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The History of Famine and Epidemics in Ethiopia

The History of Famine and Epidemics in Ethiopia

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

Thought Provokers
America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes

America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes

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

Thought Provokers
Empire (Hardt & Negri)

Empire (Hardt & Negri)

“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 […]

Tags: #Empire #Globalization #Hardt #Militancy #Negri

Thought Provokers
The History of the Ethiopian Army

The History of the Ethiopian Army

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 […]

Tags: #Army #Ethiopia #Ethiopian Army #History #Pankhurst

Thought Provokers
Collective Choice and Social Welfare

Collective Choice and Social Welfare

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

Thought Provokers
Civil Resistance and Power Politics

Civil Resistance and Power Politics

Over the last decade there have been quite a number of books published on non-violence action (under a wide range of terminologies: people power, poor people’s movements, civil resistance, collective action, etc). A good number of these works start out with the premise that non-violence is the best / only way for political change to […]

Tags: #Civil resistance #collective action #non-violent action #people power #Power Politics

Thought Provokers