Thought Provokers
Teaching as a Subversive Activity
In 1969 Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner wrote Teaching as a Subversive Activity. Despite their critics (then and now), this book sets the foundation for what has become best practices in education: inquiry-based learning, student-driven learning, problem-based learning. A few notes: Critiques of education: “The learner comes to understand that what he is asked to think about […]
Tags: #inquiry method #Neil Postman #question-centered #student-centered #Teaching as a Subversive activity
The Pain of Others
One of Sontag’s classic works is “Regarding the Pain of Others” (2003). It is a short book, almost an essay length, on the depiction of pain through photography. Part history, part critical reflection. Few notes: “nonstop imagery (televisions, streaming video, movies) is our surround, but when it comes to remembering, the photograph has the deeper […]
Tags: #History #Pain of others #photograph #Photography #Sontag
Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba
Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba lived from 1853 to 1927 in Senegal (excepting periods of exile), who was a religious leader and leader who opposed French colonization. His resistance took non-violent means and was a constant threat to the French. Kimball wrote a biography of Bamba, subtitled “A Peacemaker of Our Time” (2018). The book is not an academic […]
Tags: #Ahmadou Bamba #Colonial Agenda #Colonization #French #Senegal
Black Rights / White Wrongs – Critique of Racial Liberalism
In 2017 Charles W. Mills brought together past work with more recent additions and reflections into the book “Black Rights / While Wrongs: The Critique of Radical Liberalism”. For readers of The Racial Contract (1997), many of the key arguments will be familiar in this book. The author passed away in 2021, this book brings together […]
Tags: #Black Rights / White Wrongs #Charles W Mills #Liberalism #Racism #Racist
Dignity & Rights: An Islamic Perspective
In seeking to democratize thinking about ethics, recent posts have covered Islamic perspectives on justice and equity, this book covers the Islamic perspective of dignity, from the book “The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective” (1999) by Mohammed Hashim Kamali. A few notes: “Islam’s perception of human rights is not premised on the individual verses […]
23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism
Ha-Joon Chang has written a number of excellent books, I’ve only covered one (Kicking Away the Ladder) on this blog so far. Another of his books – also very accessible and clearly written for non-specialists, is “23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism” (2010). This argument has become more mainstream since Chang started to […]
Tags: #Capitalism #Free-marketers #Ha-Joon Chang #Neoliberal #Protectionism
The Just Society
An earlier post, on Equity and Fairness in Islam, added to conversations in ethics about the balance between equity and equality. Similarly, in ethics classes we look at questions of justice, which usually takes us to Rawls and Pogge. What else might we consider when thinking about these broader justice issues? And, what other traditions, […]
The Ethiopia Book of Travels
In many of my critiques of books written about Qatar I have focused on the almost exclusive reliance upon the British colonial record for history making, despite other sources being available (notably Ottoman records in that case). I was directed to an interesting translation of a travel dairy of an Ottoman dignitary, sent by the Sultan, […]
Tags: #Decolonial #Ethiopia #Ethiopia Book of Travels #History #Ottomon
Delinking
In 1985 Samir Amin wrote La Deconnexion, which was translated in 1990 as “Delinking: Towards a Polycentric World” and published by Zed. Parts of the book are dated (e.g. discussions of the USSR). My main interest in this book was Chapter 2, on The Problem of Delinking, which sets out some of the theory of delinking. Chapters […]
Tags: #delinking #Historical Continuity #Polycentric #Renovation #Semir Amin
Equity and Fairness in Islam
One of the courses I have taught across three continents is ethics. Most textbooks (nearly all) are exclusively eurocentric (other than brief nods to other peoples and traditions existing). An interesting conversation we have in class is engaging with how different ethical theories consider equality and equity. In “Equity and Fairness in Islam” (2005) by Mohammad Hashim Kamali provides […]
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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