I have to keep reasonably abreast of what’s happening in the development world in order to be able to make credible evaluations. To be honest it’s also really interesting- and covers everything from marketing and economics to African history and even novels.
I also get an enormous kick out of Amazon, and I’d imagine at this point they’ve a gold statue of me in their lobby. This part of the website’s just a place to review related books as I get to them in case people are interested. Any recommendations, please let me know.
1. Paulo Freire: ’Pedagogy of the Oppressed’
The piece de resistance from 70s Brazilian teacher/ socialist/ revolutionary/ Harvard Lecturer/ Secretary of education. One brilliant message repeated throughout- that education is not value-free, and that it either imprisons or liberates. Freire saw the purpose of education as being very much to question our realities and overcome oppressive mindsets.
2. Robert Chambers: ’Whose Reality Counts? Putting The First Last’
I really liked this one and it’s a great manual for researchers in Africa. Essentially it stresses that for a lot of poor people, researchers will seem like multiple ‘uppers’ because of their clothes, nationality, ethnicity, wealth, gender, accessories, associations, lifestyles and education. As a result what they tell you is always going to be skewed dramatically. It’s also a great reminder that qualitative information is where many of the real insights lie.
3. Dambisa Moyo: ’Dead Aid’
The darling of the Aid sceptics, Moyo studied under both Sachs and Collier in Harvard and Oxford. She later worked in Goldman Sachs and the World Bank. A lot of the criticisms of Government to Government aid are well-founded, though NGOs are barely considered. In all though, a pretty petulant book that puts nearly all of the blame for African poverty at the feet of Western Aid. Some of the prescriptions in the later chapters are welcome, if hardly revolutionary. To be honest the only reason it’s even here is because it got so much attention last year. I also shudder when someone suggests cutting all aid in five years when they’ve no empirical evidence to show that it will work, and they patently won’t be the loser if it doesn’t. Probably not running for office in Lusaka any time soon.
A major accomplishment in documenting Africa’s history since independence. For a single volume, it’s about as comprehensive as you could hope for. The pace is also fantastic, and makes a 500 pager much less gruelling. In many ways it’s the ultimate rebuke to the Moyo hypothesis; and unlike Moyo, Meredith actually provides the figures to boot. A stunning indictment of the corruption, incompetence, and psychotic callousness that have defined so many African leaders for decades.
Stand out: Live Aid raised $100 million for the 1984 Ethiopian Famine. Mengistu (head of the ruling Junta), concurrently spent $150 million commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1974 ‘Socialist’ revolution.
It’s been a couple of years since I read this, so I’m struggling to remember it all. My major complaint though, which pertains to an awful lot of the development books, is that prognoses are given but the evidence justifying them is only given in part. Granted, these books are written to be read widely, but it does mean that the top guys in the field give a very pedestrian message which should probably be no more tolerated from a Development specialist than a surgeon.
I’m battling through this at the moment. It’s a brilliant book, and Sen’s writing style is so fluent it’s quite like reading a classical economist. I would say he’s still guilty of referring to a lot of studies without giving the findings in numerical form, but he’s so authoritative you’re inclined to believe him. Each chapter is like a separate paper, and all are lucid, thoughtful, and evidently substantiated by mountains of research.
One of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s largely considered to be a book on anthropology, but it’s the best analysis on development out there. The central thesis is that some continents did really well on the flora and fauna lottery, and others lost out. I won’t ruin it for anyone but suffice to say it’s very hard to get a kangaroo to pull a plow. If you haven’t got to it yet, make sure it’s the next book you read
8. Milton Friedman: ‘Capitalism and Freedom’
Again, more than a development book but essential reading for anyone interested in economics or politics. It’s highly readable, concise, incredibly thoughtful, and I’d be amazed if anyone came away from it disappointed. Friedman is often considered the darling of the right, but as with Adam Smith, his actual writings are far more nuanced and objective than many of his proponents suggest. Rightly considered with Keynes as one of the great economists of the 20th Century. If the Development industry wants to achieve Aid Effectiveness this is probably a good place to start.
9. Paul Collier: ‘The Bottom Billion’
One thing I find amazing is that Niall Ferguson (whose history book ‘ War of the World’ is superb) managed to highly recommend both this book and Moyo’s. Collier manages to address the criticism leveled at all the above development books, and convincingly uses the huge bodies of quantitative evidence that underpin his conclusions. He also gives the reader a great cursory insight into how the research is conducted, which is fascinating in itself. Rather than arguing from first principles, or any explicit standpoint, Collier uses scientific method to arrive at his answers- as generally happens in the natural science and economics but not development. One of definite the must-reads from this list.
The Development Book Corner
I have to keep reasonably abreast of what’s happening in the development world in order to be able to make credible evaluations. To be honest it’s also really interesting- and covers everything from marketing and economics to African history and even novels.
I also get an enormous kick out of Amazon, and I’d imagine at this point they’ve a gold statue of me in their lobby. This part of the website’s just a place to review related books as I get to them in case people are interested. Any recommendations, please let me know.
1.
Paulo Freire: ’Pedagogy of the Oppressed’
The piece de resistance from 70s Brazilian teacher/ socialist/ revolutionary/ Harvard Lecturer/ Secretary of education. One brilliant message repeated throughout- that education is not value-free, and that it either imprisons or liberates. Freire saw the purpose of education as being very much to question our realities and overcome oppressive mindsets.
2. Robert Chambers: ’Whose Reality Counts? Putting The First Last’
I really liked this one and it’s a great manual for researchers in Africa. Essentially it stresses that for a lot of poor people, researchers will seem like multiple ‘uppers’ because of their clothes, nationality, ethnicity, wealth, gender, accessories, associations, lifestyles and education. As a result what they tell you is always going to be skewed dramatically. It’s also a great reminder that qualitative information is where many of the real insights lie.
3. Dambisa Moyo: ’Dead Aid’
The darling of the Aid sceptics, Moyo studied under both Sachs and Collier in Harvard and Oxford. She later worked in Goldman Sachs and the World Bank. A lot of the criticisms of Government to Government aid are well-founded, though NGOs are barely considered. In all though, a pretty petulant book that puts nearly all of the blame for African poverty at the feet of Western Aid. Some of the prescriptions in the later chapters are welcome, if hardly revolutionary. To be honest the only reason it’s even here is because it got so much attention last year. I also shudder when someone suggests cutting all aid in five years when they’ve no empirical evidence to show that it will work, and they patently won’t be the loser if it doesn’t. Probably not running for office in Lusaka any time soon.
4.
Martin Meredith: ’The State of Africa’
A major accomplishment in documenting Africa’s history since independence. For a single volume, it’s about as comprehensive as you could hope for. The pace is also fantastic, and makes a 500 pager much less gruelling. In many ways it’s the ultimate rebuke to the Moyo hypothesis; and unlike Moyo, Meredith actually provides the figures to boot. A stunning indictment of the corruption, incompetence, and psychotic callousness that have defined so many African leaders for decades.
Stand out: Live Aid raised $100 million for the 1984 Ethiopian Famine. Mengistu (head of the ruling Junta), concurrently spent $150 million commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1974 ‘Socialist’ revolution.
6. Amartya Sen: ’Development as Freedom‘
7. Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs and Steel
One of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s largely considered to be a book on anthropology, but it’s the best analysis on development out there. The central thesis is that some continents did really well on the flora and fauna lottery, and others lost out. I won’t ruin it for anyone but suffice to say it’s very hard to get a kangaroo to pull a plow. If you haven’t got to it yet, make sure it’s the next book you read
8. Milton Friedman: ‘Capitalism and Freedom’
Again, more than a development book but essential reading for anyone interested in economics or politics. It’s highly readable, concise, incredibly thoughtful, and I’d be amazed if anyone came away from it disappointed. Friedman is often considered the darling of the right, but as with Adam Smith, his actual writings are far more nuanced and objective than many of his proponents suggest. Rightly considered with Keynes as one of the great economists of the 20th Century. If the Development industry wants to achieve Aid Effectiveness this is probably a good place to start.
9. Paul Collier: ‘The Bottom Billion’
One thing I find amazing is that Niall Ferguson (whose history book ‘ War of the World’ is superb) managed to highly recommend both this book and Moyo’s. Collier manages to address the criticism leveled at all the above development books, and convincingly uses the huge bodies of quantitative evidence that underpin his conclusions. He also gives the reader a great cursory insight into how the research is conducted, which is fascinating in itself. Rather than arguing from first principles, or any explicit standpoint, Collier uses scientific method to arrive at his answers- as generally happens in the natural science and economics but not development. One of definite the must-reads from this list.