Thought Provokers
The Power of Culture
For anyone interested to see Qatar, as opposed to read about it (which most of the Reading Qatar list is), a new publication offers such a presentation. Titled “The Power of Culture” (2022), the book is written by al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who is the Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Doha Film Institute, Reach Out […]
Tags: #al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani #Culture #Qatar #The Power of Culture
The Theory of a Multipolar World
This is Part 4 of series on books by Dugin, the Russian philosopher (see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). This post covers his 2021 book, “The Theory of a Multipolar World”. The book builds on much of what has already been said in earlier books, here I highlight only two points offered in […]
Tags: #Clash of Civilizations #Dugin #Huntington #Multipolar World #Theory of a Multipolar World
Dugin on Racism
Part 3 on Dugin’s works (see Part 1 and Part 2). Many of the attacks and/or associations made of Dugin suggest his philosophy is “far right” and connected with white supremacist movements. While such groups or actors may use his works and some publishers associated with such ideologies, that does not in and of itself mean […]
The Great Awakening vs The Great Reset
This is Part 2 of a series on the writing of Dugin (see Part 1 here). This post highlights some key points the author makes in his book The Great Awakening vs The Great Reset, translated into English in 2021 (a very short book, more like an essay at 86 pages of well spaced text). […]
Tags: #Civilizations #Dugin #Globalism #Nominalism #The Great Awakening vs The Great Reset
Fourth Political Theory
This is the first of a series of posts on (translated) works by Alexander Dugin, a Russian philosopher who is suggested to have significant (in)direct influence over the way Putin sees the world. The first book explored in this series is “The Fourth Political Theory”, written in 2009 and translated in 2012. Much has been […]
Tags: #Dugin #Fourth Political Theory #Ideology #Modernity #Political Philosophy
Worldmaking After Empire
Building on a PhD project, Adom Getachew’s “Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination” (2019) explores the ways some leaders and struggles for freedom and dignity were engaged beyond nation-building (of what would become the independent country) but also worldmaking as they engaged with international systems (economic, legal, political). A few notes: “The nationalist movement […]
Tags: #Adom Getachew #anti-imperialism #Colonialism #postcolonial state #Worldmaking
Land to the Tiller
One of Ethiopia’s most radical policy changes in the modern era was land reform, which nullified tenure agreements and redistributed land (changing much of rural Ethiopia from large land holders with farmers as tenants / sharecroppers to farmers as landowners). Ann Oosthuizen (whose connection to this issue or interviewee is not explained) published an interview […]
Tags: #Ethiopia #Land #Land Reform #Land to the Tiller #Zegeye Asfaw
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
We are increasingly surrounded by technology, the data collection it employs is not only pervasive but also seemingly unescapable. In 2019 Shoshana Zuboff wrote “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power”, which has gone viral (for a social sciences academic-ish book), being cited nearly 10,000 times […]
Tags: #Ethics #Justice #Power #Privacy #Surveillance Capitalism
Is ChatGPT Manipulating You? (Or Are You Manipulating It?)
I decided to ask ChatGPT about life’s great ethical questions. There are a wide range of ethical theories, many provide answers to these ethical questions, and some of these theories are incompatible with each other (or give specific, distinct answers to them). Which ethical theory might this AI system adopt when asked? In additional to […]
Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’an
Continuing with a series of posts on democratizing knowledge about ethics (see posts on dignity, justice, and equity), this post covers ethical concepts in the Qur’an, in a book written by Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1993), a remarkable person (one example: he spoke more than 30 languages). This book being originally written in 1959 and published by Keio University […]
Tags: #Ethico-religious concepts #Ethics #Islam #Quran #Toshihiko Izutsu
About me
Logan Cochrane
Logan is a Professor at HBKU in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at Hawassa University (Institute for Policy and Development Research). Over the last twenty years, he has worked in Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Logan acts as a consultant for governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, seeking to create bridges between research and practice.
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