dr. Kees Biekart

**Kees Biekart is Associate Professor in Political Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam.** His area of expertise is in NGOs, social movements, civil society, and foreign aid, in particular in relation to Latin America. He also works on participatory research methods and action research techniques. Before coming to ISS he worked as a research co-ordinator with the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam, and as a Lecturer at Leiden University. He obtained his MA in International Relations (1989) and his PhD in Political Science (1999), both with distinction (cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam. He has served as the President of the Netherlands Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (NALACS) and is a Board Member of the Transnational Institute (TNI). He has co-ordinated the Knowledge Programme on Civil Society Building with Hivos, and is currently leading the Civic Driven Change Think Tank together with professor Alan Fowler. In addition, he is a co-editor of the ISS journal Development and Change.