Aidnography

Hi all, Happy International Women's Day! My piece on white saviour communication & media rituals has gained some nice traction this week, but there were also other interesting updates from around the #globaldev world! Development news: WWF's wildlife guard problems; following up on the WFP-Palantir affair; an update on suing World Bank/IFC; the commodified digital gig economy; ICT4D & inequalities; racism in the aid industry; how to write about UN & multilateral politics; campaigns against voluntourism; using expat privilege in Malawi; death of a war photographer; Somali's 1970s disco era. Our digital lives: Political hyperleaders & predictive algorithms. Academia: The unseen labour of racialized faculty; taking student evaluations less seriously; shedding books & precarity in #highered. Enjoy! New from aidnography White saviour communication rituals in 10 easy steps The David Lammy/White Saviour versus Stacey Dooley/Comic Relief debate is an exce...

The David Lammy/White Saviour versus Stacey Dooley/Comic Relief debate is an excellent opportunity to look at some of the core elements of ritual communication behind many debates in international development-especially when charities and celebrities are involved! At the time of writing the debate has already followed the first seven or eight steps and I’m pretty sure that it will go full circle between now and Red Nose Day 2020… 1. Don’t learn from past debates It is worth remembering that this is not some obscure debate a few development bloggers have pointed out. In late 2017, Comic Relief got called out for their video of sending Ed Sheeran to Liberia. A quick reminder from a December 2017 Guardian piece : The Sheeran-fronted Comic Relief video, during which the singer offers to pay hotel costs for street children in Liberia, verged on “poverty tourism”, according to the jury. (...) “Ed Sheeran has good intentions,” she said. “But the problem is the video is focuse...

Hi all, Welcome back to another week of #globaldev, well, craziness & serious stuff about our favorite industry! Development news: Comic Relief pulls another White Savior stunt; something rotten with WFP food supplies; Germany sells arms to Yemen; under-reported crises; can we sue the World Bank now? Burberry pretends to learn from mistakes; what happens to left-over aid supplies? Cash transfer programms meet ground realities; women in African armies; White Savior-the movie (spoof); Sweden's first gender professor at the Defence University; Jason Hickel wants to get rid of UK aid; on hearts & hearts; a new source for female experts Our digital lives: A world designed for men (almost) breaks the Internet...   Publications: Literature review on ICT4D & jobs in Africa; how many publications do you need for a tenure track job?   Academia: UC system cancels Elsevier subscriptions; should academics fly less (again...). Enjoy! Development news Stacey Dooley trolled...

Hi all, I attended Lisa Richey's inaugural lecture yesterday, wrote a new book review & travelled to Germany this morning for a trip to see family and attend a workshop next week! So without further delay: Your #1 #globaldev link review for this week! Great to see so many familiar faces at @BrandAid_World 's inaugural lecture on "commodifying compassion"; expect some #globaldev live tweeting :) — Tobias Denskus (@aidnography) February 21, 2019 Enjoy! New from aidnography Thirst (book review) Like the pinkification of breast cancer awareness, the commodification of mindfulness or the depoliticization of Oprah’s book club, this mix of American ‘can-do-ism’, a good dose of ignoring learnings from the past and a firm neoliberal outlook that avoids any tough political questions (I don’t think ‘climate change’ or any other cause for dry wells is mentioned in the book) are bound to write a charitable success story! Water is always a source of life-never one of c...