Aidnography

I am continuing my research and public service on sharing reviews on aid worker memoirs. Lynne Jones’ Outside the Asylum-A Memoir of War, Disaster and Humanitarian Psychiatry adds an important new aspect to the literature by focusing on an important, but often unnoticed aspect of humanitarian and post-conflict work. Jones’ work as a mental health professional bridges the gap between international aid work and an increased focus on mental health and psychological well-being. Her work is not focusing on expat or local aid workers, but on local patients and newly traumatized in places as diverse as Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Indonesia, Haiti, Mozambique, Philippines, Somalia and Ethiopia. After leaving her work ‘inside the asylum’, the context of traditional psychiatric work in Britain of the late 1970s, her journey is driven by an imperative we often witness when medical or scientific knowledge is applied care- and respectfully to context outside traditional Western societies: My work was

Hi all, After a busy first day of another great teaching seminar my link review goes live a bit later than usual. Why did the UNEP boss fly so much? Why do you people still volunteer in orphanages in Kenya? Why is the nonprofit sector not paying better? Why am I a big fan of Malaka Gharib & Lawrence Haddad? Why don't academics read the works they cite? Why are we not making better progress in decolonizing the academy? And more surprising insights... Enjoy! Development news Australian aid groups apologise after finding dozens of sexual misconduct cases The institute made it clear misconduct was underreported. Of the 119 organisations that belong to ACFID, 33 did not respond to requests for information. Of the 76 claims, 31 were substantiated, the institute found. Of those, 17 were cases of sexual harassment and 14 were abuse and other forms of misconduct. David Wroe for the Age on how #AidToo is unfolding in Australia. UN environment chief resigns after frequent fl

Hi all, I just returned from 2 great days at AidEx in Brussels-probably one of the best non-conference meeting experiences I had in a long time! While I'm still digesting my insights I also compiled link review no.301 after last week's anniversary celebrations :) ! Development news: Race & #globaldev; how (lack of) data kills in Yemen; orphanage tourism again; privatizing wars prolongs them; the price of superficial stability in Mali; Ebola clinical trial; how World Vision engages with media; uplifting, beautiful stories from Trinidad & Tobago, India & dementia care. Our digital lives: The (male) capitalism behind period tracking apps; the digital celebrity apolitical industrial complex behind "Girl, wash your face"; an anthropologist in Silicon Valley. Publications: An annual report you actually want to read; how a women's movement succeeds in Indonesia since 2001. Academia: Kenya's neoliberal academy; reflections on an anthropology virtual

The anniversary of my 300th link review coincides with another one: Pretty much exactly 20 years ago I took my first undergrad class in international development during my first semester at the University of Potsdam. Technically speaking, I never finished my BA in Political Science there, but my interest in development and global politics remains until today… Since I already shared reflections on curating #globaldev content on the occasion of previous anniversary postings , I thought I try out something else today and span a broader arch to some of my key learnings from following research and public debates in development for two decades now. Each of the points below probably deserves a post of its own, but in the meantime, let’s get the debate started! By the way: I sent out a ‘proper’ link review in my very first newsletter as a special treat to subscribers -so if you are not on the list, you know what you need to do now… I will be at the AidEx Expo in Brussels next week and hop

Hi all, We had two long, but great days discussing blog project assignments with our Communication for Development students. I am also preparing for post link review #300 next week, but in the meantime... Development news: The problem with microcredit; Saudi's UN PR efforts; China's appetite for fishmeal is felt across Africa; Canada's expensive zombie mines; informality & gig economy in Africa; that blasted white savior complex; the enablers of 'More Than Me'; ICRC goes crowd-funding; toys-in-soap are great! Humanitarian ethics; Bengal famine; Poland in 1987; not burning out after 25 years of medical aid in Uganda. Our digital lives: Visa regimes & journalism; work is the problem of sex work; journalism while brown.   Publications: Questions about nudge theory; what's the impact of DfID's maternal health projects? ILO on air pollution & gender inequalities; World Bank's ComDev report; Fairtrade & the politics of metrics.   Acade