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Academic Neocolonialism: Clickbait and the Perils of Commercial Publishing

My colleagues Lisa Ann Richey , David Simon , Ilan Kapoor & Stefano Ponte with a timely guest post as the International Studies Association ’ s (#ISA2019) annual meeting kicks off in Toronto. The topic is once again the journal Third World Quarterly which is sponsoring the reception of ISA ’ s Global Development Section and the broader questions these discussions raise for higher education and academic publishing. In recent years, universities have been embroiled in debates about the appropriate ways to incorporate social justice concerns into teaching and research. From attempts to place hoax articles in academic journals in order to demonstrate biases in the editorial process to claims that campus activism impinges on free speech , these debates often suggest that radical and progressive politics are responsible for a decline in tolerance and academic standards. But the opposite is often true. Take, for example, “The Case for Colonialism,” an article published by Third World

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Hi all, This week a reader & colleague informed me that Alessandra Pigni passed away in December 2018. What terrible news. Michael Edwards re-published some of her writing in her memory for Open Democracy : Between 2013 and 2017 Transformation published four articles by Alessandra Pigni on the relationship between personal and political change. A specialist in mindfulness training in humanitarian organisations, Pigni's path-breaking ideas are collected together in The Idealist’s Survival Kit. 75 Simple Ways to Avoid Burnout . As she puts it at the end of this article: "I, for one, am interested, not just in exploring but in living in that space where critical thinking and reflective practice meet justice, and the capacity to love oneself and others. How? I don’t know. I just envisage this as the activism and humanitarianism of the 21st century, not just rallies or charity, but something new, where institutions don’t break people’s spirit, where personal wellbeing is n

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Hi all, There has been a lot of terrible news since last week's review and luckily things have been a bit quieter in #globaldev-but there is lots of great food for reading this week-especially a new set of interesting reports and open access books that deserve more attention! Development news from South Sudan, Solomon Islands, Guinea & the USA; plus: working for UNHCR; ICT4D & the Fourth Industrial Revolution; philanthropy & sex work(ers). Our digital lives: Content moderation; Momo challenge hoax; Gwyneth Paltrow's uber-privilege. Publications: Targeting Effectiveness; measuring empowerment the right way; participatory video to combat corruption; views from affected people in Afghanistan; new books on negotiating gender equity & the politics of education. Academia: The inequality of LSE's new inequality chair; diversifying reading lists; Gender Gap Tracker in Canada. Enjoy! Development news LL3: Living Level-3 South Sudan The 48-page graphic nov

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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