Mapping coups d’etat in sub-Saharan Africa

Patrick McGowan analyzed planned, attempted, successful and failed coups d’etat in sub-Saharan African states from 1956-2001. Political instability during this period was much higher than other regions of the world, negatively affecting economic growth and human development. McGowan finds that the rate of success of attempted coups was higher than 40%, with an increase of attempts following a successful […]

Tags: #Coup d'etat #Instability #Post-colonialism #sub-Saharan Africa

One of the Most Effective Aid Projects (Agriculture)

Many individuals and organizations suggest that selecting and implementing highly effective international development projects is straightforward. My experience working in North America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia over the last twelve years is that it is far more complex. When projects are smaller-scale, some of the most effective international development projects I have seen are […]

Tags: #Agriculture #Effective aid #International development #Irrigation #Thinking Outside the Box

Top Posts from 2015

Posts with the most page views in 2015: 1. International Development Essential Reading (Books) 2. Conducting Research in Ethiopia 3. Advice for Conducting Household Surveys 4. Want to Volunteer Overseas and Don’t Know Where to Start? 5. PhD Reality Check

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

In Canadian Association of Food Studies Newsletter

Canadian Association for Food Studies (2015) Fall 2015 Newsletter, Issue 20, p. 10.

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