Aidnography

In my longer essay, a forthcoming paper, I am arguing that engaging with online social media in the form of curating a regular development blog column is a simple, yet effective way to provide decolonised resources in the context of development studies teaching, research and communication. You can download a traditional pdf version of my chapter as well. I started my development blog Aidnography in 2010 and it has since become an integral part of my teaching, research and broader engagement to communicate development. In my first journal article on development blogging my co-author and I concluded: Our research on development blogs has highlighted a range of interesting dynamics with regard to reflexive and reflective learning processes. Peer learning in the blogosphere, mentoring of students or colleagues through intergenerational exchanges between seasoned veterans in the field and aspiring aid workers, and multidisciplinary inputs all contribute to learning processes. One of

Hi all, I was in Armenia last week & enjoyed a fantastic final seminar at Yerevan State University with our internationalization project-so that explains the slightly unusual time for the latest #globaldev link review! My quotes of the week There must be places that are not dedicated to making money or accumulating power if civic values and relationships are to take root and flourish - places where we can meet each-other for conversation and shape a collective course of action in line with our own democratically-derived priorities. That possibility, at root, is what is threatened by current trends. (Where is civil society when you need it?) Accountability struggles were happening elsewhere while I sat in the World Bank wondering what it would take for the sounds of real demands for real accountability to penetrate its thick glass walls. (Why the World Bank is missing out on an Accountability Revolution: Reflections on the Global Partnership for Social Accountability Forum 2019)

Hi all, Many readers are enjoying their Thanksgiving week & I will enjoy a week in Armenia next week! In the meantime, some food for thought & discussions at the dinner table ;)! Enjoy!   My quotes of the week If there is a single ideological glue to (current revolutions), it is, I think, desire to have one’s voice heard. At the time of tectonic political shifts where politicians and old ideologies have lost much of their credibility, a thing which has not lost its credibility is the desire and the right to be heard and counted (Revolution Number 9. Why the world is in uproar right now) (T)he “marketplace of ideas” works similarly to the idea of “meritocracy”, in that it stresses you get what you deserve, and if you have got it is deserved. The discourse, then, works to reinforce the status quo and serves to hide deep power and resource inequalities within society by stressing that the playing field is level when it is anything but. (Don’t Buy the “Marketplace of Ideas”) Th

Hi all, Friday, end of a packed week; the weather is really grey and miserable in Sweden today and I will head home soon to enjoy some hot chocolate + a good book :) ! My quotes of the week There are so many events on women’s rights going on, Abirafeh later told Quartz, that the feeling is they have just become avenues for a community to talk to each other. (The case against holding any more women’s rights conferences) Are we sure we are accounting properly for costs? What are the associated costs of locally sustaining such systems? How will we determine those costs if markets are only minimally functional in this space? And more importantly, the benefits have to be understood broadly, systematically, and comparatively. What is the value of improved speed in critical logistics? How do we make sure that improved health outcomes are both understood in these projects and adequately accounted for in our understanding of financial benefit? (WeRobotics, Pfizer Use Cargo Drones