Building on the expertise located in the School of Public Policy and Administration and the Faculty of Public Affairs, the goal is to be recognized nationally and internationally as the leading Canadian centre on public sector and public management reform in transitional and developing countries.

Piotr Dutkiewicz just returned from Russia, where he participated in a “Valdai club,” a group of 40 of the world’s most-respected Russia scholars and political scientists. He was invited by the Russian president to discuss key political issues.