dr. (Jeff) JD Handmaker

Biography

I joined the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), which is the Hague Campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam in February 2007. Among my external academic appointments, I have been affiliated as a visiting scholar with the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand since January 2007, an Editor (since 2013) of the South African Journal on Human Rights (from Feb 2017- Feb 2019 Editor-in-Chief), a visiting research fellow in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University in 2017, a member of the teaching staff for the MSc in Law and Society at Leiden University from 2020-2023 and as a  Fellow and co-ordinator of a Theme Group at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciencies (NIAS) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in the 2020/21 Academic Year.

I studied law in England (1992: LLB, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and 1994: LLM, with Merit, School of Oriental and African Studies, London) and was called to the English bar in 1995. After fifteen years as a legal and human rights practitioner, mainly in South Africa and The Netherlands, in 2009 I obtained a PhD in the sociology of law at Utrecht University with a thesis on Advocating for Accountability: Civic-State Interactions to Protect Refugees in South Africa, which was published by Intersentia (Antwerp).

As a practitioner, was assistant to a British Member of Parliament (on miscarriages of justice), legal advisor for the Dutch Refugee Council, held various functions for the South African organisation Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and from 2000-2007 was director of Rea Hamba Advice, an international legal practice based in The Hague.

As a researcher, since 1999, I have published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters as well as a monograph, edited books and special issues. My  current academic research assesses the potential for legal mobilization to lead to progressive structural change.

In 2005, I received an NWO-WOTRO award to support field research in South Africa from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). Moreover, I participated in a two-year programme funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a two-year research and capacity-building programme funded by Hivos and a teaching project in Suriname. In a project led by Sanne Taekema the Erasmus School of Law we were awarded a five-year (2015-2020) matching grant from the Erasmus Trust Fonds amounting to a total of 1.8 million euros. In addition to the NIAS-KNAW fellowship (2020-21), I have been awarded several Erasmus+ Mobility and other grants.

In 2021, I formed a Consortium involving numerous universities and societal organizations and co-founded the Legal Mobilization Platform.

International Institute of Social Studies

Associate professor | Academic staff unit
Email
handmaker@iss.nl
Room
I3-10
Location
Kortenaerkade 12, 's - Gravenhage

More information

Work

  • Jeff Handmaker (18 January 2024) - Hoe Nederland worstelt met Israël-beleid; Israël Nederland worstelt met illegale nederzettingen
  • Jeff Handmaker (11 January 2024) - Waar draait de ‘genocidezaak’ van Zuid-Afrika tegen Israël om? En haalt een rechtszaak iets uit?
  • Jeff Handmaker (21 December 2023) - Booking.com biedt overnachtingen aan in illegale Israëlische nederzettingen
  • Jeff Handmaker (30 November 2023) - Objectief gesproken over Gaza
  • Jeff Handmaker, Yolande Jansen, Alessandra Spadaro & Mikki Stelder (21 November 2023) - Staakt-het-vuren cruciaal om genocide in Gaza te voorkomen
  • Jeff Handmaker, Yolande Jansen & Willem Jebbink (31 October 2023) - Opinie: Sta omstreden Palestijnse leus toe in de Tweede Kamer, censuur ervan is onterecht
  • Jeff Handmaker (31 October 2023) - Amnesty: inzet witte fosfor Israël in Libanon onderzoeken als oorlogsmisdrijf
  • Jeff Handmaker (31 October 2023) - investigating Israel’s use of white phosphorus in Lebanon as a war crime
  • Jeff Handmaker (30 October 2023) - How discussions about the current situation in Gaza/Israel take place
  • Jeff Handmaker (17 October 2023) - Wat betekent het woorden humanitaire en oorlogsrecht?

  • Jeff Handmaker & Sanne Taekema (2021) - Legal Mobilization as Counterpower
  • JD (Jeff) Handmaker (2021) - South African Journal on Human Rights (Journal)
  • Jeff Handmaker (2019) - International Journal of Refugee Law (Journal)
  • G Bisharat, Jeff Handmaker, G Karmi & A Tartir (2018) - Global Jurist (Journal)
  • Jeff Handmaker (2017) - South African Journal on Human Rights (Journal)
  • Jeff Handmaker (2017) - South African Journal on Human Rights (Journal)
  • Jeff Handmaker (2016) - Legal mobilisation als analytisch kader voor de betrokkenheid van bedrijven bij mensenrechtenschendingen in de Palestijnse gebieden
  • Jeff Handmaker (2015) - Legal mobilisation as a lens for law and development studies
  • Jeff Handmaker (2015) - The ‘Promise and Pathos’ of Legal Mobilization: Perspectives on Palestine
  • Jeff Handmaker (2015) - Legal Mobilization and the Potential for Transformative Change Through the South African Judiciary

Member of International Lawyers

Start date approval
December 2019
End date approval
December 9999
Place
GENEVA

Leiden University

Start date approval
November 2020
End date approval
December 9999
Place
LEIDEN
Description
Adjunct Lecturer

University of the Witwatersrand School of Law

Start date approval
May 2022
End date approval
December 9999
Place
JOHANNESBURG
Description
PhD Supervision; Administration of joint PhD progr

General Information

Year
2023
Course Code
ISSGENERAL-23-24

4216 Human Rights, Law and Society

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-4216-23-24

4153 Cont Perspectives on Social Justice

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-4153-23-24

Board of Examiners

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-BOE-23-24

Master track GMD

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-GMD-23-24

Major SJP

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-SJP-23-24

5401 Research Paper

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-5401-23-24

4352 Mobilizing Rights, Social Justice

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-4352-23-24

3105 Research Paper Preparation

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-3105-23-24

Major SJP

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-SJP-22-23

Master track GMD

Year
2023
Course Code
ISS-GMD-22-23

News regarding dr. (Jeff) JD Handmaker

Speaking objectively about Gaza

Experts plead for an open and honest discussion about Gaza
Open Rotterdam - Experts answer questions about Gaza - 2023

"Sometimes you have to pressure a state or a multinational company if you want them to comply with human rights"

Senior Lecturer Jeff Handmaker (ISS) conducts research in the field of human rights and legal mobilisation. "What steps can you take to use certain rights to…

'Legal Mobilization as a Counterpower'

Jeff Handmaker

Compare @count study programme

  • @title

    • Duration: @duration
Compare study programmes