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Archive for the ‘Development Theory’ Category

New OECD Report: “Do No Harm: International Support for Statebuilding”

Posted in Afghanistan, Development Theory, International Politics, Peace and Conflict on February 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Despite the best of intentions, donors can inadvertently undermine statebuilding processes. When the resources they deliver or the reforms they advocate weaken rather than strengthen the state’s decision- and policy-making functions, their efforts can do more harm than good. Donors can also do harm by creating a brain drain away from state organizations. When aid [...]

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Politicophobia: How the UN Fails Afghanistan

Posted in Afghanistan, Development Theory, International Politics, Peace and Conflict on January 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

In a parliamentary democracy with a president at the executive helm, it is one of the former’s most critical prerogatives to review, approve or potentially reject the latter’s cabinet. This is the procedure followed in the U.S. and many other countries in the world. Even the otherwise weak European Parliament in Strasbourg retains the right [...]

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Gary Gaile Development Geography Pre-Conference in DC

Posted in Afghanistan, Development Theory, Health and Development, International Politics, Urban Politics on December 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The Development Geographies Specialty Group of the AAG is delighted to present the “Gary Gaile Development Geography Pre-Conference” in Washington, DC, a one-day event in April 2010 which is themed around innovative policies and approaches emerging at the interface of research and practice.
Merging debate around cutting edge research and acute practical challenges, the format and [...]

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New Essay in Ethics & International Affairs

Posted in Development Theory, Health and Development on September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Is more money for global health always good news? No, I am arguing in this lead essay in Ethics & International Affairs (Carnegie Council). Many of the problems that plague decision-making in global health assistance lie not in the global South but in the North, where the monetary flows originate and where most policies are [...]

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The Astronomy of Aid: Stars and Starlets in International Development

Posted in Development Theory, International Politics on July 16, 2009 | 1 Comment »

All universes have their stars. It is therefore not surprising that International Development, as its own little universe, has produced both stars and starlets.
In the following, I classify and characterize some of the most prominent and luminous celestial bodies. They can be seen almost every day and night in the sky projected onto us by [...]

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Development as Fiction: The Failure of the MDGs

Posted in Development Theory, International Politics on July 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock have recently proposed that works of fiction may be just as valid and useful sources of knowledge than official reports and academic papers: “Not only are certain works of fiction ‘better’ than academic or policy research in representing central issues relating to development, but they also frequently reach [...]

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The Divine End of Demonic Neoliberalism

Posted in Development Theory, International Politics on July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

“Charity in truth is a force that builds community.”
The Pope has spoken. His latest Encyclical Letter ‘Caritas in Veritate‘ (“of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious, the Lay Faithful, and All People of Good Will on Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth”) is a [...]

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‘Let me tell you what to think’: Discourse and the Limits of Democracy

Posted in Development Theory, International Politics, Peace and Conflict on July 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »

The German pollster agency TNS Emnid recently broke the news that the majority (57%) of East German respondents among the total 1,208 Germans in all 16 federal states asked about their views of the bygone German Democratic Republic (GDR) agreed with the statement that the GDR ‘had more positive than negative aspects’ and that although [...]

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What Makes Global Health Political?

Posted in Development Theory, Health and Development on June 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Lawrence Gostin, in a recent scholarly op-ed in JAMA, has argued passionately that health inequality is deeply unethical. I fully agree. The question is how the current architecture of global health assistance can be changed so that it becomes more responsive to the unethical reality of global health disparities.
I just finished an essay for publication [...]

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