Vandava Shiva was one of the earliest challengers to corporate control of food and the food system. In her most recent book, “Who Really Feeds the World: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology” (2016), Shiva continues the activism. While I am generally in agreement with the positions advocated in the book, it […]
Tags: #Agribusiness #Agroecology #Food system #Vandana Shiva #Who Really Feeds the World?
Richard Pankhurst made significant contributions to the study of history in Ethiopia (see a listing of some of his works here). In this book, “The History of Famine and Epidemics in Ethiopia Prior to the Twentieth Century” (1985), published by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, Richard Pankhurst brings together a series of others works: The […]
Tags: #Epidemics #Ethiopia #Famine #Food Security #Pankhurst
Anand Gopal was a Pulitzer finalist and won the Ridenhour Prize for “No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes” (2014). For those interested in Afghanistan, I’ve covered books by Ahmed Rashid, William Dalrymple and Stephen Saideman elsewhere. Gopal’s book is an excellent read and presents the counter-narrative […]
Tags: #Afghanistan #Anand Gopal #No Good Men Among the Living #Taliban #War on Terror
“Empire” (2000) by Hardt and Negri lines many shelves and sits on many recommended reading lists on the Left. I have written up a summary of their 2004 book, for anyone interested – that book is also easier reading for those not interested or well versed in Marxist literature / terminology. Empire presents a detailed […]
Richard Pankhurst made innumerable contributions to the history of Ethiopia. I found an original copy of “An Introduction fo the History of the Ethiopian Army”, published by the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force, 101st Training Centre, in 1967. The Forward (of only 2 pages) by Colonel Aberra Wolde Mariam provide interesting insight into the thinking of […]
Amartya Sen has made significant contributions to economics, development studies and philosophy. His early work actually focused on collective choice, which was the the topic of his 1970 book “Collective Choice and Social Welfare” (re-printed with significant additions in 2017). In the 2017 Introduction, Sen outlines what social choice theory is and the broad array […]
Tags: #Amartya Sen #Capabilities #Collective Choice and Social Welfare #Economics #Group choice