Lau Schulpen
Biographic Data
| ID | 1399441 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lau Schulpen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lau |
| FAMILY NAME | Schulpen |
| SIGNATURE | SCHULPEN L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Radboud University Nijmegen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0211-1324 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 87 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
A Tale of Two Worlds: Exploring the Range and Depth of NGO–Academic Collaboration in International Development Across Europe
Studies on NGO–academic collaboration in international development focus on the joint conduct of research, often neglecting other cooperation activities. Here, we inductively explore and catalogue a fuller picture of NGO–academic relations, including practitioner perspectives towards academia. Based on 20 interviews with European development NGO staff and 51 survey responses, we devise a typology to capture the types and purposes of, as well as b…
Power and its discontents: The long road to systemic change in the aid sector
NGOs are taking incremental steps to reconfigure power dynamics and foster more equal relationships between Northern and Southern actors. • Most actions to address North-South power imbalances do not fundamentally change power dynamics or tackle the root causes of inequality. • Most actions are Northern-led, running the risk of reinforcing power relations in the aid system. • NGO are making slow progress in shifting power and individual actions c…
Navigating the shift: Unravelling Power Dynamics With the Power Awareness Tool
This paper tackles the challenge of translating rhetoric into tangible actions within the Shift the Power debate, which advocates for greater decision-making authority, funding, and leadership for Southern organisations and aims for more equitable partnerships. The Power Awareness Tool (PAT) was developed to facilitate structured conversations in organisations on prevailing power inequalities and potential solutions. The PAT operates on the premi…
Financial Sustainability and Influence Dynamics in Yemen's Conflict-Affected NGO Landscape: Unveiling ‘Sheikh’ Organizations
This study examines the role of Sheikh NGOs as financial gatekeepers in Yemen’s NGO sector, showing how their control over aid distribution reinforces dependency and limits local NGOs' autonomy. Through interviews with 45 stakeholders, the research reveals the challenges that local NGOs face in achieving financial sustainability amid economic instability, political turmoil, and dwindling donor support. The findings indicate a significant asymmetr…
Northern NGO-centrism in localisation processes: Reproducing Power Inequities in the Aid Field
This paper examines the process of discussing and designing actions to tackle power inequities by Northern and Southern NGOs. Drawing on 53 interviews with Northern and Southern NGOs, and NNGO networks, we argue that current localisation processes produce a form of cultural capital leveraged by competing Northern NGOs rooted in signalling solidarity with SNGOs and/or communities to donors through rhetorical and symbolic practices, reinforcing the…
Beyond the Immediate Effects of Covid-19: Exploring the Consequences of the Pandemic on the Southern NGO Partners of Dutch Ingos
Contains fulltext : 298030.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Women's rights agenda and fragmented advocacy for safe abortion in Kenya
Restrictive abortion laws resulting in unsafe abortions form one of the key causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in Kenya. Despite the existence of several Women's Rights Organisations (WROs), advocacy for safe abortions against restrictive laws does not have the momentum the subject deserves. This research draws on agenda-setting literature to explore factors that impede advocacy initiatives of WROs against restrictive abortion laws in Ken…
Long-Lasting, But Not Transformative. An Ex-post Sustainability Study of Development Interventions of Private Development Initiatives
This article presents the results of the first ex-post sustainability study among 93 development interventions implemented between 1990 and 2008 in Kenya, India, South Africa, and Ghana. The interventions were undertaken by 42 different local organisations with support from an equal number of Dutch small-scale, voluntary development organisations. We find that a large number of interventions still achieve the intended output and outcome results. …
Stuck in a “Catch-22”: Why Donors Fail to Include Grassroots Perspectives on CSO Legitimacy
Government and civil society organizations: Close but comfortable? Lessons from creating the Dutch “Strategic Partnerships for Lobby and Advocacy”
Adding to the Controversy? Civil Society’s Evaluation of the National Conference Dialogue in Yemen
This article assembles a picture of Yemen’s 2013–14 National Dialogue Conference (NDC) by collecting perspectives from local civil society organizations (CSOs), which are contrasted to the views of international commentators. Despite all efforts by internal parties as well as the international community, the dialogue failed to avert war, which broke out shortly after. Through interviews with 50 CSOs, we reconstructed the reasons for failure, as w…
New sectoral perspectives on international NGOs: Scale, Dynamics and Influences
Contains fulltext : 224766.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Does "the" Dutch Ingo exist? Mapping a decade of financial and organisational change
This article traces the development of Dutch INGOs over 2010–2017 using a unique dataset of 366 organisations. Overall, the Dutch INGO sector has remained quite financially stable and shows resilience in offsetting declines in one type of income by intensifying income generation from another source. However, this overall picture obscures diverging dynamics for subgroups based on the size of their budget. Analysis at the sector and size-class leve…
National dialogues as an interruption of civil war – the case of Yemen
Yemeni tribes have traditionally used dialogues to prevent clashes. At national level this tradition has been applied to prevent civil wars. This article discusses whether national dialogues are suitable instruments for setting disputes at national level, looking at the circumstances under which these dialogues could lead to successful results. Several criteria are considered, of which building an environment of trust and ownership of external in…
Media frames and public perceptions of global poverty in the UK: Is there a link
This study investigates the relationship between media frames and public perceptions of global poverty. Building on a frame analysis, the paper reconstructs prevailing poverty narratives in British news articles and non-governmental organizations’ (NGO’s) advertisements between 2011 and 2013. Following this, these narratives are compared with the narratives that emerge from public opinion studies. The findings suggest that there is a strong conne…
Understanding the Sustainability of Private Development Initiatives: What Kind of Difference Do They Make
In the Netherlands, there is a large group of small-scale, voluntary development organisations, referred to as Private Development Initiatives (PDIs). By classifying PDI interventions based on their potential sustainability, we aim to enhance our understanding of PDIs as alternative development actors and to get insight into the diversity within this group. We rely on detailed data of 49 Dutch PDIs active in Kenya and Indonesia. The classificatio…
Thinking and Writing About Global Poverty: A comparison of journalist frames and media frames
Journalistic coverage informs audiences about poverty in developing countries. However, little is known about the contribution of individual journalists to the frame building of this topic. This study explores the cognitive frames of 54 journalists from the Netherlands who regularly write about the issue. The results are compared with the media frames in their articles. Additionally, the study identifies factors that influence the frame-building …
In Search of the Pitiful Victim: A Frame Analysis of Dutch, Flemish and British Newspapers and NGO‐Advertisements
This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the representation of global poverty in Western media. Both NGOs and journalists are being criticized for their one‐sided emphasis on the misery and dependency of people in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to measure the extent of such problematizing representation in newspaper articles and NGO‐advertisements. A frame analysis was conducted of 876 articles and 284 advertisement…
Worlds Apart But Much Alike: Donor Funding and the Homogenization of NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
Private Development Aid in Europe
The authors present an overview of private development aid in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the EU as a whole. They illustrate how private aid organisa
From Plains and Mountains
Reinventing International Development NGOs – The Case of Icco
Cut from a Different Cloth? Comparing Democracy-Promoting NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
This study compares donor-sponsored non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting democracy in Ghana and Indonesia. Starting from the idea that democracy and civil society are context-specific phenomena, we explore the question of what context-specificity means for individual NGOs. While donors and researchers alike stress the importance of context, context-specificity remains an ill-defined and elusive concept. Our study contributes to the deb…
Dutch civil society at crossroads
n Contains fulltext :\n 122650.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
From tourist to development worker. Private development initiatives in the Netherlands
Cet article analyse la croissance des initiatives privées de développement (IPD) aux Pays-Bas. Le concept d'IPD est étudié et resitué dans le canal de l'aide philanthropique. À partir de données récoltées auprès de 900 IPD, les caractéristiques de leurs créateurs et de leurs membres sont étudiées. L'article aborde, également, le soutien fourni par ces initiatives aux pays en développement et jette un regard critique sur leur participation à la co…
Private Sector Development: Policies, Practices and Problems
Understanding the Sustainability of Private Development Initiatives: What Kind of Difference Do They Make
In the Netherlands, there is a large group of small-scale, voluntary development organisations, referred to as Private Development Initiatives (PDIs). By classifying PDI interventions based on their potential sustainability, we aim to enhance our understanding of PDIs as alternative development actors and to get insight into the diversity within this group. We rely on detailed data of 49 Dutch PDIs active in Kenya and Indonesia. The classificatio…
From tourist to development worker. Private development initiatives in the Netherlands
Cet article analyse la croissance des initiatives privées de développement (IPD) aux Pays-Bas. Le concept d'IPD est étudié et resitué dans le canal de l'aide philanthropique. À partir de données récoltées auprès de 900 IPD, les caractéristiques de leurs créateurs et de leurs membres sont étudiées. L'article aborde, également, le soutien fourni par ces initiatives aux pays en développement et jette un regard critique sur leur participation à la co…
Media frames and public perceptions of global poverty in the UK: Is there a link
This study investigates the relationship between media frames and public perceptions of global poverty. Building on a frame analysis, the paper reconstructs prevailing poverty narratives in British news articles and non-governmental organizations’ (NGO’s) advertisements between 2011 and 2013. Following this, these narratives are compared with the narratives that emerge from public opinion studies. The findings suggest that there is a strong conne…
Thinking and Writing About Global Poverty: A comparison of journalist frames and media frames
Journalistic coverage informs audiences about poverty in developing countries. However, little is known about the contribution of individual journalists to the frame building of this topic. This study explores the cognitive frames of 54 journalists from the Netherlands who regularly write about the issue. The results are compared with the media frames in their articles. Additionally, the study identifies factors that influence the frame-building …
Worlds Apart But Much Alike: Donor Funding and the Homogenization of NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
Corridors of Power: The Institutional Design of North–South NGO Partnerships
Power asymmetries within partnerships between Northern and Southern NGOs are thought to be undesirable. Based on a comparative case study of the partnerships between three Northern NGOs and their Southern partners in Ghana, India and Nicaragua, this study examines how the partnerships’ institutional design affects local partners’ room to manoeuvre. It is demonstrated that (1) the Northern agencies unilaterally set the rules that govern the partne…
In Search of the Pitiful Victim: A Frame Analysis of Dutch, Flemish and British Newspapers and NGO‐Advertisements
This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the representation of global poverty in Western media. Both NGOs and journalists are being criticized for their one‐sided emphasis on the misery and dependency of people in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to measure the extent of such problematizing representation in newspaper articles and NGO‐advertisements. A frame analysis was conducted of 876 articles and 284 advertisement…
Stuck in a “Catch-22”: Why Donors Fail to Include Grassroots Perspectives on CSO Legitimacy
Adding to the Controversy? Civil Society’s Evaluation of the National Conference Dialogue in Yemen
This article assembles a picture of Yemen’s 2013–14 National Dialogue Conference (NDC) by collecting perspectives from local civil society organizations (CSOs), which are contrasted to the views of international commentators. Despite all efforts by internal parties as well as the international community, the dialogue failed to avert war, which broke out shortly after. Through interviews with 50 CSOs, we reconstructed the reasons for failure, as w…
Long-Lasting, But Not Transformative. An Ex-post Sustainability Study of Development Interventions of Private Development Initiatives
This article presents the results of the first ex-post sustainability study among 93 development interventions implemented between 1990 and 2008 in Kenya, India, South Africa, and Ghana. The interventions were undertaken by 42 different local organisations with support from an equal number of Dutch small-scale, voluntary development organisations. We find that a large number of interventions still achieve the intended output and outcome results. …
Reinventing International Development NGOs – The Case of Icco
New sectoral perspectives on international NGOs: Scale, Dynamics and Influences
Contains fulltext : 224766.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Does "the" Dutch Ingo exist? Mapping a decade of financial and organisational change
This article traces the development of Dutch INGOs over 2010–2017 using a unique dataset of 366 organisations. Overall, the Dutch INGO sector has remained quite financially stable and shows resilience in offsetting declines in one type of income by intensifying income generation from another source. However, this overall picture obscures diverging dynamics for subgroups based on the size of their budget. Analysis at the sector and size-class leve…
National dialogues as an interruption of civil war – the case of Yemen
Yemeni tribes have traditionally used dialogues to prevent clashes. At national level this tradition has been applied to prevent civil wars. This article discusses whether national dialogues are suitable instruments for setting disputes at national level, looking at the circumstances under which these dialogues could lead to successful results. Several criteria are considered, of which building an environment of trust and ownership of external in…
Cut from a Different Cloth? Comparing Democracy-Promoting NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
This study compares donor-sponsored non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting democracy in Ghana and Indonesia. Starting from the idea that democracy and civil society are context-specific phenomena, we explore the question of what context-specificity means for individual NGOs. While donors and researchers alike stress the importance of context, context-specificity remains an ill-defined and elusive concept. Our study contributes to the deb…
Dutch civil society at crossroads
n Contains fulltext :\n 122650.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Private Sector Development: Policies, Practices and Problems
Corridors of Power: The Institutional Design of North–South NGO Partnerships
Power asymmetries within partnerships between Northern and Southern NGOs are thought to be undesirable. Based on a comparative case study of the partnerships between three Northern NGOs and their Southern partners in Ghana, India and Nicaragua, this study examines how the partnerships’ institutional design affects local partners’ room to manoeuvre. It is demonstrated that (1) the Northern agencies unilaterally set the rules that govern the partne…
Cut from a Different Cloth? Comparing Democracy-Promoting NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
This study compares donor-sponsored non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting democracy in Ghana and Indonesia. Starting from the idea that democracy and civil society are context-specific phenomena, we explore the question of what context-specificity means for individual NGOs. While donors and researchers alike stress the importance of context, context-specificity remains an ill-defined and elusive concept. Our study contributes to the deb…
Dutch civil society at crossroads
n Contains fulltext :\n 122650.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
From tourist to development worker. Private development initiatives in the Netherlands
Cet article analyse la croissance des initiatives privées de développement (IPD) aux Pays-Bas. Le concept d'IPD est étudié et resitué dans le canal de l'aide philanthropique. À partir de données récoltées auprès de 900 IPD, les caractéristiques de leurs créateurs et de leurs membres sont étudiées. L'article aborde, également, le soutien fourni par ces initiatives aux pays en développement et jette un regard critique sur leur participation à la co…
Private Development Aid in Europe
The authors present an overview of private development aid in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the EU as a whole. They illustrate how private aid organisa
From Plains and Mountains
Reinventing International Development NGOs – The Case of Icco
Worlds Apart But Much Alike: Donor Funding and the Homogenization of NGOs in Ghana and Indonesia
In Search of the Pitiful Victim: A Frame Analysis of Dutch, Flemish and British Newspapers and NGO‐Advertisements
This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the representation of global poverty in Western media. Both NGOs and journalists are being criticized for their one‐sided emphasis on the misery and dependency of people in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to measure the extent of such problematizing representation in newspaper articles and NGO‐advertisements. A frame analysis was conducted of 876 articles and 284 advertisement…
Understanding the Sustainability of Private Development Initiatives: What Kind of Difference Do They Make
In the Netherlands, there is a large group of small-scale, voluntary development organisations, referred to as Private Development Initiatives (PDIs). By classifying PDI interventions based on their potential sustainability, we aim to enhance our understanding of PDIs as alternative development actors and to get insight into the diversity within this group. We rely on detailed data of 49 Dutch PDIs active in Kenya and Indonesia. The classificatio…
Thinking and Writing About Global Poverty: A comparison of journalist frames and media frames
Journalistic coverage informs audiences about poverty in developing countries. However, little is known about the contribution of individual journalists to the frame building of this topic. This study explores the cognitive frames of 54 journalists from the Netherlands who regularly write about the issue. The results are compared with the media frames in their articles. Additionally, the study identifies factors that influence the frame-building …
National dialogues as an interruption of civil war – the case of Yemen
Yemeni tribes have traditionally used dialogues to prevent clashes. At national level this tradition has been applied to prevent civil wars. This article discusses whether national dialogues are suitable instruments for setting disputes at national level, looking at the circumstances under which these dialogues could lead to successful results. Several criteria are considered, of which building an environment of trust and ownership of external in…
Media frames and public perceptions of global poverty in the UK: Is there a link
This study investigates the relationship between media frames and public perceptions of global poverty. Building on a frame analysis, the paper reconstructs prevailing poverty narratives in British news articles and non-governmental organizations’ (NGO’s) advertisements between 2011 and 2013. Following this, these narratives are compared with the narratives that emerge from public opinion studies. The findings suggest that there is a strong conne…
Government and civil society organizations: Close but comfortable? Lessons from creating the Dutch “Strategic Partnerships for Lobby and Advocacy”
Adding to the Controversy? Civil Society’s Evaluation of the National Conference Dialogue in Yemen
This article assembles a picture of Yemen’s 2013–14 National Dialogue Conference (NDC) by collecting perspectives from local civil society organizations (CSOs), which are contrasted to the views of international commentators. Despite all efforts by internal parties as well as the international community, the dialogue failed to avert war, which broke out shortly after. Through interviews with 50 CSOs, we reconstructed the reasons for failure, as w…
New sectoral perspectives on international NGOs: Scale, Dynamics and Influences
Contains fulltext : 224766.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Does "the" Dutch Ingo exist? Mapping a decade of financial and organisational change
This article traces the development of Dutch INGOs over 2010–2017 using a unique dataset of 366 organisations. Overall, the Dutch INGO sector has remained quite financially stable and shows resilience in offsetting declines in one type of income by intensifying income generation from another source. However, this overall picture obscures diverging dynamics for subgroups based on the size of their budget. Analysis at the sector and size-class leve…
Long-Lasting, But Not Transformative. An Ex-post Sustainability Study of Development Interventions of Private Development Initiatives
This article presents the results of the first ex-post sustainability study among 93 development interventions implemented between 1990 and 2008 in Kenya, India, South Africa, and Ghana. The interventions were undertaken by 42 different local organisations with support from an equal number of Dutch small-scale, voluntary development organisations. We find that a large number of interventions still achieve the intended output and outcome results. …
Stuck in a “Catch-22”: Why Donors Fail to Include Grassroots Perspectives on CSO Legitimacy
Women's rights agenda and fragmented advocacy for safe abortion in Kenya
Restrictive abortion laws resulting in unsafe abortions form one of the key causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in Kenya. Despite the existence of several Women's Rights Organisations (WROs), advocacy for safe abortions against restrictive laws does not have the momentum the subject deserves. This research draws on agenda-setting literature to explore factors that impede advocacy initiatives of WROs against restrictive abortion laws in Ken…
Beyond the Immediate Effects of Covid-19: Exploring the Consequences of the Pandemic on the Southern NGO Partners of Dutch Ingos
Contains fulltext : 298030.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Navigating the shift: Unravelling Power Dynamics With the Power Awareness Tool
This paper tackles the challenge of translating rhetoric into tangible actions within the Shift the Power debate, which advocates for greater decision-making authority, funding, and leadership for Southern organisations and aims for more equitable partnerships. The Power Awareness Tool (PAT) was developed to facilitate structured conversations in organisations on prevailing power inequalities and potential solutions. The PAT operates on the premi…
Financial Sustainability and Influence Dynamics in Yemen's Conflict-Affected NGO Landscape: Unveiling ‘Sheikh’ Organizations
This study examines the role of Sheikh NGOs as financial gatekeepers in Yemen’s NGO sector, showing how their control over aid distribution reinforces dependency and limits local NGOs' autonomy. Through interviews with 45 stakeholders, the research reveals the challenges that local NGOs face in achieving financial sustainability amid economic instability, political turmoil, and dwindling donor support. The findings indicate a significant asymmetr…
Northern NGO-centrism in localisation processes: Reproducing Power Inequities in the Aid Field
This paper examines the process of discussing and designing actions to tackle power inequities by Northern and Southern NGOs. Drawing on 53 interviews with Northern and Southern NGOs, and NNGO networks, we argue that current localisation processes produce a form of cultural capital leveraged by competing Northern NGOs rooted in signalling solidarity with SNGOs and/or communities to donors through rhetorical and symbolic practices, reinforcing the…
Political science (22 works) · Sociology (20 works) · International Development and Aid (15 works) · Economics (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Politics (10 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (9 works) · Civil society (8 works) · Development economics (8 works)