Oliver A. R. Schilling is a doctoral candidate at Bielefeld University, Germany. He is interested in power-relations instituted through the construction of expertise with regards to institution and capacity building in newly emerging political systems. In his current research project, Oliver investigates the role of international consultants in the process of legal development in Cambodia. He explores issues of ownership and reliability of knowledge production questioning the paradigm of ‘technical assistance’ in development practice. Furthermore, the study looks at parameters, which determine the competition of different concepts of normativity in a trans-national context.

Oliver joins the Harvard STS Programme as a fellow funded by the FES-Foundation. He holds Master degrees in International Politics and European Literature from ULB Brussels and Oxford University. Oliver has also worked as a journalist for the German foreign news service and other media.