History
Global History: A View from the South
Readers who have followed this blog over the years will be familiar with Samir Amin (see other posts on his books for more). First of all, shout out the publisher Pambazuka Press & Fahamu, an African non-profit publisher, led by Firoze Manji (who I had the honor to spent time with when I was at […]
The Idea of Africa
One of the classic critiques of scholarship on Africa (and conceptualizations thereof more broadly) was penned by the Congolese scholar (and Duke professor) V. Y. Mudimbe in his “The Invention of Africa” (1988), which was followed by this book, “The Idea of Africa” (1994). This book revolves around the idea of “Africa” as an idea, […]
Tags: #Africa #History #Mudimbe #Otherness #The Idea of Africa
The Idea of Development in Africa
Taking its cue from another book, The Idea of Africa, this book presents the idea of the idea of development with a focus on Africa – its emergence, meanings, and connotations – and how its conceptualization is deeply rooted in colonialism. “The Idea of Development: A History” (2021) is written by Corrie Decker and Elisabeth McMahon, […]
Tags: #Africa #Colonialism #Development #History #The idea of development
Education in Afghanistan
From his doctoral work, Yahia Baiza wrote “Education in Afghanistan: Development, Influences and Legacies since 1901” (2013), published by Routledge. The book covers more than a century (1901-2012), structured around the political eras of the period. As much as this book is about education, it is equally about the context of each time period. This […]
The Seed Is Mine – The Life of Kas Maine
Written in 1997, following what sounds to be an extensive oral history data collection effort, Charles van Onselen wrote “The Seed is Mine”. The book brings to life the experiences of one, and one who might otherwise not have any other record in the written historical documents (exception on legal note). This book is an […]
Tags: #Apartheid #Ethnography #History #Oral History #South Africa
The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen
In 1997 Diamond wrote the best-seller, “Guns, Germs and Steel”. Nearly three decades later, a similar sounding book (The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen) by Linda Colley shifts the gaze from environmental determinism to political technology (primarily constitutions). The author is a historian and the book is woven around key individuals, which makes the […]
Tags: #Constitution #History #Linda Colley #Political technology
Age of Revolutions
Written by Fareed Zakaria (yes, the CNN one), “Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present” (2024) runs through a selection of European history (Netherlands, Great Britain, France) to make a case for liberalism, participatory governance, markets and innovation in the rise of powerful nations (or their downfall). The title of this book […]
Tags: #Age of Revolutions #Fareed Zakaria #History #Politics #Revolution
From Black Gold to Frozen Gas
In 2023, Tusiani and Johnson wrote “From Black Gold to Frozen Gas: How Qatar Became an Energy Superpower”, published by Columbia University Press, in the Center on Global Energy Policy Series. The book provides a unique and detailed look into the deal, actors, contracts of the development of the energy sector in Qatar, often interwoven […]
Imagining Afghanistan
Quite a number of books have followed in the tradition of Edward Said, critiquing and contesting the manufacturing of narratives. Nivi Manchanda’s “Imagining Afghanistan” The History and Politics of Imperial Knowledge” (2020) provides a deep dive into those narratives of Afghanistan. Chapters of the book explore the use of “tribe” and “tribalism”, the colonial construction […]
Tags: #Afghanistan #Colonial #Colonialism #History #Manufactured consent
God’s Unruly Friends
I discovered “God’s Unruly Friends: Dervish Groups in the Islamic Middle Period 1200-1550” (2006) by Ahmet Karamustafa largely by accident (it was a footnote in another book I had read). The title got me, but it sat on the shelf for a while until I got to it. The book itself is quite short, the […]
About me
Logan Cochrane
Associate Professor at HBKU in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at Hawassa University (Institute for Policy and Development Research). Over the last fifteen years, he has worked in Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Logan acts as a consultant for governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, seeking to create bridges between research and practice.
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