Thought Provokers
Interesting Books (300+)
In addition to the “essential” development studies books, some other interesting books include (organized chronologically): Pre1950s On the Genealogy of Morality (1887) Nietzsche Growing up in New Guinea (1930) Mead 1950s Black Skin, While Masks (1952) Fanon 1960s The Fire Next Time (1962) Baldwin The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962) Kuhn Arabia Felix (1964) […]
Tags: #Book Reviews #Books #Development Studies #Interesting books #International development
Toxic Aid: A Tanzanian Study
Every few months the question is asked: Does aid work? Sebastian Edwards, professor and former World Banker, wrote “Toxic Aid: Economic Collapse and Recovery in Tanzania” (2014) to help wade through the an answer. In short, he concludes “aid affects economic performance in a highly complex way, and through multiple and changing channels. It also […]
Tags: #Development #Foreign assistance #International development #Tanzania #Toxic Aid
Decolonizing the Mind
Linda Tuhiwai Smith wrote “Decolonizing methodologies” (1999). Ngugi wa Thiong’o wrote “Decolonizing the Mind” (1986). This is essential reading and the insights are numerous – from curricula design and literary critique to social transformation and liberation. In this post I focus on one of Ngugi’s central and influential arguments about the power of language. The […]
Tags: #decolonization #Decolonizing the Mind #Language #Ngugi wa Thiongo #Power
A History Not Told: American Slavery & Capitalism
What is the half of the story we’ve not been told about slavery? Baptist explains that “America’s first generation of professional historians were justifying the exclusions of Jim Crow and disenfranchisement by telling a story about the nation’s past of slavery and civil war that seemed to confirm, for many white Americans, that white supremacy was […]
Tags: #American slavery #Capitalism #History #Oppression #Slavery
Decolonizing Methodologies
What are the ways in which research approaches and methodologies replicate colonial attitudes and processes? In “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples” (1999), Linda Tuhiwai Smith makes these ways clear, while also presenting new pathways for research – not simply a decolonization of research, but a reformation of research that is embedded within a broader […]
Tags: #Colonialism #decolonization #Decolonizing #Methodologies #Research
The Politics of Military and Humanitarian Interventions
In recent decades there has been a trend toward aligning or integrating military and humanitarian action. It has taken the form of militaries wanting to win hearts and minds, on one side, and humanitarian actors calling for military action on the other. “Contemporary States of Emergency: The Politics of Military and Humanitarian Interventions” (2010), edited […]
Tags: #Emergency States #Humanitarian Interventions #Military intervention #Military-Humanitarian #Politics
The Price of Inequality
Joseph Stiglitz is one of the most respected economists of our times and a person who has also held positions of significant influence, including chief economist of the World Bank and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors for the US President (Clinton). In 2012 he authored “The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society […]
Tags: #America #Democracy #Inequality #Stiglitz #The Price of Inequality
From Dictatorship to Democracy
One of the world’s leading thinkers and activists for advancing democratic governance through non-violent action is Gene Sharp. He founded the Albert Einstein Institute and is a multiple-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as recipient of many other notable awards. He has authored many books, but one of his most influential and most widely […]
Tags: #Democracy #Dictatorship #Gene Sharp #Governance #Nonviolence
The Politics of Development in Morocco
‘Doing development differently’ can be interpreted as redistributing power in a decentralized way, and ensuring broad participation. How do we move these ideas from paper to practice? And, are these two objectives (not explicit in the DDD manifesto, but common in the discourse) compatible? Third, are these approaches to ‘doing development differently’ effective pathways to arrive […]
Tags: #Decentralization #Doing Development Differently #International development #Morocco #Politics
Colonial Attitudes in Contemporary Writing
It is not easy to convey the respect one has for the people with whom they work or with whom they conduct research. Similarly, it can be challenging to identify colonial and paternalistic attitudes. “I know it when I see it”, a judge famously stated in seeking to draw a line within fuzzy grey areas. […]
About me
Logan Cochrane
Associate 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 fifteen 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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