Aidnography

Under the impression of recent political developments in the US, major academic associations have started to respond to the challenge of how to hold their annual mega-conferences in an age of travel insecurities. The International Communication Association (IC A) already sent out a clear statement that they are looking at ‘alternative platforms’ to engage with scholar who cannot or do not want to travel to the United States or more generally under current visa insecurities. ICA shares concern re impact of exec orders on ability of ALL colleagues to attend #ica17 . We are working on alt platforms for participation — IntCommunicationAssn (@icahdq) January 29, 2017 The A merican Anthropological Association (AAA) issued a strong statement against travel bans , but with no reference to alternative forms and approaches to hold meetings. And all I nternational Studies Association (ISA) could come up with so far was to urge participants to join them in Baltimore later in Februar...

Hi all, Another Friday! New student are settling in, calendar filling up with appointments and so much interesting stuff to read! Development news : World Vision tests humanitarian boundaries in Syria; China’s development debt-traps; time for a new anti-politics machine? Child refugee exploitation in Turkey; where are the women in Pakistan? Illegal logging; UN World Data Forum; have statistics lost their power? Colour and the UK civil service; the gentrification of back-packing; Amartya Sen is smart. Publications : New book on the politics of inclusive development; WHO outsourcing dilemmas. Academia: New #globaldev podcast series; meaningful work and management science; the MOOC emperor is naked! Enjoy! New from aidnography The BBC-Myth of a Public Service (book review) Tom Mills’ interesting historical review of one of the world’s most renowned news media enterprises deserves attention, especially because his detailed analysis bridges the gap between ideologies and political l...

Tom Mills’ book The BBC-Myth of a Public Service is a book for which the slightly over-used phrase of a ‘timely contribution’ is actually very fitting. His interesting historical review of one of the world’s most renowned news media enterprises deserves attention, especially because his detailed analysis bridges the gap between ideologies and political leanings. Tom Mills’ longer-term perspective also enables him to look at key developments that took place over time and that seem to have culminated in all-too-easy catch-phrases about ‘fake news’, ‘alternative facts’ or the ‘post-factual media age’. Through his careful analysis of historical documents and previous studies on the history of the BBC during particular eras or political events, Mills advances his main argument. It may no come as a staggering surprise, but it is still a powerful base from which to explore the intricate relationship between media and society: the incidents illustrate the close relations between the...

Hi all, Just pretend it's a normal Friday...at least there are plenty of interesting stories that should distract you from other news today... Development news: Capitalism created charity 'fat cats'; what can DFID do about aid contractors? The ‘aid in reverse’ debate; Oxfam’s inequality data; OCHA receives bad news; activists are disappearing in Pakistan; women at the negotiation table; mapping sex work laws; female militias are not so empowering; participatory video in Nicaragua; how change happens; 23 tell-tale signs that you enjoy development listicles too much…; expat life; employee advocacy; the 15% overhead myth. Our digital lives: How important are ‘fake news’ really? Behavior science, community engagement and inequalities in Flint; #allmalepanels  Publication: New book on Politics, Protest, Emotion Academia: Studying poor people in India Enjoy! New from aidnography ‘Stealing from earthquake victims’-a tale of laptops, overheads and journalism from Nepal Y...

Representations of the aid industry in mainstream media and how journalism communicates development are a recurring theme in my work and on this blog. The current debate in the UK featuring the Daily Mail was part of my last post , but the fantastic 50 Shades of Aid facebook group highlighted an article from Nepal ’s MyRepublica platform that led to an extensive discussion on aid transparency, ethical journalism – and overheads. Sangeet Sangroula ’s article Nepal Red Cross spends millions from quake funds on 'luxuries' seems to aim at provoking exactly the kind of comments that were posted underneath the article: This is a case of ‘ blatant misuse of donated funds ’ ! I am fully aware of the problematic relationships between local and global elites in Nepal and the development industrial complex (not least because it was a key part of my PhD research ), but I also firmly believe that calls for transparency and accountability should be met with professional, ethical jour...

Hi all, A busy week for curating development news : More on Yegna, the state of development journalism & anti-aid campaigns; report writing has not adapted to the digital age; Oxfam app between clicktivism & digital transparency; what’s next for US aid? dropping bombs (literally…); ICT4D has an obligation to protect the vulnerable; how to become a local aid worker? How to give to beggars? The par o dy of doing good; being a proud humanitarian; ruling the world by numbers course Our Digital Lives: Background readings on ‘fake news’ Publications: Instagramming pregnancy; safe abortions in conflict zones Academia: What should women who are planning to join academ ia know? Rigging PISA; an anthropology of stock exchanges Enjoy! New from aidnography The poor state of development journalism: Daily Mail, BBC & 'Ethiopian Spice Girls' The Daily Mail campaign against ‘wasteful’ foreign aid is in full swing and in the latest example we can see that it has real impa...