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Who Owns England? (Book review)

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It has been quite a while since I shared a review of a book that is not directly related to international development. But Guy Shrubsole’s Who Owns England? How We Lost Our Green & Pleasant Land & How To Take It Back makes for a great exception-especially as some readers may still be compiling their summer reading lists. One of the reasons I enjoyed his book so much is that content and form align really well. The topic of English landownership is timely and important and Shrubsole manages really well to take the more technical task of measuring land ownership across different ownership groups to the next level by presenting an engaging narrative full of small details and big numbers, woven into a text that combines research, journalism and activism very well. Little has changed since the days of the Domesday Book Right from the start we are reminded that the history of landownership is not simply about abstract, technical or physical transactions, but opens up deep-rooted ...
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A Better Basra-a development review

As loyal readers of my humble blog know, reading accounts of transnational professionals about their experiences in the aid and reconstruction industry is one of my hobbies -even if this may sound a tad bit geeky ;). Caroline Jaine's account of her time as a communications expert for the British Foreign Office in Basra, Iraq is a frank, unpretentious and un-cynical tale of how the mother of three survived in the militaristic bubble of Basra in 2006. This smart and inexpensive ebook (electronic publishing is another geeky hobby of mine...) is a great read-especially for those not yet war-, conflict- and development-hardened souls who want to get a better idea of what it feels like next time academic experts talk abstractly about the 'securitisation of aid'.   Here is what Caroline and Askance Publishing are promising the reader in 'A Better Basra. Struggling for Strategy and Sanity in Iraq' : In July 2006 British Diplomat Caroline Jaine volunteered to work in ...
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Fordlandia - a development review

I just finished reading Greg Grandin’s excellent book ‘ Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City’ . The synopsis from Amazon gives you a good overview over the contents of the book: Proving that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, Fordlandia is the story of Henry Ford's ill-advised attempt to transform raw Brazilian rainforest into homespun slices of Americana. With sales of his Model-T booming, the automotive tycoon saw an opportunity to expand his reach further by exploiting a downtrodden Brazilian rubber industry. His vision, the laughably-named Amazonian outpost of Fordlandia, would become an enviable symbol of efficiency and mark the Ford Motor Company as a player on the global stage. Or so he thought. With thoughtful and meticulous research, author Greg Grandin explores the astounding oversights (no botanists were consulted to confirm the colony's agricultural viability) and painful arrogance (little thought was paid to how nativ...
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Should I consider a PhD in International Development Studies?

After the Economist’s piece on the (non-)value of doing a PhD and some comments later (e.g. Prometheus doesn't read the Economist (I like the slightly cynical dichotomy between ‘civilians’ and the ‘academic insiders) or the ' 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School ' (they are only halfway through so check it out regularly in the future...) I had an interesting conversation with a prospective PhD student a few days ago. This was not the first time that I had been approached about doing a PhD and I always try to be as frank as possible, even playing the ‘devil’s advocate’ when it comes to the complicated ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ decision-making process. At the end of our conversation I sat down and tried to summarize a few important and generic points from the point of view of doing a PhD in Development Studies and in the UK . I understand that every case is different and involves a range of motives, options and rationales, but there a few important questions and t...
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Letters Left Unsent (book review)

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I find it difficult to categorize J.’s latest and first non-fictional work Letters Left Unsent . I think it is a collection of essays that weave together J’s autobiographical journey through the humanitarian industry with contemporary reflections on aid work, aid workers and being a global professional in a line of work where popular perceptions and field realities often drift apart quite a bit. As a core, probably even founding member of the aid blogosphere J.’s writings as Tales from the Hood and now on Aid Speak form an essential core of the book which includes many of his well-known comments on getting into and surviving the aid industry. But Letters Left Unsent is certainly more than a compilation of blog posts and diary-style vignettes. As with his previous fictional takes on humanitarian aid and dating work he manages to tell a story-the story of humanitarian aid in the 21st century: Aid work and workers are compassionate professionals, operate in complex environm...
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