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Against Decolonization

Against Decolonization

In 2022, Olufemi Taiwo published “Against Decolonization: Taking African Agency Seriously” in the African Arguments series by Hurst. The book is provocative and makes some valuable contributions. I also find that the book has some faulty arguments of the straw man and red herring types. For example, in defining decolonization the way he does (see […]

Tags: #Against Decolonization #Agency #Colonization #decolonization #Olufemi Taiwo

Thought Provokers
King of the Castle

King of the Castle

I picked up King of the Castle by Gai Eaton (1990) largely by accident. I saw someone reading the book on a flight; both the author and the book brief sounded unique, so I ordered a copy. A few quotes: “Since unbelief lies at the root of almost all that is said or thought or […]

Tags: #Gai Eaton #Islam #King of the Castle #Philosophy

Thought Provokers
The Powers of Mourning and Justice

The Powers of Mourning and Justice

Judith Butler’s “Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Justice” (2004) was published in the “Radical Thinkers” series of Verso Books. The book is a series of essays written after Sept 11, 2001, collected in this short publication of ~150 pages (of writing, excluding Notes). In the Preface, the author suggests in the years following […]

Tags: #Butler #Ethics #Justice #Mourning #Power

Thought Provokers
What is an American Muslim?

What is an American Muslim?

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im’s “What is an American Muslim? Embracing Faith and Citizenship” (2014) is an Oxford publication, written in what seems like a world away in terms of US identity politics. The book is largely not what the title reads “What is…” but rather “What should…”. Although the author has produced some interesting works (for […]

Tags: #America #Citizenship #Faith #Islam #Muslims

Thought Provokers
Land, Landlessness and Poverty in Ethiopia

Land, Landlessness and Poverty in Ethiopia

Emerging out of a 2016 workshop organized by the Forum for Social Studies in Addis Ababa (also the publisher of the book), the 2018 publication “Land, Landlessness and Poverty in Ethiopia” presents cases / chapters from four regions in Ethiopia (SNNP, Amhara, Oromia, Tigray). The book is edited by Dessalegn Rahmato, and covers a topic […]

Tags: #Ethiopia #Land #Landlessness #Poverty #Rahmato

Thought Provokers
Price War$

Price War$

Rupert Russell’s “Price War$: How the Commodities Markets Made Our Chaotic World” (2022) is a mass market book, however as a PhD holder from Harvard I picked this up to see if there are any interesting insights. With the exception of parts relating to Ukraine and Trump, the majority of the content of the book […]

Tags: #Algorithm trading #Commodity Markets #Markets #Price War$ #Rupert Russell

Thought Provokers