Aidnography

Ken Silverstein’s new book The Secret World of Oil is an interesting and engaging reading experience and a very good fit for a review on Aidnography . By bringing some of the often hidden dynamics of the oil world to the front stage his book is located between journalism and engaged ethnography while touching on an issue with clear, yet often unaddressed, consequences for the development industry: Virtually every stage in oil's production process, from discovery to consumption, is greased by secret connections, corruption, and violence, even if little of that is visible to the public. The energy industry, to cite just one measure, violates the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act more often than any other economic sector, even weapons. This book sets out to tell the story of this largely hidden world. The Fixers The first chapter The Fixers: Ely Calil takes the reader right into the ‘shadows’ to employ Carolyn Nordstrom’s ethnographic concept of looking for the grey areas where...

Hi all, Amidst the end of the teaching term demands and our forthcoming trip to New York and Guelph, I managed to fit in a fresh link review: More on our forthcoming communication and development seminar in Canada; it's not just World Bank publications that nobody reads; Canada’s ‘confidential’ aid transparency; why I largely agree with Anti-Voluntourists; debunking myths about the ‘data revolution’; why ICT4D will stick around as political project; women entrepreneurs' difficult access to funding; DevBalls-new fresh aid snark from the UK; Is science blogging bad for research applications? New publications by Saskia Sassen and on Foucault & Deleuze Enjoy! New from aidnography Shame (book review & discussion with author Jillian Reilly) One of my personal highlights of our recent trip to South Africa was the discussion I had with (former) aid worker and author Jillian Reilly. We took her biography as the starting to discuss aid work as a career, entering the industry...

One of my personal highlights of our recent trip to South Africa was the discussion I had with (former) aid worker and author Jillian Reilly . We took her biography as the starting to discuss aid work as a career, entering the industry before it really was one, becoming a reflective practitioner, leaving the industry and writing a very interesting book about it all. I will start with my review before introducing our discussion. Shame – Confessions of an aid worker in Africa Books on aid work and aid workers are an important genre for my book reviews . What intrigued me with Jillian Reilly’s book right from the start was that it avoids the crisis-hopping Bosnia-to-Rwanda-to-Afghanistan-to-Haiti routine that often goes hand in hand with the humanitarian theatre of parties, adrenaline, coordination meetings and some sort of unkempt romantic entanglement. Jillian focuses on more mundane development work and her personal journey from an eager volunteer in the first South African election...

Hi all, We are celebrating blog post #275 this week! First, new toolkit on women and peace negotiations, new research on agenda setting in advocacy networks and a new UNICEF report on ict4kids. Then, the 'baffling maze' of Norwegian aid rules, new books by Robert Chambers and on C4D. Finally, three positive stories from California, Cambodia and a poetic essay on the hidden struggles of civic engagement. Last not least, a sobering experiment with the 'gig economy'. A look at social design, the edu-factory and new research on international organization bureaucracies bring this week's review full circle! Enjoy! New from aidnography CfP Örecomm Glocal Conference on Communication for Development-ICT, gender & journalism panels The fourth annual Örecomm Festival is in its early planning stages and this year I am part of the organizing team and responsible for two exciting panels! Btw: This is blog post #275 so you to click and like it as a matter of celebrating ;)! D...