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Reflections from Benedict Anderson

Reflections from Benedict Anderson

Benedict Anderson, author of the well-read “Imagined Communities” (1983), has authored a short autobiography / set of reflections called “A Life Beyond Boundaries” (2016). The book is an interesting read about his journey toward, and through, academia. The book was inspired by a request to share this experience with a Japanese audience, which was published in […]

Tags: #Benedict Anderson #Fieldwork #Language #Positionality #Research questions

Thought Provokers
How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

​Open doors or build walls? Immigration is one of the most politicized issues. Thus, the value of the book by Goldin, Cameron and Balarajan (2011): “Exceptional People – How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future”. Before delving into the detail, this book was likely written for an undergraduate audience – those moderately […]

Tags: #Citizenship #Development #Exceptional People #Immigration #Migration #Policy

Thought Provokers
How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future

Open doors or build walls? Immigration is one of the most politicized issues. Thus, the value of the book by Goldin, Cameron and Balarajan (2011): “Exceptional People – How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future”. Before delving into the detail, this book was likely written for an undergraduate audience – those moderately […]

Tags: #Citizenship #Development #Exceptional People #Immigration #Migration #Policy

Thought Provokers
Global Inequality

Global Inequality

Inequality is headline news. Recently Oxfam reported that only 8 individuals own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population. In 2014, Piketty published a widely read book on the subject, taking a historical economics approach. But, this question is not new. Amin addressed it in his 1976 book “Unequal Development“, the greater […]

Tags: #Globalization #Historical economics #Inequality #International development #Policy

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How Non-conformists Move the World

How Non-conformists Move the World

Some advice from Grant’s (2016) widely read “Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World” – at least those that may apply for researchers: Write a lot. Not because if you don’t publish you will perish, but because it makes your work better. “It is widely assumed that there’s a tradeoff between quality and quantity – if […]

Tags: #Academic writing #Creativity #Limitations #Originals #Procrastination

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Kicking Away the Ladder

Kicking Away the Ladder

Cambridge professor of development studies, Ha-Joon Chang, is likely more known is the ‘Global South’ than within universities in North America or Europe – mainly because his writing takes a different approach, sometimes rather boldly so. Of his long list of publications, “Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective” (2002) is the most […]

Tags: #Capitalism #Development economics #Development policy #Ha-Joon Chang #Kicking away the ladder

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