Our Institute’s research focuses on ‘global vulnerabilities and social resilience’. Specifically, we highlight three interconnected themes: diversity, sustainability, and digitalisation.

For our individual research projects, see CADS Research Projects.

Our world is becoming increasingly fragile both economically and ecologically, with environments damaged by pollution or disaster and the rights of citizens eroded. However, despite growing instability, people continue to survive and remain hopeful. What strategies are they developing to maintain continuity while surrounded by uncertainty? How do they acquire the resilience to cope in a changing world? 

Diversity, Sustainability & Digitalisation

In Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, we explore these questions through three interconnected themes: 

1. Diversity, which encompasses social (in)equality, (individual and collective) responsibility, social cohesion, religion, cultural identity,  race,  gender, discrimination, belonging,  democracy, and migration.
    
2. Sustainability, including the ability of local groups to achieve not only material (food, water, soil, energy, climate, transformations in livelihood) but also socio-cultural sustainability (heritage, identity).
    
3. Digitalisation, a core driver of recent globalisation that connects individuals and groups in ways significantly impacting local coping strategies. In this increasingly interconnected world, social scientists must adopt new digital tools and research methodologies to both participate in changing media ecologies and mediate anthropological knowledge.

Guest Staff 

CADS often has guest collaborators. These are researchers who are involved in CADS because of their expertise. Guest collaborators can - on request and for a certain period - be provided to those who are doing research that is closely related to the specific CADS interests: diversity, sustainability, digitalisation and our signature methodology. 
During a fellowship, the researchers work together with members of the institute or contribute to one of the research projects. 

For research done by visiting scholars with the affiliation of CADS, a Data Management Plan must be submitted to the institute. Visiting scholars are expected to be intensively involved with the institute when they are in Leiden. This can be done by occasionally giving a research seminar or a guest lecture for our (PhD) students. 

It is good practice that a new guest employee sends an introduction e-mail to all employees of the institute. In it, they introduce themselves and explain what kind of research they are going to do or why they work with the institute.  After the visit, they send a short report to the board in which they tell what the visit has brought them.