Decolonization, Decoloniality and the Future of African Studies

January 17, 2020
As discussions of the decolonization of academia gain momentum, Duncan Omanga interviews Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, research professor and director for scholarship in the Department of Leadership and Transformation in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa. These are extracts from a longer (3,000 word) piece published on the SSRC blog. If you have time, we urge
Read more >>

“Our house is on fire”: the Asian climate emergency

January 16, 2020
Beatrice Tulagan is the founder of Climate Stories Philippines, a media non-profit aiming to humanize the climate crisis through stories of resistance and survival. She is also the East Asia Field Organizer of 350.org and a fellow at the Climate and Environmental Justice Media program with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund in partnership with OpenGlobalRights. This piece was published as part
Read more >>

Book Review: From What is to What If, by Rob Hopkins

January 15, 2020
Some books engage and challenge you both emotionally and intellectually, making you feel uncomfortable. You end up arguing with them in your head. A lot. From What is to What If is just such a book, and I really benefited from the argument. In 180 sweetly written pages, Rob Hopkins, environmentalist and founder of the Transition Town movement, makes the
Read more >>

Is Community Wealth Building a solution to local deprivation in poor countries as well as the UK?

January 14, 2020
Recently, I’ve been reading up a bit about social change in the UK – I’m wondering if I should embark on some kind of ‘How Change Happens on my doorstep’ project. The stuff I’m finding is both familiar and different to what I’m used to. Take Community Wealth Building, for example, which is all the range among UK activists looking
Read more >>

Links I Liked

January 13, 2020
Ten humanitarian crises and trends to watch in 2020 ‘The retreat of charisma from humanitarian organizations is a challenge for us all’. Hugo Slim brilliant on the bureaucratization of humanitarian aid How Academia Resembles a Drug Gang. LSE Impact blog’s most read post of the decade. Please welcome the newest member of the Edinburgh gritting team ‘Gritter Thunberg‘ IMF boss
Read more >>
Featured image for “Can DFID survive? 2019 in review + other FP2P posts. Audio round up for w/b 6th Jan”

Can DFID survive? 2019 in review + other FP2P posts. Audio round up for w/b 6th Jan

January 11, 2020
No excerpt
Read more >>

Can sustainable architecture help the homeless?

January 10, 2020
Weeks after the climate change conference in Madrid (COP25) and starting the new year with a mix of fear and anticipation, it is a fitting time to think of those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. Particularly, those without a place to live: the homeless. Below is the transcript of an interview with Rajendra Kumar,
Read more >>

How can we incorporate local knowledge into climate planning and policy?

January 9, 2020
This reflection is offered by Ibrahim Jarso, Rangelands Specialist at MercyCorps, Hausner Wendo, Climate Information & Resilience Planning Officer at the Adaptation Consortium and Sam Greene, Researcher on Climate Change at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Isiolo County in northern Kenya’s arid and semi-arid region is typical of many dryland landscapes. Pastoralists face increasing challenges to ensure
Read more >>

How to stop the Foreign Office gobbling up DFID?

January 8, 2020
File under ‘sounds boring, but is really important’: sources inside the UK Department for International Development (DFID) recently told the Guardian that they fully expect the department to be merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) after Brexit (end of this month), as part of a wider effort to slim down government and in line with the Prime Minister’s
Read more >>

The Year in Africa

January 7, 2020
If you don’t receive ‘This Week in Africa’, check it out – it’s an amazing and wide-ranging round up of links put together by Jeff (American) and Phil (Zimbabwean) and hosted by the University of San Francisco. And their annual version is even better. Their 2019 summary is way too long for a blog, so I’ve cut it down by
Read more >>

Top FP2P posts for 2019 and the decade + reader stats

January 6, 2020
I always start the year with stats and most-read posts from the previous 12 months, but guess we better add a ‘best of the decade’ section this time. Yep, FP2P has been going since the noughties – the first post went up in July 2008. WordPress tells me that 2,757 posts have been published to date, but has happily stopped
Read more >>