“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
In 2015 a symposium was held at the University of Regina on “Public Engagement and the Politics of Evidence in an Age of Neoliberalism and Audit Culture”, which went on to be the basis of the book “Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education”, published in 2018 by the University of Regina Press. The book is edited […]
Tags: #Audit Culture #Dissident knowledge #Higher education #James McNinch #Marc Spooner
There are piles of critiques of economic indicators driving decision making, and a range of proposals for alternatives. In 2018 Eloi Laurent published “Measuring Tomorrow: Accounting for Well-Being, Resilience, and Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century”, which proposes new metrics. The book gives concrete examples of metrics and existing data sets – for those interested in […]
Tags: #Eloi Laurent #Measuring Tomorrow #Metrics #Resilience #Sustainailbity