Aidnography

Hi all,  My weekly link review attempts on a modest scale to mirror key debates in the #globaldev community; so even though I included a special COVID-19 section again (the first one was last week ) this review is shorter than usual but it is still important to look at 'other news' as well. From refugees stranded in Libya to criticism of the peace deal by Afghan women and the appointment of a 23-year old female MP in Namibia as information and technology deputy minister it is worth checking out these stories, often dealing with shifting civil society spaces, as well. Stay safe & healthy!   My quotes of the week Outreach staff will become more constrained in the level of contact they can have with communities as regulations on social distancing take hold. This is a huge challenge which also puts already vulnerable audiences at risk – imagine living in a rural community right now and facing the spread of COVID-19, with no access to any source of information about what ...

Hi all,  COVID-19 is impacting all of us & I added a special section on the emerging discussion in the #globaldev sector this week; plus, bad news from South Sudan; building infrastructure won't solve problems & continued debates on ethical research in the Global South. Enjoy!   My quotes of the week Let’s not forget that hundreds of millions of people beyond the West have lived such emergency ethics on a daily basis for decades in long wars, extreme poverty, epidemics, and disasters. They are ethical experts who can advise us in the West. And we can always consult those in the gay community and beyond who endured and transformed the HIV/AIDS emergency that arose in the 1980s – the last great pandemic we all faced together. (This age of COVID-19 demands new emergency ethics) “Everyone is turning into virtual conferencing, but we work a lot on the ground in local communities affected by conflict. Many of them don’t have 24-hour electricity, let alone the Internet....

Hi all,  As Scandinavia is slowly shutting down I can offer plenty of good #globaldev readings beyond Covid-19! Lots on how to tell stories-differently & beyond the usual narratives. Plus, I included a great story on Biggie's belt, because who does not like a bit of hip hop history ;) ??!! Enjoy!   My quotes of the week Nevertheless, we do believe that having celebrities keep praising Save the Children’s work following damaging revelations played a role in the relatively quick recovery of its reputation. (Restoring the reputations of charities after scandals) (I)t is much more soothing and gratifying for a Westerner to believe that girls and women suffer because of the "inherent backwardness" of their societies rather than because of centuries of ruthless Western military and political intervention in their countries leading to constant conflicts. (Skateboarding won't 'save' Afghan girls) (T)here is little difference between an Eritrean living with th...

Right now, a lot of momentum is building up in academia around virtual meetings, broadcasted conferences and online teaching. As I mentioned in last week's Links I Liked , I have written about the first two before, especially academic mega-conferences . At the moment, some conferences seem to encourage uploading pre-recorded presentations which I am quite sure will be the media equivalent of downloading an article and keeping it in your 'readings' folder aka the 'pdf graveyard'...live broadcasting and interactive formats will always trump pre-recorded content-so why not produce a podcast of your panel, rather than sticking to the outdated 'presentation of your paper' format? A quick reminder to academics missing out on conferences due to coronavirus that this is what many contingent, parent, disabled, non-funded academics experience each year. In-person conferences can be beneficial but are consistently exclusionary and propagate academic inequality. — N...