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The Just Society

An earlier post, on Equity and Fairness in Islam, added to conversations in ethics about the balance between equity and equality. Similarly, in ethics classes we look at questions of justice, which usually takes us to Rawls and Pogge. What else might we consider when thinking about these broader justice issues? And, what other traditions, […]

Thought Provokers

The Ethiopia Book of Travels

In many of my critiques of books written about Qatar I have focused on the almost exclusive reliance upon the British colonial record for history making, despite other sources being available (notably Ottoman records in that case). I was directed to an interesting translation of a travel dairy of an Ottoman dignitary, sent by the Sultan, […]

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Delinking

In 1985 Samir Amin wrote La Deconnexion, which was translated in 1990 as “Delinking: Towards a Polycentric World” and published by Zed. Parts of the book are dated (e.g. discussions of the USSR). My main interest in this book was Chapter 2, on The Problem of Delinking, which sets out some of the theory of delinking. Chapters […]

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Equity and Fairness in Islam

One of the courses I have taught across three continents is ethics. Most textbooks (nearly all) are exclusively eurocentric (other than brief nods to other peoples and traditions existing). An interesting conversation we have in class is engaging with how different ethical theories consider equality and equity. In “Equity and Fairness in Islam” (2005) by Mohammad Hashim Kamali provides […]

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Capitalism in the Age of Globalization

Semir Amin was prolific, and I have covered a number of his books on this blog, including:

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Qatar and the Gulf Crisis

In 2017 the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain launched a land, sea, and air blockade of the State of Qatar. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen (author of more than ten books on the region) documents the blockade in “Qatar and the Gulf Crisis” (2019). The author notes in the text that the writing of the book […]

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Everyday Politics of the World Economy

One of the important efforts to shift the gaze in IPE studies beyond elites and regulation was a 2007 book edited by Hobson and Seabrooke called Everyday Politics of the World Economy. I was not seeking the book out per se, but reading other works by Hobson and stumbled on it. The book covers a […]

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Social Dictatorships

What do some non-democratic governments have stronger social protection systems than others? That is the main questions attempted in the book “Social Dictatorships: The Political Economy of the Welfare State in the Middle East and North Africa” (2020) by Ferdinand Eibl (published by Oxford University Press). This book is largely an elaboration of a 2016 […]

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The Concept of Human Rights in Africa

“Human rights talk constitutes one of the main elements in the ideological armoury of imperialism. Yet from the point of view of the African people, human rights struggles constitute the stuff of their daily lives. For these two interconnected reasons, human rights talk needs to be subjected to a closer historical and political scrutiny.” (p. […]

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The Future of Africa

Looking for an introduction to the issues facing Africa today and into the future? Jakkie Cilliers’ Open Access book “The Future of Africa: Challenges and Opportunities” (2021) is a good option, and is available for download here. The author is a leader in strategic studies focusing on Africa, founding an independent institute (Institute for Security […]

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