Aidnography

As some regular readers of the blog may know, I do review aid worker’s memoirs , broadly interpreted, as part of my ongoing research in this emerging field of writing popular narratives of development. So my interest in Louise Linton’s book In Congo ’ s Shadow-One Girl ’s Perilous Journey to the Heart of Africa was sparked the moment I came across the excerpt in the now infamous UK Telegraph article that sparked a much broader controversy under the #LintonLies hashtag. And while I contributed to the initial trending viral discussion my aim was always to review the book properly. But since then has been a much broader discussion far beyond her book and its shortcomings, I will also add some broader reflections on the affair towards the end of my post. Welcome to Africa a place of ‘local opportunists’, ‘primitive’ countries and ‘pigeon-like’ people who are ready for ‘snatching and stealing’ (and we are only on page 45). It is 1999 and 18-year old Louise Linton from Edinburgh embarks

Hi all, Even if I may sound a bit repetitive, but this week once again features some most excellent food for weekend thoughts! Development news : More dignified fundraising images lead to fewer donations; ‘Empowering girls’ through ‘Western’ approaches won’t fix the world; great essay to wrap up #LintonLies-and a new, better memoir on orphanage tourism; automation may kill 90% of garment factory jobs; failing for sustainable palm oil; humanitarian algorithm woes; reflections on action research consultancy; ‘sometimes all you see are other humanitarians’-home and belonging in the aid industry. Our digital lives : Women moderators are no excuse for an #allmalepanel; celebrity power and science communication; viral gatekeepers; how to take care of yourself in the era of wellbeing ideology? Academia : Being an (action) researcher and activist for 4 decades; using big data in social science research. Enjoy! New from aidnography The academic obsession to write about #Brexit Writing about

Yes, I am acutely aware of the irony that a written blog post with this title entails, but the quality and quantity of responses from the academic community after the UK referendum have been quite astonishing. First there were the anthropologists, 28 of them : Twenty-eight anthropologists were asked to give their immediate – spontaneous, raw, unpolished – responses to Brexit, two days after the result came out. They all generated those responses (a total of 24 texts, as some were co-authored) in less than five days after the result. The full set of commentaries, which provide a remarkably comprehensive analysis of the Brexit phenomenon and its possible implications from an anthropological perspective This was followed swiftly by media scholars who supplied 80 contributions : Featuring 80 contributions from leading UK academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts and early research insights on the 2016 Referendum on UK Membership of the European Union

Hi all, A busy week with #LintonLies going viral is coming to an end...but other interesting things happened as well, for example Madonna visiting an orphanage in Malawi ;)... Development news: BBC on humanitarian broadcasting; the complexities of Nepalis working in Afghanistan; cash-transfers in humanitarian situations; more fundraising is the best capacity building; Some evidence why ‘Rationalia’ may not be our dream state. Our digital lives: Recent U.S. police killings and powerlessness of social media; add to your critical dictionary: ‘empathy-washing’; Twiplomacy also works offline; analyzing Instagram images    Publications: Development by Numbers & technology for evaluations in fragile states Academia: A reflective essay on a writer’s year on the road; theorizing academic identity in the digital age.    Enjoy! New from aidnography #LintonLies: How Zambians Are Using Social Media To Talk Back I spoke to Zambian writers about Louise Linton's book in my latest

Hi all, Welcome to an almost Brexit-free link review that focuses on the mundane absurdities, LOLs, but also thoughtful insights that a week in development communication has to offer. Development: A celebrity travels to ‘Africa’-and there are pics and Tweets to prove it; the role of documentaries in development story telling; a new book on orphanages in Cambodia and the power of ‘failure’; managing UN bureaucracy; ‘sophisticated programming’-between complexity and overwhelming local capacity; supporting media innovations in West Africa; poetry and poetic reflections on writing ‘development’. Digital culture: Bengali click farming; @sree lost his job-a contemporary story of self-branding; how L.A. wants to make open data meaningful Academia: Dean Dad listens to new community college students. Enjoy! New from aidnography New research article on ritualized conference spaces & the evolution of peace research professionalism in Germany It is important to engage with community prac

As it often happens in academic journal publishing my latest article From Social Movement to Ritualized Conference Spaces: The Evolution of Peace Research Professionalism in Germany has been work in progress for quite some time. This is the final product based on my doctoral research project . The article takes a qualitative-historical approach to investigate how discussions, gatherings and discourses of peace research in Germany have been transformed over time into ritualized events. Over time, traditional ideas of open and inclusive debates within a social movement have been replaced with the rituals of the academic conference industry. In proper academic language The article employs anthropological ritual theory and the concepts of symbolism and liminality to provide a theoretical framework for analyzing ethnographic insights into the academic peace research community in Germany. Using secondary sources for a broader historical outline, I analyze the evolution of peace resear

Hi all, It's Friday and you deserve a break from #Brexit news! So enjoy some critical development reading and explore what shapes our digital lives! Development news: NGO ranking behind paywall; UN’s ethical failure; Bolivia rejects Gates’ chickens; Connecting the unconnected in Bangladesh? Pakistan’s low tech Uber; how can ODI communicate better? Virtual Reality is kind of hot right now; Public-Private partnerships in foster care & the transformation of the poverty industry; small stories and ownership of big data in Liberia; reviewing MacAskills’ book on transforming giving. Out digital lives: A cynical app is rewarded; what true crime addicts and development amateurs have in common; the first-ever Snapchat movie Publication: New IDS Bulletin on ruptures in the Middle East. Enjoy! New from aidnography Disrupted (book review) Even though my review tries to link core themes of Disrupted to my own professional world and broader questions of the aid industry, I can recomm