Links & Contents I Liked 360

Hi all, 

Another week with a special COVID-19 section-focusing on globally diverse, interesting, alternative media & communication projects; plus non-COVID reading suggestions & more!

P.S.: I will take a short Easter break next week and should be back the following week  

Stay healthy!
 
My quotes of the week
As women we have been denied the right to housing. Even when we build our own houses they are destroyed. Housing is not possible without land and we are denied the right to land. We have been oppressed by the Kings in our rural areas. You are denied access to land if you are a single mother. We have moved to the city and now we are still facing the same oppression from the eThekwini Municipality.
(Organising in the time of COVID19: Abahlali base Mjondolo Womens League speaks out on evictions)

“Retailers are calling on the governments of garment-producing countries to provide support for workers, but if you’re going to base your hugely profitable supply chain in countries where you know no such social safety net is available, you have to take responsibility when things go wrong.”
(Primark among retailers cancelling £2.4bn orders in ‘catastrophic’ move for Bangladesh)

COVID-19 & #globaldev
Organising in the times of Covid19

How are we going to be indoors while our houses are being demolished? Some of us we are single parents who not working. We can’t afford to buy more building material after the securities, armed men sent by the government, have broken and burnt it.
As women we have been denied the right to housing. Even when we build our own houses they are destroyed. Housing is not possible without land and we are denied the right to land. We have been oppressed by the Kings in our rural areas. You are denied access to land if you are a single mother. We have moved to the city and now we are still facing the same oppression from the eThekwini Municipality. It is really so sad for a single mother and her children to be chased away from their homes at this very hard time. It is such a humiliation. What must a mother say to her children? It is such an embarrassment to our government. What happened to the ‘women empowerment’ that the President of the party in power promised us at the beginning of the year? It is clear to us that this ‘women empowerment’ is not for us. When we work to empower ourselves securities are sent to attack us.

This is an amazing blog project by Daraja Press featuring many voices not audible, visible or readable in mainstream media. The quote above is from the latest piece written by the Abahlali base Mjondolo Womens League from Durban, South Africa.

COVID-19: Global coverage for a pandemic

Our goal is to present the various ways in which COVID-19 affects human and digital rights, freedom of expression, causes more mis- and disinformation, and challenges existing systems of media ecology, public health, governance, politics, global economy – from a local perspective, while keeping in mind our global readership.

Global Voices is another 'alternative' media site with a wide range of reporting from unusual places.

Resource List: Communicating about COVID-19
I have a hard time finding the owner/curator of this Google Doc with an incredible range of resources for the C4D crowd and beyond!

Coronavirus public health warnings and PSA on social media

I thought it was important to collate and share some of the public health warnings and PSA about coronavirus (COVID-19) from both governments and celebrities, in the hope that people can learn from some of the excellent videos and infographics being shared on social media to combat this awful pandemic.

David Girling also did a great job curating some PSAs from around the globe.

Stay or go? An international aid worker’s coronavirus dilemma

We as aid workers are in turn a risk: even if we procure the soap and triple our hygiene kits, staff in the field could get sick and further spread the illness. Western governments are floundering trying to contain the virus, and trying to keep frontline staff safe. Are we – is anyone – any better prepared?
It was my decision to leave, and I will carry the consequences on my shoulders. Others remain, and they will bear the consequences of staying and trying to deliver.
As I began to write this, I was flying over Kandahar on one of the last flights out of Kabul. I know I am leaving when people here might think they need us the most. Perhaps my calculations will have been wrong: perhaps we do have a role to play and I stepped away at a crucial time.

Annika Hampson for the New Humanitarian. (another great resource for #globaldev-related Covid updates)

For the global development community, COVID-19 poses big questions

One development leader questioned how well some government donors were prepared for any of this. It is “shocking” how behind they are on basics like telework, unable to download video conferencing software to government laptops, for example.
There has long been a tension between the need for nimble, agile funding and government procurement processes and traditional philanthropy cultures. This crisis may bring that tension to a head, raising a new level of accountability for major funders as COVID-19 potentially upends much of the global south. Fingers may get pointed this year in a way they haven’t before. This is especially the case if China rises to the occasion, providing makeshift hospitals and medical equipment while Western donors can only manage suspended debt payments.

Raj Kumar for DevEx shares some interesting reflection on the longer-term impact of Covid on the aid industry.

Primark among retailers cancelling £2.4bn orders in ‘catastrophic’ move for Bangladesh

“The brands are trying to minimise their losses but the impact on the ground in Bangladesh has already been catastrophic and will spell disaster for millions of families,” she said.
“Retailers are calling on the governments of garment-producing countries to provide support for workers, but if you’re going to base your hugely profitable supply chain in countries where you know no such social safety net is available, you have to take responsibility when things go wrong.”

Annie Kelly for the Guardian on the economic fall-out of the Covid crisis.

The coronavirus crisis has exposed the ugly truth about celebrity culture and capitalism

Celebrities being clueless is nothing new, but it feels as if there has never been such anger levelled at the jet set. Far from being a “great equaliser”, coronavirus has made inequality impossible to ignore. That is not just wealth inequality, but inequality of access to healthcare. A new famous person seems to test positive for coronavirus every day while exhibiting mild symptoms at best. Meanwhile, our friends and family can be coughing up their lungs and still not get access to a test or a hospital bed. Celebrity culture and capitalism are inextricably entwined. Both elevate the individual over the collective good. They rely on the lie of “meritocracy”: work hard and you can achieve whatever you want. But it has become uncomfortably clear how little we value our hardest workers – the healthcare professionals, supermarket staff, bus drivers and delivery drivers who are keeping the world running while the rich run to their second homes.

Arwa Mahdawi for the Guardian with an important reminder that Richard 'Virgin bailout' Branson & co are affected differently by the virus than the 99%...

Pandemics and Violence Against Women and Children

Based on existing published and grey literature, we document nine main (direct and indirect) pathways linking pandemics and VAW/C, through effects of (on):(1) economic insecurity and poverty-related stress, (2) quarantines and social isolation, (3) disaster and conflict-related unrest and instability, (4) exposure to exploitative relationships due to changing demographics, (5) reduced health service availability and access to first responders, (6) inability of women to temporarily escape abusive partners, (7) virus-specific sources of violence, (8) exposure to violence and coercion in response efforts, and (9) violence perpetrated against health care workers.

Amber Peterman, Alina Potts, Megan O'Donnell, Kelly Thompson, Niyati Shah, Sabine Oertelt-Prigione & Nicole van Gelder with a new working paper for the Center for Global Development.

The ugly face of health politics – COVID-19 and the hypocrisy of the ‘saving lives’ metaphor

In these inequalities, each and every one of us has a role to play or is at least a bystander. Every day, behind closed doors, far away from public scrutiny and often in parlance too cryptic and scientific for ordinary citizens to decipher, (global) health politics means making existential choices to ameliorate the health and well-being of some while sacrificing that of others. We should acknowledge this inherent dilemma of health politics in our reflections on the current crisis.

Anna Holzscheiter for WZB in Germany shares reflections on the inherently political choices of the 'saving lives' discourse. 

The Lomidine Files (book review)

It is a historical inquiry into the very essence of how the French colonial state ‘worked’ and how a socio-political apparatus armed with a hubristic believe in the power of medical science subjugated native populations to dangerous medical interventions. Killing dozens of recipients, the mirage of a preventive wonder drug was eventually uncovered to be medically faulty and the story of Lomidine was hidden in public and corporate archives of the drug manufacturer

Apparently, some French doctors suggested to test Covid vaccines in Africa...my review of Guillaume Lachenal’s excellent book may come in handy when colonial fantasies pop up right now...

Leading Groups Online

Using their combined two decades of online facilitation, Jeanne and Daniel walk you through the basics of how to lead sessions online. They give you their top 10 principles for leading online groups, introduce you to interactive tools you can lead online, and answer commonly asked questions.
With this guide, you will be ready to successfully transition your face-to-face events for warmer online spaces.

Jeanne Rewa & Daniel Hunter with a great resource that has something to offer for everyone-from beginners to online pros!

In other development news


The Captivating Dancer Behind Afrobeats’ Biggest Stars

Now they’re happening quickly for Odigie, who has been touring the globe, choreographing for the stars and popularizing her own reinterpretations of contemporary dance moves — riding a wave of Afrobeats’ surging popularity.

Eromo Egbejule for ozy portraits Iziegbe 'Izzy' Odigie & the growing popularity of Afrobeats.

After 3 previous failed attempts at getting the WORLD BANK TO RELEASE $500M for #Tanzania SECONDARY EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (#SEQUIP), @WorldBank has finally APPROVED the DISBURSEMENT of the funds, to the relief of Government functionaries #SEQUIPTZloan

Thread pic.twitter.com/Wmb0VZyhip

— #Am (@iAlen) April 1, 2020

Publications
Saving the World by Doing Business?

Whereas the narrative formerly emphasized the importance of selfless global solidarity it has now opened up for approaches that are overtly strategic and self-interested in relation to safety, values, and business interests. While business has always been part of development, the change in narrative has further legitimized combining profit and development. We show how the Danish Government has encouraged civil society to engage in joint ventures with the business sector and describe a spectrum of humanitarian and development initiatives with private business. Together these trends and initiatives have resulted in a Danish institutional framework that, we find, strongly supports and promotes the involvement of business in the development sector.

Mette Fog Olwig & Julie Andersen Schou with a new working paper for the Centre for Business and Development Studies.

"The speed of new technology is so rapid that we often don’t realise a lot of the tech we already use is ‘automation’ in the workplace,” says Turing doctoral student & researcher @SannaOjanpera in @raconteur. Read the full article about future workplaces: https://t.co/W8IOfiWMCt pic.twitter.com/lKNdzYxXfv

— turinginst (@turinginst) March 30, 2020

  From Isolation to Integration : The Borderlands of the Horn of Africa (English)

Pastoralism and trade, the dominant livelihoods in the Horn of Africa, require the easy movement of people and goods within and across borders—and continue to heavily rely on cross-country clan and ethnic affiliations. Local institutions therefore still play a key role in regulating and facilitating economic activity and managing conflict, especially as the formal institutions are often weak or absent. Even in areas at the periphery of state control, the borderlands remain highly connected to circuits of global capital and exchange.

Varalakshmi Vemuru, Matthew Stephens, Aditya Sarkar, Andrew James Roberts & Anton Karel George Baare with a new paper for the World Bank.
It sounds interesting, but I just wish there was a better way to entice me & others to explore the paper further...the landing page, clunky abstract and 224-page 'working paper' pdf make it more difficult than it should be...

Academia
Vicarious Trauma From Online Extremism Research – A Call to Action

Strategies to cope with these issues have been discussed within the academic community. However, we are still at a stage where a lack of strategic support systems has ongoing consequences beyond the individual researcher’s well-being. Universities and research projects must find common ground in their efforts to develop cohesive support systems, while also encouraging research on politically and emotionally distressing issues by allocating resources to protect mental health.

My dear colleague & friend Michael Krona for the Global Network on Extremism & Technology highlights another important area where researchers need more support to ensure their mental health & well-being.

The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning

Well-planned online learning experiences are meaningfully different from courses offered online in response to a crisis or disaster. Colleges and universities working to maintain instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic should understand those differences when evaluating this emergency remote teaching.

Charles Hodges, Stephanie Moore, Barb Lockee, Torrey Trust & Aaron Bond for Educause Review with great food for thought on how 'getting through the next semester online' differs from longer-term strategies to offer online blended learning.

What we were reading 5 years ago
(Link review 149, 6 July 2015)
Who do anthropologists think they are?!

As long as the academic industry is what it is, a highly individualized, specialized and professionalized space, it will be difficult to change the forms and products of how anthropology is expressed by the majority of students and researchers.
What if group- or co-writing between ‘natives’ and ‘students’ would be encouraged? In ‘my’ field development and organizational anthropology many local aid workers, aid industry staff or ‘beneficiaries’ could easily join the ethnographic endeavor thanks to global academia’s advances.
And what if a training course on, say, reflective practice or writing or participatory video that will enable the ‘voiceless’ to express themselves would count as much as chapter of a thesis written by the trainer/student/anthropologist?
Or maybe time frames have to shift and a blog post or newspaper article needs to be published by the anthropologist every six weeks alongside a short reflection paper for the administration? And it would be acknowledged by funding agencies and tenure review boards.
But then we are back at the beginning: The question of what makes anthropology different and valuable in a globalized world of (media) content – and why anthropologists think they still have the ability to give a ‘voice’ to someone other than themselves.

Me on writing & doing anthropology...there is definitely some movement in the discipline for change-especially around 'decolonizing' knowledge, practices & #highered, but it's more of a glacial shift than radical change...

Status Update (book review)

But Marwick’s book deserves more credits as an excellent example of ‘netnography’-exploring digital culture with ethnographic methodologies; the book is an excellent ethnographic and sociological analysis of how lives, work, brands and ‘stuff’ is rapidly changing and that the debates in international development can benefit from engaging with this book and where celebrity, publicity and branding will take us in the digital age.
The fact that the book is well edited, very readable and does not feel too ‘academic’ rounds off my recommendation as a worthy contender for your intellectual summer reading list!

Me with another book review of Alice Marwick's great work!

Everything Is Yours, Everything Is Not Yours

At age six, I ran away with my sister to escape the Rwandan massacre. We spent seven years as refugees. What do you want me to do about it? Cry?

Joyful Clemantine Wamariya with a hauntingly beautiful long-read...