Thought Provokers

Lessons from Canada’s War in Afghanistan

Canada sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan, and spent an estimated $20 billion doing so. The outcomes of the mission are debated, but will likely have little to no sustained impact. What can be learned from Canada’s war in Afghanistan? Stephen Saideman sets out to answer this question is his “Adapting in the Dust: Lessons […]

Tags: #Afghanistan #Canada #Lessons #NATO #War

Thought Provokers Aug 18

The Arts of Resistance

James C. Scott wrote “Weapons of the Weak” (1985) and “Seeing like a State” (1998), which have been widely influential (cited over 10,000 times each), and each are covered in earlier posts. Scott’s 1990 book “Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts” has similar been widely read and referenced (also over 10,000 citations) and […]

Tags: #Domination and the Arts of Resistance #Hidden Transcripts #Infrapolitics #James C. Scott #Power

Thought Provokers Aug 14

Famine in Ethiopia (1958-1977)

One of the earliest comprehensive works on famine in Ethiopia was “Rural Vulnerability to Famine in Ethiopia, 1958-1977”, written by Mesfin Wolde Mariam (published 1986). The author is noteworthy for a career advocating for human rights, for which he was nominated for the Sakharov Prize, and also for which he was imprisoned by the Government […]

Tags: #Drought #Ethiopia #Famine #Food Security #Mesfin Wolde Mariam

Thought Provokers Aug 4

Sustainable Solutions for Global Warming

Ever wonder where you might find a collection of the evidence-based solutions to address global warming, which are also feasible in the policy world? Paul Hawken’s edited volume “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” (2017) is just that. The book presents 100 of the most sustainable solutions, and in case […]

Tags: #Climate change #Drawdown #Paul Hawken #Reverse global warming #Sustainable Solutions

Thought Provokers Jul 29

Civil Society & Development

“Civil society has established itself at the beginning of the twenty-first century as a significant, even paradigmatic concept in the field of development policy and practice” wrote Jude Howell and Jenny Pearce in their 2001 book “Civil Society and Development: A Critical Exploration” (p. 1). Yet, how do donors conceptualize, fund and engage with civil […]

Tags: #Civil society #Civil society and development #Democracy #Development #social capital

Thought Provokers Jul 10

Interesting Books (300+)

Interesting books include (organized chronologically), see also topic specific book listings on Development Studies Essential Reading, books on Ethiopia, and books on Qatar. 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 […]

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

Thought Provokers Jun 28

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

Thought Provokers Jun 21

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

Thought Provokers May 25

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

Thought Provokers May 20

« 1 … 34 35 36 37 38 … 45 »

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.

Logan Cochrane