Cochrane, L. (2017) Seeing Like an Anthropologist: Anthropology in Practice. In Cultural Anthropology: An Open Access Textbook, edited by N. Brown, L. Gonzalez, T. McIlwraith, P. Stein and J. Thompson. Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges. Part of an Open Access textbook for Cultural Anthropology. Full textbook available here: http://www.perspectivesanthro.org/ Chapter Seeing like an Anthropologist: Anthropology […]
It is not easy to convey the respect one has for the people with whom they work or with whom they conduct research. Similarly, it can be challenging to identify colonial and paternalistic attitudes. “I know it when I see it”, a judge famously stated in seeking to draw a line within fuzzy grey areas. […]
Cochrane, L., Cundill, G., Ludi, E., New, M., Nicholls, R. J., Wester, P., Cantin, B., Murali, K. S., Leone, M., Kituyi, E. and Landry, M.-E. (2017) A Reflection on Collaborative Adaptation Research in Africa and Asia. Regional Environmental Change 17(5): 1553-1561. Abstract: The reality of global climate change demands novel approaches to science that are reflective […]
Naomi Klien believes in the power of the people, and of collective action, to change the world. As outlined in “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate” (2014), she writes: “Slavery wasn’t a crisis for British and American elites until abolitionism turned it into one. Racial discrimination want a crisis until the civil rights movement […]
Naomi Klien’s “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate” (2014) is not a case for how climate change is real or important to consider, it is a call to action. From a research perspective, I was not overly impressed with the book. However, a few chapters into my reading I realized I had approached the […]
Corbett, J. and Cochrane, L. (2017) Engaging with the Participatory Geoweb: Exploring the Dynamics of VGI. In Volunteered Geographic Information and the Future of Geospatial Data edited by C. Campelo, M. Bertolotto and P. Corcoran. IGI Global. Abstract: Maps were historically used as tools of the elite to maintain and expand power and control. The development […]
In development studies and practice there are some key voices advocating for organizational changes. Ben Ramalingam, Duncan Green, Danny Burns and Stuart Worsley, Dave Algoso, and the USAID Learning Lab. They are calling for complexity and systems thinking to support more informed adaptive and iterative decision making and management. As these voices gain traction, and more […]
Twenty years ago Robert Chambers published “Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last” (1997). He challenges the academics and professionals to turn how they work upside down. His earlier book, Rural Development (1983) did similarly. In doing so, however, Chambers is not the angry dissident disowning ‘development’, rather he offers an optimistic vision: “That the […]
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 […]
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 […]