Vivien Collingwood

I am an English-language editor and qualified Dutch-to-English translator, and occasional copywriter and researcher. I moved to the Netherlands in 2003, and have been working full-time as a freelance language professional since 2007.

Previous to this, I worked in the academic and non-governmental sectors. I trained as a historian and political scientist, gaining a BA (1998) in History from the University of Cambridge, and an M.Phil. (2001) and D.Phil. (2004) in International Relations from the University of Oxford. 

Between 2004 and 2005, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, taking part in a research programme on international human rights and environmental NGOs.  Between 2006 and 2007 I worked for Artsen zonder Grenzen, the Dutch branch of Médicins sans Frontières, as an assistant to the General Director and Director of Operations.

I am a full member of SENSE, the Society of English-Native-Speaking Editors in the Netherlands. I regularly take part in the excellent seminars and training programmes run by SENSE in the Netherlands. I have also taken a number of professional courses in translation provided by the Centre for Language Studies at City University in London.

Publications 

Working as an academic researcher, I published a number of articles and book chapters. As a result, I'm familiar with the process of academic writing and a number of specialised fields (international relations, social science, politics and development studies). Here are some of my publications:

Contributions to books:

• ‘The G7/G8’, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics ed. Iain Mclean and Alistair Macmillan, 3rd edition (Oxford: OUP, 2009).
• With Louis Logister, ‘Perceptions of the legitimacy of NGOs’, in A.Vedder (ed.), NGO Involvement in International Government and Policy, (Martinus Nijhoff: November 2007).

Articles include:

• ‘Non-governmental organisations, power and legitimacy in international society’, Review of International Studies (July 2006).
• with L. Logister, ‘State of the art: addressing the INGO “legitimacy deficit”’, Political Studies Review (volume 3, 2005).
• with L. Logister, ‘Globalisering en de legitimiteit van NGO’s’, Filosofie & Praktijk (26/4, 2005).
• ‘Assistance with fewer strings attached’, Ethics and International Affairs 17/1 (2003). 

Book reviews include:

• ‘Review: Wim van der Donk et al’s “Cyberprotest: New media, citizens, and social movements’, Information Polity 9/3,4 (2005).
• ‘Review: Charles Lipson’s “Reliable partners: How democracies have made a separate peace”’, Journal of European Affairs 2/1 (February 2004).