Erin McCandless
​

Welcome to my website. ​I am a seasoned scholar, policy adviser and practitioner with nearly three decades of experience working on and in conflict- and crisis-affected, fragile and transitional settings. My focus lies in understanding these contexts and how processes of peacebuilding and transformative social change unfold and can be better nurtured in synergistic ways- towards the fostering of more just, sustainable and peaceful futures. I am Research Associate in the Politics Department at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and I also serve as an Associate Researcher at the German government’s Institute for Development and Sustainability (IDOS). My current, primary research is focused on how resilient and inclusive social contracts are forged in transitional settings, and builds upon a multi-country research and policy dialogue project that I directed from 2015-2018. I proudly co-founded and am virtual collections editor of the internationally peer reviewed Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, and I regularly collaborate with the United Nations and other international and civil society organisations, conducting research and evaluation, and facilitating strategic, policy-relevant processes and trainings. My bridging of scholarship, policy and practice allows me to offer a real world orientation to my scholarly work, and to apply robust methods and a wide knowledge of literature and evidence to my policy and practice work. 
 Spotlight
​
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Contributions: Administrative 
& Social Services to  Peacebuilding
UN inter-agency report
​(open access)
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Supporting Resilient Social Contracts
in Times of Crisis:  Lessons from
COVID-19 
Working paper​
​(open access) 
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​Critical evolutions in the peacebuilding-development praxis nexus: Crisis and complexity, synergy and  transformation  
​​(open access article) 
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​Journal of Peacebuilding 
& Development
Tri-annual refereed
Sage Journal 
​(open access 
​editorials and
​special collections)​
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​Social contracts:
A contribution to the Pathfinders grand challenge on inequality and exclusion 
Report
​(open access)​
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Peace Research for Africa: Critical Essays on Methodology 
UN University for Peace
Book 
​(open access) 

​Forging resilient social contracts​
​

Phase I of our research and policy dialogue project Forging Resilient Social Contracts
came to an end with the launching of our work and policy dialogues, in cities around the
world (including Stockholm, New York, Washington DC, Bogotá, Sarajevo, and Harare), and
publishing of our work through numerous outlets. Find full project details on our webpage.
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Special Issue: Resilient Social Contracts and Peace
Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding,  2020 (14:1)
​
​This special issue features five of our case studies and
an investigation into the role of inclusion in forging resilient social contracts. View journal issue and access complimentary opening article.
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​Resilient Social Contracts and Sustaining Peace
​International Peace Institute, New York.  (May 2018)

Watch one of our Phase I research launching / policy dialogue events that took place at the International Peace Institute.  

 ​Latest media contributions ​
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Forging Resilient and Inclusive Social Contract and The Role of Local Governance
Myanmar based academic institution. 
March 23, 2022
​Presentation
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What to expect from a Biden administration in the MENA region, 
co-author Bernard Trautner
​December 2020   
​op-ed
​

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Talk: Building institutions and Strengthening Social Cohesion in Southern Africa
​(Prof McCandless' presentation is 1.25 hours into video). ​
IDEA 25th Anniversary Global Virtual Conference: 'Democracy Now and Next'
November 19-20, 2020
Presentation 

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Podcast moderation: Social cohesion as a core dimension of building back better: MENA country reflections
​Geneva Peacebuilding Week
November 2, 2020
​Podcast

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Blog: International Cooperation with Fragile Mena Countries in the COVID-19 Context, with Bernard Trautner 
Building Back Better Social Contracts
September 2020   
​Op-ed
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Interview: Protests over the police killing of George Floyd
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) ​
June 2, 2020   
Interview ​

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Blog: George Floyd: The eyes of the world are watching now
Co-authored with Mary Hope Schwoebel
The Daily Maverick (May 2020) 
​Op-ed
​​​
The global protests over the death of George Floyd will not by themselves create and sustain change — action needs to be taken to change policies and practices, to forge new social contracts that better reflect the principles that we are all sufficiently willing to live by.
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Blog: We need to forge a resilient social compact in our fight against Covid-19, with Darlene Miller
​The Daily Maverick (May 2020) Op-ed (longer version)
​The Conversation (May 2020)  Op-ed (shorter version)

​This piece reflects on overly securitized responses of the military and police in the context of COVID-19 in South Africa, and the need for greater attention to social cohesion and solidarity to inform efforts to address the pandemic.
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Blog: Critical reflections on World Bank’s draft Fragility, Conflict and Violence Strategy
Bretton Woods Project (October 2019) 
​Op-ed

This piece critically reflects on the World Bank’s draft fragility, conflict and violence strategy. It argues that while pathways are offered to address issues, the strategy doesn't go far enough to address the systemic challenges within the global development system itself.

Latest academic publications
​

Please contact me ([email protected]) for a complimentary copy if open access is not available. Researchgate.net & Academia.edu also offers complimentary access to publications.
Critical evolutions in the peacebuilding-development praxis nexus: Crisis and complexity, synergy and transformation​Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 2021  
​Editorial - open access
Publisher website    
​More information
Peacebuilding-development nexus
Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, eds., O. Richmond and G. Visoka G., London: Palgrave, 2021
Publisher website   
More information
Conflict-disaster nexus
with Mary-Hope Schwoebel
​Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, eds., O. Richmond and G. Visoka G., London: Palgrave, 2021.
Publisher website   
More information
Beyond liberal and local peacebuilding: Alternatives for addressing the complexity of conflict and fragility in Africa
Africa Insight, 49(3) December 2020
Publisher website   
More information
Generations of Constructing Peace: The Constructivism Paradigm and Peacebuilding
with Tim Donais
Peacebuilding paradigms: The impact of theoretical diversity on implementing sustainable peace, H.F. Carey, ed.
​Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 
Publisher website  
More information
Peacebuilding
Understanding International Conflict Management, eds. C. Butcher and M.C. Hallward. London: Routledge, 2020.  
Publisher's website   
​More information
Resilient social contracts and peace: Towards a needed re-conceptualisation
Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 14(1), 1-21, 2020. 
Editorial - open access
Sustaining peace one day at a time: Inclusion, transition crises, and the resilience of social contracts
with Marie-Joelle Zahar
Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 14(1), 119–138, 2020. 
​Article - open access   


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