Featured image for “Global South feminists know how our fixation with GDP hurts people and planet: it’s time to listen to them”

Global South feminists know how our fixation with GDP hurts people and planet: it’s time to listen to them

December 20, 2024
The world needs to stop relying on a metric that ignores two thirds of the work done by women and which promotes harmful policies, says Oxfam GB CEO Halima Begum. A new collection of feminist think pieces offers a compelling and inspirational tour of the arguments and pathways for moving Beyond GDP.
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Book Review: Renegotiating Patriarchy by Naila Kabeer

November 25, 2024
Another big book in international development just landed. Not in terms of size (330 pages) but significance. Naila Kabeer’s Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox is a monumental achievement, literally: something the rest of us will be learning from, citing and pointing our students to for years to come. It’s even Open Access (viva LSE Press!). In a
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Are we allowed to be unimpressed by Nobel prize winners? Hope so.

October 14, 2024
When I heard that the not-quite-Nobel for economics this year had gone to Daron Acemoglu, James Robinson and Simon Johnson I went back to my 2012 review of their breakthrough book, Why Nations Fail. At the time, I had really mixed feelings about it – loved the emphasis on conclusions, but detected an extraordinary level of Western bias on which
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Book Review: Politics on the Edge, by Rory Stewart

September 24, 2024
As he climbs the greasy pole He fears for losing his soul It all ends in tears Betrayed by his peers Now Rory reflects on his role Think that’s my first limerick executive summary – hope you like it. I was a bit late to Politics on the Edge (my copy came via the local Oxfam shop), but was hooked
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Featured image for “Book Review: Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World, by Danny Sriskandarajah”

Book Review: Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World, by Danny Sriskandarajah

September 4, 2024
Health Warning: Danny Sriskandarajah is both a friend, and my former boss at Oxfam GB, and this blog is hosted by Oxfam, so everything you’re about to read is horribly compromised. Still reading? OK then, here goes. The title pretty much tells you what’s inside. Power to the People is a big picture, determinedly optimistic call to arms that argues
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Book Review: The Politics of Development

June 26, 2024
This is one of those books that makes you ask, ‘why haven’t we had one of these before?’ The Politics of Development starts from the premise that all development is political, and expertly unpacks the evidence for that assertion and the implications for thinking and practice. In terms of content, as well as the focus on politics, and its ‘3I’
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After Ha-Joon Chang and Robert Chambers, the only way is down. Final reflections (for now) on ‘How Change Happens’ 2nd edition

June 20, 2024
As I skimmed the new edition of How Change Happens, what struck me most was not the text, but the endorsements. When it first came out in 2016, I was full of busyness, cracking on with the next thing etc. Now, as I exit Oxfam and have a bit more downtime, I can appreciate things better. Not only that, but
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Unequal: Why India Lags Behind its Neighbours (Book Review)

March 22, 2024
If you’re in the development world, you may have seen passing reference to the apparent anomaly that India, the giant of South Asia, has been overtaken in terms of social progress by Bangladesh, its poorer and slower-growing neighbour. You may vaguely put it down to religion, or (lack of) caste, or Bangladesh’s vibrant NGO scene. Unequal: Why India Lags Behind
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Some last minute Christmas book presents

December 15, 2023
Lucy Gray asked in comments for some recommended reads for last minute presents. Be careful what you wish for, but where to start? I picked 5 criteria for this completely personal selection: What emerges from these competing demands? I’ve grouped these 16 books v roughly into 5 thematic areas (with lots of overlap, obvs): Activism Bury the Chains: timeless classic
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Which book should I review next? You decide please!

October 10, 2023
My reviews pile has crept higher over the summer and is now becoming a bit of a health and safety issue. Reviewing books takes a lot of time, which I don’t have much of right now as term has started at the LSE. But FP2P readers often appreciate the reviews for the same reason – saves them reading the whole
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Featured image for “Book Review: Power and Progress. Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity”

Book Review: Power and Progress. Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity

September 14, 2023
I started reading Power and Progress in a fairly sceptical frame of mind, because I didn’t much like Why Nations Fail. But it won me over in the end, especially the final chapter on what to do about the current tech clusterfxck of AI, filter bubbles, mis- and disinformation, gig economy exploitation etc etc. Main message: Since roughly 1980, something
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The Role of ‘Critical Friends’ in Research and Aid Programmes

July 20, 2023
One particular chapter in How to Engage Policy Makers with your Research felt particularly relevant to me. For some years, I have been working with Exfamer Jane Lonsdale, in Tanzania, Myanmar and now in Papua New Guinea (PNG), where she helps run a big Aussie-funded programme on citizen engagement. I support Jane and the teams she works with by commenting
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