Draft:Annelies Zoomers

'Annelies Zoomers (Amstelveen,(born 3 May 1959) is a Dutch professor in [International Development Studies at the University of Utrecht

Curriculum vitae
Annelies Zoomers spent her childhood in Amstelveen, Enschede, Naaldwijk and Utrecht. After obtaining her pre-university education diploma from Niels Stensen College in Utrecht, she studied human geography at Utrecht University, specializing in Human Geography of Developing Countries. She obtained her doctorate in 1984 (field research in Mexico and Mali). From 1984 to 1988 she was a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Geography of the Development Areas of the Radboud University in Nijmegen. For her dissertation, she spent 13 months in Paraguay between 1985 and 1988. She studied aspects of rural development in Central Paraguay and obtained her PhD in 1988 with Jan Kleinpenning for a thesis entitled 'Rural Development and Survival Strategies in Central Paraguay; the policy of agricultural colonization as an instrument to alleviate the situation of the rural poor'. After her PhD, she worked for the Netherlands Economic Institute in Rotterdam and the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam on projects for, among others, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, theWorld Bank, the IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), the ILO (International Labor Organization) in several countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Between 1995 and 2007 she was a researcher at the CEDLA, the Center for the Study and Documentation of Latin America of the University of Amsterdam. She conducted long-term field research in Peru, Bolivia and Mali, among others. In 2005 she was appointed professor of Human Geography, in particular regional development policy and international migration, at Radboud University. She accepted her chair with the inaugural speech 'In search of El Dorado'. In 2007 she was appointed professor of International Development Studies at Utrecht University. She was the founding chair of the Netherlands Land Academy LANDac (2010-2019) and Shared Value Foundation (2015-2024); and served as the chair of WOTRO (Science for Global Development) between 2019 and 2022. In 2024, she was appointed as a member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) and is chair of the Development Cooperation Committee (COS). https://www.adviesraadinternationalevraagstukken.nl/

Scientific work
In her dissertation, Zoomers examined the position of smallholders against the background of land reforms and agricultural colonization in Paraguay. She was critical of the government policy. Central to her scientific work after 1990 is the influence of international migration and capital flows on the livelihoods of local communities and disadvantaged groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Three subthemes can be distinguished.

Land Governance and Development
This research focused on analyzing the causes, features and consequences of the global land rush - the large-scale acquisition of land, particularly in the global South, which had major implications for local livelihoods and the environment. Although land grabbing has existed for a long time, after 2000 the food crisis and the increasing demand for raw materials for green energy created huge interest in investing in land for various purposes. ,, , . With the rapidly increasing flow of climate investments, research attention shifted to understanding the local effects of climate-related land investments. Her research showed that conventional land governance practices and policies are often counterproductive to what is required for making local communities climate resilient and better-off. (https://landgovernance.org/)

International migration, displacement and development
This research focused on assessing the link between migration and socio-economic development. Zoomers analyzed the role that migrants played in strengthening 'local' development opportunities and the importance of translocal networks. , . She conducted research into the consequences of restrictive migration policies, both coming from the EU and individual European countries. In this context, migration agreements with migrant countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America were examined, focusing on the consequences for local development in countries of transition and origin. After 2020, her attention shifts to the 'shrinking areas' in Europe and the role that migrants play in revitalizing such areas.

Livelihood and translocal development
This research focuses on understanding livelihood strategies and the resilience of households to respond to rapidly changing circumstances (triggered by large-scale investments in land, but also climate change). Zoomers mainly concentrated on studying vulnerable groups in marginal regions. Her research tied in with the international field of 'livelihood' research, contributing to understanding the lives of poor people over time. An important conclusion was that 'the' local community does not exist. There is great diversity – and wellbeing and the resilience of communities appear to be largely determined by mobility and the ability of people to be active in multiple locations at the same time. She argues for a revision of the concept of 'local' community: villages are often not homogeneous and part of the population is outside. She indicates that development policy should pay more attention to mobility and the way people operate in translocal networks.

Publications, a selection

 * Rural Development and Survival Strategies in Central Paraguay; the policy of agricultural colonization as an instrument to alleviate the situation of the rural poor’ Ph.D.Thesis. CEDLA Latin America Studies, no. 46, September 1988, 230 pp.
 * Op zoek naar Eldorado. Over internationale migratie, sociale mobiliteit en ontwikkeling, Inaugurele rede, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen 2006
 * Buy your own paradise. Over land, mobiliteit en ontwikkelingsbeleid, Inaugural lecture, Faculteit Geowetenschappen, Universiteit Utrecht, 2008
 * Handbook of Translocal Development and Global Mobilities. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 2011 (geredigeerd met M. Leung, K. Otsuki en A. van Westen) https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788117425.
 * The Global Land Grab. Beyond the Hype, Zed Books, 3/6/2014 ISBN: 978-1-78032-894-2. 288 pages (geredigeerd met Mayke Kaag)
 * International migration and national development in sub-Saharan Africa. Viewpoints and policy initiatives in the countries of origin. Afrika-Studiecentrum Series Vol.10. Leiden/ Boston: Brill publishers, 2008, (geredigeerd met A.T. van Naerssen)
 * Current land policy in Latin America: regulating land tenure under neo-liberalism. KIT Publications & Iberoamericana/Vervuert Verlag, Amsterdam/Frankfurt/Madrid, 2000, 330 pp. (geredigeerd met G. van der Haar)
 * Linking livelihood strategies to development. KIT-CEDLA. Amsterdam, 1999, 108 pp.
 * Estrategias Campesinas en el Surandino de Bolivia. Intervenciones y desarrollo rural en el Norte de Chuquisaca y Potosí. KIT-CEDLA-Centro de Información para el Desarrollo (CID). PLURAL. La Paz., 1998, 619 pp. (redacteur)
 * Geoforum (2017) special issue From land grabs to inclusive development? (met K. Otsuki, and G. Schoneveld), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.01.009
 * Translocal development, development corridors and development chains, Special Issue: International Development Planning Review. Vol. 33, number 4 (2011). 377-509. (geredigeerd met G. van Westen)
 * Addressing the impacts of large-scale land investments: Re-engaging with livelihood research, in: K. Otsuki, G. Schoneveld, G. van Westen. A.Zoomers (eds). Geoforum special issue, From landgrabs to inclusive development? (2017). (K. Otsuki mede auteur) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.01.009
 * The Rush for Land in an Urbanizing World: From Land Grabbing Toward Developing Safe, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities and Landscapes. World Development Vol. 92, pp. 242–252, 2017. (met F. van Noorloos, K. Otsuki, G. Steel and A.van Westen)
 * ‘Between two hypes: Will ‘big data’ help unravel blind spots in understanding the “global land rush”?’, in: Geoforum, Vol.69, February 2016, p.147-159.(met A. Gekker and M.T. Schäfer) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515003140
 * ’Local development in the context of global migration and the global land rush: the need for a conceptual update’. Geography Compass 10/2 (2016): 56–66, 10.1111/gec3.12258.(met M. Leung and G. van Westen) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gec3.12258/pdf.
 * ’Globalization and the foreignization of space: The seven processes driving the current global land grab’. Journal of Peasant Studies. 37:2, 2010, pp. 429-447.
 * ’Development geography at the crossroads of livelihood and Globalisation’. In: G. Nijenhuis, A. Broekhuis and G. van Westen (eds) Place and Space in Development geography. Geographical perspectives on development in the 21st century, 2005, pp. 49-65. (met L. de Haan)
 * ’Exploring the frontier of livelihood research’ Development and Change 36((1), 2005, pp 27-47.(met Leo de Haan)
 * The future of EU-migration deals: between sticks and carrots. In: Clingendael Spectator 4, vol. 72., 2018,(met F. van Noorloos and I. van Liempt) https://spectator.clingendael.org/pub/2018/4/_/pdf/CS-2018-4-zoomers-van-noorloos-van-liempt.pdf