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Wax & Gold

Wax & Gold

Levine’s Wax & Gold (1965) is one the ‘classics’ of Ethiopian studies in the socio-anthropological realm. Much ink has been spilled about his work (including the author himself added a Preface to the 1972 to explain his change of views), much work has also been inspired that draws on the wax and gold concept that Levine describes […]

Tags: #Culture #Ethiopia #Tradition #Wax & Gold #Wax and gold

Uncategorized

Whose Voice Matters in IPE?

New open access publication: Whose voice matters in the teaching and learning of IPE? Implications for policy and policy making Abstract: Critical decolonial assessments of International Political Economy (IPE) curricula have found a continued dominance of Euro-Western perspectives. However, these critical assessments have often been of specific programs or courses. In this article, we open the canvas wider […]

Tags: #decolonization #decolonize #Education #GPE #IPE

Research
Contemporary Qatar

Contemporary Qatar

Edited books are challenging to summarize, this post surveys some of the chapters and key points that stood out to me in this new collection, Contemporary Qatar (2021), edited by Zweiri and Al Qawasmi. Ch 1 outlines the challenges experienced by the new state, often driven by external actors but which slowed the process of state building, which […]

Tags: #Books #Contemporary Qatar #Qatar

Thought Provokers
Ethiopia & Food Security

Ethiopia & Food Security

QUOTES: “As every farmer will emphasize, there is no average household, average yield, average rainfall or average food security situation. Averages are imposed; they provide illumination but are not lived realities. Instead of focusing on averages, greater attention should be placed on the diversity of ways in which households encounter food insecurity” (p. 25-26) “One […]

Tags: #Ethiopia #Ethiopians #Famine #Food Security #Logan Cochrane

Research
How to Rig an Election

How to Rig an Election

“The greatest political paradox of our time is this: there are more elections than ever before, and yet the world is becoming less democratic” (p. 1). This paradox is explained in How to Rig an Election (2018) by Cheeseman and Klaas (published by Yale). In sum: “How is it possible that the flourishing of elections […]

Tags: #Democracy #elections #fraud #hacking the election #How to rig an election

Thought Provokers
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

Gates’ How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (2021) is well written. The book seems to aim for an audience that has had minimal engagement with climate change conversations. The first chapter sets the scene for the author’s positionality, followed by a few chapters on climate science 101. […]

Tags: #Bill Gates #Climate #Climate Change #Climate Disaster #How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Thought Provokers