Thought Provokers

Moral History of the 20th Century

Jonathan Glovers’ (1999) Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century explores why atrocities occurred – from World War I to the Rwandan genocide – and insight on how we can learn from this history to prevent similar events from occurring again. This “thought provoker” post presents a limited selection of those insights; those interested […]

Tags: #Ethics #Morality #Nietzsche #Prisoner's dilemma #Tribalism

Thought Provokers Apr 22

On “peasants” and GMOs

Hardt and Negri’s “Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire” (2004) is a work of political philosophy, and specifically a book about democracy (presented here). Some points raised in the book offer interesting food for thought, potentially of use in the classroom, or for contrasting different opinions, for example: On the “peasant”: “It makes […]

Tags: #Democracy #Frankenfoods #Genetically modified organisms #GMOs #Peasant

Thought Provokers Apr 18

War and Democracy in the Age of Empire

This “thought provoker” presents views on political philosophy and democracy from Hardt and Negri’s “Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire” (2004). Some have criticized the book as lacking concrete data to support its claims, however it is essentially a work of philosophy, and thus that is necessarily expected of it. For those […]

Tags: #biopolitical weapons #Democracy #Multitude #Political Philosophy #sovereignty

Thought Provokers Apr 13

How Philanthropy Fails to Alleviate Poverty

Erica Kohl-Arenas’ new book, “The Self-help Myth: How Philanthropy Fails to Alleviate Poverty” (2016) offer strong criticism of philanthropic work, by asking “Can the surplus of capitalist exploitation be used to aid those on whose backs this surplus is generated? Can these surplus dollars contribute to addressing entrenched poverty while refusing to address systematic questions of […]

Tags: #Capitalism #Inequality #Poverty #Structural Poverty #Systematic Change

Thought Provokers Apr 7

Power & Politics in the Horn of Africa

Alex de Waal is one the world’s most well versed scholars on East African politics, and has been intimately engaged with the region for decades. His 2015 book, “The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power,” is essential reading for those interested in the region, or the intersection of […]

Tags: #Alex De Waal #Political Marketplace #Politics #Power #Somaliland

Thought Provokers Apr 3

Capitalism and Human Time: Reflections from Unequal Development

A recent post explored the concept of unequal development, under-development and the exploitation of the third world proposed by Amin several decades ago. In this post, we continue exploring Samir Amin’s “Unequal Development: An Essay on the Social Formations of Peripheral Capitalism” from 1976, and focus upon his analysis of capitalism – what it is, how […]

Tags: #Capital #Capitalism #Mode of Production #Production #proletarianization

Thought Provokers Mar 26

Unequal Development & Underdevelopment

Continuing the “Thought Provokers” series from essential development studies reading, this post covers Samir Amin’s 1976 “Unequal Development: An Essay on the Social Formations of Peripheral Capitalism.” This work represents some of the earlier writing on ideas of unequal development, inequality and underdevelopment. Plenty of food for thought and discussion: “External equilibrium – international order – is possible […]

Tags: #Peripheral Capitalism #Samir Amin #Underdevelopment #Unequal Development #Unequal Exchange

Thought Provokers Mar 19

The Mystery of Capital (2000) de Soto

Talking with undergraduate and graduate students has led me to believe that fewer people are investing their time in books. Wikipedia provides the long version, and Twitter keeps us up to date. One important thing that we have lost, in development studies and generally, is a more grounded understanding of where ideas came from and how they […]

Tags: #Capital #Capitalism #Development economics #Private Property #Property Rights

Thought Provokers Feb 26

Land’s End (2014)

Tania Murray Li, professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto, published Land’s End: Capitalist Relations on an Indigenous Frontier in 2014. If you are interested in ideas put forward by James C. Scott, such as his Weapons of the Weak or Seeing Like a State, Li provides a number of challenges and alternative conclusions. In […]

Tags: #coercion and control #Ethnography #invisibilization #Tania Murray Li #Tarmac Bias

Thought Provokers Dec 23

Blinded by Humanity (2015)

Interested in international development, NGOs or the United Nations? Martin Barber’s “Blinded by Humanity: Inside the UN’s Humanitarian Operations” (2015) provides insight on the challenges and lessons learned. On good intentions: “…if there is one message that I would pass on to young people wanting to do good in the world, it is this: be passionate, but […]

Tags: #Celebrities #Good intentions #Priorities #Self-reflection #United Nations

Thought Provokers Dec 11

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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.

Logan Cochrane