Aidnography

I came across two examples recently that left me with in an uneasy, confused state as to where open access publishing in academia is heading. First, one colleague shared his experience from publishing a special journal issue open access with one of the big academic publishers. In the end, the funder of the project that produced the articles, a major European foundation, paid around 10,000 Euros to ensure that all the articles are open access. It is a relevant, good journal, but not a super-prestigious, super-high-impact factor one. Is it worth 10,000 Euros to make pdfs available on the publisher’s website? Second, another colleague just signed a deal with another big mainstream academic publisher: Her university pays 7,500 pounds for an open access ebook version of the publication-the publisher still has the right to sell a (discounted) printed copy of the book and to not pay any royalties. Her European university has a special open access fund and was willing to pay for the ebook wit

Hello all, Between the beginning of a new semester that gained momentum a bit too quickly and our forthcoming Voice & Matter international Communication for Development conference, this week's link edition has more of a snack size-but that may actually be quite nice for some weekend reading suggestions. Development news focuses on issues around 'non-governmental organizations'-from foreign influence in U.S. think tanks to the NGO-ization of resistance and simple tips for community engagement. Our digital lives features neat overviews over big data & development and a curated collection of key debates around 'Internet'. And Academia & Anthropology features alternative development studies readings, business ethnography insights and a thorough critique of voluntourism in the contemporary neoliberal context. Enjoy! New from aidnography The UN’s technocratic answer to the ‘data revolution’ In the end, the UN seems to have chosen a technocratic route-not en

As the deadline for registration is approaching fast, I wanted to share the announcement for our Glocal conference on Communication for Development with you. Örecomm's fourth bi-national conference, jointly organized by colleagues from Roskilde and Malmö Universities, features a very diverse program of keynote speeches, policy panels, academic presentations and documentary film screenings. All the details can be found on the Voice & Matter website . As we are trying to connect with our global friends and partners the conference will be live-streamed and recorded as part of the Glocal Classroom spirit that brings together academic partners from four continents.  As difficult as it is to do justice to the fantastic range of keynote speakers and panelists or highlight additional events such as the participatory video workshop (which is already fully booked...) or the screening of Gringo Trails , I would like to draw your attention to the panels which address various topi

Alternative title: Have bureaucracy, will organize meetings: The UN’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution It started with casual Twitter feed browsing on Sunday and a short exchange of tweets between Zara Rahman and me:  @zararah lack of social science/anthro/humanities etc is quite striking; i expect v. narrow debates-gender only adds 2 tunnel vision — Tobias Denskus (@aidnography) August 31, 2014 So I had a closer look at the UN ’ s press release and to be honest, afterwards questions about gender distribution or the ‘North-South’ divide did not seem to be the most pressing ones. While I have absolutely no doubt about the technological and technical expertise of the group members, I wonder why the UN went for the most conservative, most quantitative, most statistics-driven approach to the ‘data revolution’ to fulfill its ambitious goal: The Group is also expected to assess new opportunities linked to innovation, technical progress and the s

Hello all, The new semester is round the corner and one of the many ways to welcome our new students is to encourage them to get immersed in and (slightly) overwhelmed by the debates featured in the link review! From the global remittance transfer cartel to the astonishing finding that 'research is no panacea for development', from the question of whether war reporting is worth the dangers to challenges of post-war capitalism in Nepal this is a jam-packed review! A social entrepreneur evangelist pinches her filter bubble and we learn all about bad aid. And what about hashtaggism and that water-pouring meme? This week's must-read is Evgeny Morozov's essay on the data-driven delusion of disruption and more sobering thoughts on digital ethics, crowd-funding and states disguising as 'democracies'. Finally, some anthropological reflections on the crisis in Liberia and a glimpse into the world's best Communication for Development program ;)! Enjoy! New from aidno

First, there was good, old volunteering in Africa or Latin America, then we (were) discovered (by) the CV-enhancing experience industry around voluntourism in developing countries and now we are faced with the fast-growing genre of critical self-reflection by returning volunteers who discovered how self-serving #InstagrammingAfrica really is. ‘Why is it always former volunteers who now write about their so-called discoveries after yet another bad experience in a so-called orphanage?’, a friend asked on facebook a few weeks ago. The urge to build: From schools, to CVs and reputations First, our parents’ generation went to Nicaragua to build schools, then we baby-boomer children went on to volunteer in Nepal, Cambodia or Ghana and a few years later an orphanage-cum-English-teaching industry has been firmly established, leaving little to no room for a meaningful, political engagement with poverty, injustice and underdevelopment. But like most other parts of our carefully managed lives

Dear all, Back from a proper holiday it is time to go through the link assemblage and share a mix of 'brand new' and 'still relevant' content with you: More on Canada's crackdown on civil society; why 'value for money' in aid is an austerity excuse; research on the ineffectiveness of celebrities in development branding; a critical view on social enterprises; will there be more jobs in aid? How to get a digital aid job-and how to build an exit strategy to leave aid altogether-plus new publications. Our digital lives looks at data and politics, the 'children of silicon valley' as well as data and Disney...finally, Academia & Anthropology looks at research on academic influence on Twitter, ethnography and policing & ethical questions of the 'data overflow'. Enjoy! New from aidnography It’s about the thesis-PhD and PWFP (People With Formal Power) First, when contemplating non-thesis activities and engagements be aware of the People Wit