Aidnography

Hi all, In the end, I managed to pull a new link review together for this week!  Quite a few examples of development communication #fails, but also encouraging pieces on journalism in Nigeria and Afghanistan, female leadership in the UN system and personal & organizational well-being. Plus new publications and contributions on the digital condition of life, work & teaching! Enjoy! New from aidnography Reading #Maria through a #globaldev lens This time another American territory is affected among other islands many of which still have links to European countries through various statuses as overseas territories. So new questions are emerging in the aftermath of a natural disaster of how 'them' and 'us' are linked, how humanitarian challenges are not just an issue of the 'North' helping the 'South' and how questions of development thinking and research are becoming even more important as climate change creates a truly global community of sufferi...

At the end of August I started curating interesting resources that linked hurricane Harvey to broader questions of international development and humanitarian issues ( Reading #Harvey through a #globaldev lens ). My idea was to highlight how debates and issues the aid industry has been discussing for many years and crises are framed in the context of the so-called developed world when a disaster hits the United States of America. What I did not know then, unfortunately, was that Harvey would not be the only humanitarian disaster to affect the region-Maria followed very shortly after. This time another American territory is affected among other islands many of which still have links to European countries through various statuses as overseas territories. So new questions are emerging in the aftermath of a natural disaster of how 'them' and 'us' are linked, how humanitarian challenges are not just an issue of the 'North' helping the 'South' and how questi...

Hi all, Before I'm heading to Pretoria for a week to participate in the kick-off workshop of the new S wedish-South African University Network , I'm sharing my regular Friday link review. There may not be a new one next week due to travel-so don't read everything at once ;)! This week's theme is definitely 'humanitarianism'-from disaster capitalism in Puerto Rico to new forms of aid and anthropological reflections as well as research ethical challenges surrounding the concept of 'doing good'... But there are also insights into global education challenges, preventing conflicts, artificial intelligence and how students should challenge the neoliberal academy! Enjoy! New from aidnography Love, Africa (book review) At the end of the day, Gettleman’s memoir is not an exceptional piece of writing or insight and maybe other reviewers had expected more, because he is not ‘just’ a regular humanitarian aid worker or traveling journalist. He delivers an entert...

It is probably fair to say that I have read and reviewed quite a few, quite different aid worker and correspondent memoirs over the lifespan of Aidnography . I have met an American ‘warrior princess’ in Kenya , a strange journalist pursuing the LRA in Uganda – and Louise Linton . But there have also been interesting (self-) reflective aid worker memoirs , more artistic writing projects as well as historical memoirs at the end of long and distinguished international careers or biographies . I am certainly not claiming that ‘I have seen/read it all’, but I have kept an eye on the genre for a while now-as a researcher, teacher and global development enthusiast. So when the first critical reviews of Jeffrey Gettleman’s Love, Africa-A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival appeared, I felt sufficiently prepared for yet another turn on the memoir rollercoaster. Actually, it is not a bad contribution to the genre, but also does not take existing narratives further. Gettleman’s book h...

Hi all, The developments at Third World Quarterly were definitely the top story in my networks this week-a fascinating case study about changing academic publishing cultures, core values of development research & broader questions about 'whose voices count' in debating international development in public arenas. But there were many other interesting readings as well, of course: Development news: Barbie Savior travels to Nambia; UN leadership & gender parity; Sri Lanka's adoption baby trade; the limits of what free menstrual pads can solve; how bad is the new Tomb Raider movie? How the ICRC avoided a PR disaster with the gaming industry; C4D & digital thinking; no apps necessary: topping up phone credit for refugees; BRICS have not been able to challenge global governance; field experiments & re-visits; new books on Bangladesh's & China's development; thinks tanks & female leaders; who belongs in the new Lagos? A long-read about Nigeria...