Looking for an introduction to the issues facing Africa today and into the future? Jakkie Cilliers’ Open Access book “The Future of Africa: Challenges and Opportunities” (2021) is a good option, and is available for download here. The author is a leader in strategic studies focusing on Africa, founding an independent institute (Institute for Security […]
Tags: #Africa #Challenges #Opportunities #Strategic Studies #Textbook
Looking to explore different epistemic and ontological vantage points? One option is Osman Bakar’s “Classification of Knowledge in Islam – A Study in Islamic Philosophies of Science” published by the Islamic Texts Society in 1998 (first published by the Institute for Policy Research in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1992). The book examines classifications (different types; […]
Tags: #Classification of knowledge #Epistemology #Islam #Ontology #Philosophy
“Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism” (2018) by Slobodian (Harvard Press) is a detailed history of the people and ideas neoliberalism, and the institutions they created. The book is historical and delved into the deep end. One reflection, which is somewhat counter intuitive, is that neoliberals are not opposed to government […]
“The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic – And How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World” (2006) by Steven Johnson is the story of cholera in Victorian London and how germ theory emerged. The book is well written, conveyed through the key figures involved, and enjoyable. The author weaves in […]
Tags: #Cholera #Diet #Germ Theory #The Ghost Map #Urbanization
Earlier I posted about a CODESRIA book on methodology, in the same year (2011) CODESRIA also published the book “Philosophy and African Development: Theory and Practice”, edited by Lansana Keita. As with the other volume, there are amazing contributors and contributions. The text was largely published earlier, as a 2004 journal issue, however most remains […]
Tags: #African Development #CODESRIA #Lansana Keita #Philosophy #Theory and Practice
What does democracy / democratization result in within African contexts? Robin Harding argues that due to the increase of elections, combined with a majority of many countries being rural, is an increase in rural interests as an outcome. The answer is summarized in his 2020 book “Rural Democracy: Elections and Development in Africa”, which is […]
Tags: #Africa #Democracy #elections #Robin Harding #Rural Bias