I am starting to re-read the Anti-Politics Machine after some time… and, of course, started with the epilogue — the closest Ferguson comes to giving advice from his vivisection. here’s a gem that remains relevant ten-plus years later, in spite of major political changes in southern Africa: Certainly, national and international ‘development’ agencies do constituteContinue reading “Gem From the Anti-Politics Machine: They Only Seek the Kind of Advice They Can Take”
Tag Archives: development
losing the “different worlds” talk
this post is an elaboration of my tweet on the nytimes’ op-ed, “the end of the developing world“, by Dayo Olopade. the essay is good and important. imbibe it. here’s a sip: it’s tough to pick a satisfying replacement. talk of first, second and third worlds is passé, and it’s hard to bear the DickensianContinue reading “losing the “different worlds” talk”
embracing local
a nice sentence, on which i will follow-up (from booth 2012, development as a collective action problem, citing kelsall 2008): developing efforts have a greater chance of success when they stop treating cultural factors as a problem to be solved and try instead to harness them as a means to channel behavior in more positiveContinue reading “embracing local”
p4p, habits, context, process
Mark Nichter and Prascilla Magrath (hereafter, M&N) have a nice new paper on pay-for-performance (P4P), stating that “understanding the processes by which P4P targets are reached demands a reorientation… towards an understanding of motivation as a component within a complex adaptive social system.” (Complex systems are so hot right now!) the paper is worth reading inContinue reading “p4p, habits, context, process”
Heather E. Lanthorn 