Following an earlier post on the construction of “development”, the following are thought provoking quotes from Ferguson’s (1990) The Anti-Politics Machine on the practice of “development”: Context: “The argument, in brief, is the following: “development” institutions generate their own form of discourse, and this discourse simultaneously constructs Lesotho as a particular kind of object of […]
Quotes on the construction of “development” from Ferguson’s influential Anti-Politics Machine (1990): “The argument, in brief, is the following: “development” institutions generate their own form of discourse, and this discourse simultaneously constructs Lesotho as a particular kind of object of knowledge, and creates a structure of knowledge around that object. Interventions are then organized on […]
Suggested reading on Ethiopia. Feel free to send me your additions and I’ll add them to the list. In chronological order: The Ethiopia Books of Travels (1904, translated in 2021) Pasha Ex-Italian Somaliland (1951) S Pankhurst Ethiopia: A Cultural History (1955) S Pankhurst Indo-Ethiopian Relations for Centuries (1961) Muthanna The Blue Nile (1962) Moorehead Wichale XVII: The Attempt […]
Pox: An American History (2011) by Willrich provides a wealth of interesting examples of the intersections between public health, epidemiology, society, culture and politics. The context: “All told, during the five-year wave of epidemics around the turn of the century, the federal service counted 164,283 American cases of smallpox. The actual number of cases may […]
Popkin’s book offers ideas that, at least at times, directly confront those of James C. Scott (see quotes from one of his works here). This post continues the ‘thought provokers’ series of posts from The Rational Peasant (1979). On assumptions of peasant life: “Some representations of preindustrial society idealize life in peasant villages. These romantic […]
Cochrane, L. and Skjerdal, T. (2015) Reading the Narratives: Resettlement, Investment and Development in Ethiopia. Forum for Development Studies. DOI: 10.1080/08039410.2015.1080183 Abstract: This article examines the narratives presented on the subjects of relocation, investment and development in Ethiopia. In particular, we focus upon representations given by the Government of Ethiopia and Human Rights Watch (HRW) […]
For anyone interested in international development, this is essential reading. The opening chapters of the book are academic, and I suspect this has contributed to it mostly being engaged with by academics. However, Li’s book is highly recommended for practitioners, even if that means skimming some parts. What follows is not a summary of The […]
Volunteer Post – Evaluation (Bolivia) Volunteer Post – Mapping (Burkina Faso) Volunteer Post – M&E (Ghana) Program Coordinator – Health (Afghanistan) External Evaluator (Lebanon) WASH Manager (Ethiopia)
Taddesse, D., Jamieson, D. and Cochrane, L. (2015) Strengthening Public Health Supply Chains in Ethiopia: PEPFAR Supported Expansion of Access and Availability. Development in Practice 25(7): 1043-1056. Abstract: When the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) programme began working in Ethiopia in 2006, the estimated population of people living […]
Many of Sen’s contributions have become common knowledge and do not appear to be as groundbreaking as they once were. Nonetheless, what follows is a selection of thought provoking quotes from Development as Freedom: On freedom(s): “These include (1) political freedoms, (2) economic freedoms, (3) social opportunities, (4) transparency guarantees and (5) protective security. Each of […]