Emma is a lecturer at the BA International Studies programme at Leiden University-Campus The Hague. She teaches first-year to third-year courses. Before joining academia, Emma was a social development worker for more than a decade. She took on roles in research, publication, advocacy, network coordination, project development and management, and donor relations. Her teaching and research are grounded in her social development experience, particularly her work and interaction with local governments, non-government organisations, informal settlers, prostituted women and children, and grassroots communities.

More information about Emma Lynn Cantal

Research

Emma's current research is a comparative case study of the Philippine and Cambodian experiences in the uptake and consolidation of conditional cash transfers, and the complex dynamics between external and domestic actors in social protection policy-making in these two countries. She plans on expanding her research to include social health protection, labour regulations, and the gender dimensions of social protection, especially in the context of crisis and disasters. She also hopes to practise (again) participatory research methods, which she values as an academic and activist at heart.

Fields of interest

Political economy of aid and of social policy and protection in developing countries, with regional expertise in Southeast Asia.