As a retired development sociologist, I have joined a civil-society organisation and am supporting its efforts regarding the UN’s fourth Sustainable Development Goal (Quality education).
Before retiring in early 2025, I was in charge of D+C Development and Education / E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (dandc.eu) for two decades. This platform is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry vor International Cooperation and Development with the mission of providing the Federal Government with a credible forum for international debate. I occasionally still contribute to various media outlets.
In 2001, Oxford University Press published my book “Taking the state to court – Public interest litigation and the public sphere in metropolitan India”. It was based on the empirical essay for which Bielefeld University awarded me my PhD in 1999. OUP discontinued international distribution, however, after the Calcutta High Courts started a contempt-of-court case against me. That case has been kept pending since 2001, but the High Court never notified me. The non-governmental Asienhaus has documented the OUP book in a digital version on its website.
Having grown up in Frankfurt, London, Chicago and Tübingen, I am a native speaker of both German and English. I have taught writing skills in many places, including Manila, Amman and Accra, mostly working on behalf of Deutsche Welle, the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and the International Institute for Journalism.
Should you be interested in cooperation, please contact me: webmaster@hans-dembowski.de.