So you want to Blog about Development? (Part 1)

Every week I try to post a set of “Links I liked” based on what I’ve read over the last few days. This is mostly an excuse to share articles that I find interesting, but also a good way to keep up regular posting. Over the year, I’ve started coming back to the same sources, people and sites that have the most interesting and engaging content, and keep me current with development news. If you’re starting out, my first piece of advice would be to learn from the best. So here’s my list of recommendations:

@cblatts

1. Chris Blattman: Chris Blattman’s blog was among the first I found, and remains the gold standard for development blogging. Blattman (a Columbia political economist) runs experiments on poverty and violence. Notably, his post on what to pack for development fieldwork is brilliant (as is his entire advice column). Beyond being an innovative researcher and talented communicator, he is also Canadian and a Waterloo grad.
Why I read: Honest reflections, Humour, Life advice for development practitioners and researchers. Basically, I get a secret sense of accomplishment when I find a story or image before it features on Blattman’s blog.

@fp2p

2. From Poverty to Power: One of the happy accidents of coming to Malawi has been being on Twitter at the same time as UK-based Duncan Green, a “Strategic Advisor” at Oxfam. Like Chris Blattman, Green’s blog curates fantastic content but his writing on ‘how social change happens’ is equally interesting. If Blattman’s economics are too much, Green’s practical advice on advocacy and change might be for you.
Why I read: Current events, interesting links, frequent guest contributors

@BruceWydick

3. Across Two Worlds: Bruce Wydick isn’t as prolific as the above two, but his posts are both academically brilliant and personally reflective. Wydick is a USF Econ prof who runs experiments to find out what interventions work best to end poverty. Personally, I am really impressed by the way he weaves his faith into his work, partnering with organisations like Compassion to make sure their interventions succeed, and promoting a wider idea of what it means to be “developed”.
Why I read: Rigorous and Holistic, enjoyable reading, he might yet convince me to like TOMS.

4. Our World in Data: I’m a huge geek for maps and charts, and Oxford Economist Max Roser’s work is unparalleled. Probably half the maps I share here are from him. His website is good if you need something specific, but I would highly recommend following his Facebook or Twitter.

Why I read: Fascinating Data, He’s convinced that the world is getting better.

Honourable mention:

The Monkey Cage: “Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage” -Mencken. Political Scientists take their research and summarize it for a popular audience. Right now there’s a lot about the US election, but if you want a non-hysterical perspective on any current event, this is the place to go.

Tyler Cowen– heavy on economics, but only the most interesting. I feel like he publishes a new blog post every ten minutes, but his monthly “Conversations with Tyler” are brilliant- there’s one coming up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!

Guardian Global Development Professionals Network– Four months into my placement in Malawi, the advice and reflections here have become painfully relevant. I’ve featured a couple of the “Secret Aid Worker” columns here, and now it has garnered its own parody!

Aidspeak– “J” writes about the humanitarian system and runs fascinating public opinion polls on aid workers answers to questions like “Would you donate to the NGO you work for?”. Here’s my favourite piece from Aidspeak. See the rest of his writing here.

Priceonomics– Everyone has that one store where they want to buy everything on the shelf. From the definitive answer to “Should You Use a Pie Chart?“, to the economics/statistics of selfies and hair, I love almost every article on this site.

Branko Milanovic– The world’s expert on inequality. Very ugly blog. This paper changed the way I think about the world.

Of course there’s more- on twitter, Ben Parker, Tom Murphy, Charles Kenny (and anyone related to the CGD) and probably more. You can see everyone I follow here.

Heterodox

In the last two weeks I started reading two books whose premises I specifically disagreed with.

The first is “Participation: the new Tyranny” by Cooke and Kothari. They assemble a team of scholars to question the norm of participation in development. Considering that I’ve applied to work for a “Support Centre for Participatory Development” next year, it’s fair to say I don’t agree with everything that they write. However, the book has been enlightening.  The authors argue that participation rests on the:

…naivety of assumptions about the authenticity of motivations and behaviour in participatory processes; how the language of empowerment masks a real concern for managerial effectiveness; the quasi religious associations of participatory rhetoric and practice ; and how an emphasis on the micro level of intervention can obscure, and indeed sustain, broader macro level inequalities and injustice.

Rather than an orthodox critique (an evaluation from inside the camp), their work is heterodox; challenging the norm of participation. They conclude: “any meaningful attempt to save participatory development requires a sincere acceptance of the possibility that it should not be saved”

The second book is Kevin DeYoung’s “What is the mission of the Church“. He contends that an overemphasis on missional living and social action has diluted the church’s primary role of verbally proclaiming the gospel of Christ. He writes:

“We want the church to remember that there is something worse than death and something better than human flourishing. If we hope only for renewed cities and restored bodies in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied”

As an international development student, I see more of a complementarity than a dichotomy between telling people about Jesus and practically helping them. However, DeYoung raises a red flag, warning me of a tendency to overemphasize one side of my mission at the expense of the other.

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The reason I’m writing this is not to boast about how open minded I am. I’m only two chapters in to each book, so I’ve hardly begun to engage with their arguments.

What strikes me is the way in which they disagree. As I mentioned, Cooke and Kothari take a heterodox position, parking themselves firmly outside of the accepted way of doing development. DeYoung, on the other hand, stays firmly committed to the church, only critiquing its current state. He is orthodox in multiple senses of the term.

So when do I cross that line? At what point do I no longer recommend reform, like DeYoung, and instead promote reinvention or revolution, as Cooke and Kothari do? An example for me is the Sustainable Development Goals to be finalized this September. At this point they’re not looking too useful. Will my response be one of “reform and adjust”, or will I find myself outside the camp?

Have you ever read a book that you disagreed with?