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Links & Contents I Liked 281

Hi all,

I'm dorsum with some other packed reading listing for your weekend!

Development news: #AidToo updates from African Union, United Nations & EU; the dingy state of war inwards Cameroon; woman soul Afghan coders & the opportunities of digital work; peak hype for insurance & evolution schemes? Ethnographic documentary from Maputo; volition Mayors solve the refugee crisis? Journalists of color to follow; a major conference 'did non consider gender' when planning m/panels-plus tweets & fancy United Nations PR.

Our digital lives: Is the opened upwards programme purpose sexist? Does crypto repeat tech's gender inequalities? Do squatters demand discipline? (Yes! to all of those questions!)

Publications: RCTs make biased results (no really!); ICT4D & digital labor; mobile phones inwards the Pacific.

Academia: Powerful essays on depression & graduate studies, indigenizing Canadian academia & the competitive hardship of contemporary ethnographic research; plus, 10 types of meetings you lot love to hate!

Enjoy!

New from aidnography
Dear Colonialism - invitee post past times Ami V. Shah
So inwards the call of viewpoint diversity, Dear Colonialism, allow me advise a radical notion. It is fourth dimension for anti-colonial together with decolonial viewpoints to last heard together with to last taken seriously. It is fourth dimension to halt pushing these views to the side claiming that they are a novel orthodoxy when your orthodoxy still clings tightly to each wall of our homes.

You receive got never left.

Dear Colonialism, the Blue Planet volition never last rid of your effects, whatever your assessment of them may be. The reality of the Blue Planet you lot created cannot last escaped. If you lot are so brazen, so strong, so able, so capable equally to correct the wrongs you lot catch inwards our lands presently, so ain the wrongs that are yours.
Development news
Exclusive: The 'professional apartheid' sidelining women at the African Union
Another memo, dated February  14 together with addressed to Faki, amongst others, elaborates farther on issues within the peace together with safety department. It is signed past times 5 senior officials from the department’s direction together with human resources wing. It describes a “poisonous” province of affairs inwards the department, which is “too male-heavy inwards the upper layers”.
This memo accuses Chergui of abusing the powers of his purpose to secure his preferred candidates for positions, together with interfering inwards the interview together with recruitment process. Specifically, it refers to irregularities inwards the procedure to appoint an acting caput of the crisis direction division; together with inwards the procedure to appoint a permanent caput of conflict prevention together with warning.
Simon Allison for the Mail & Guardian with some other #MeToo work at an international organization.

New U.N. tool volition halt sexual wrongdoers from finding novel jobs inwards assist world, official says
Plans for the U.N. screening tool to register workers establish guilty of sexual misconduct were announced at the gathering of its agency heads inwards London this week.
"(It) is a screening tool so that when nosotros receive got confirmed perpetrators of sexual harassment inwards the system, nosotros tin ensure that they are non able to displace around," Beagle told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on the sidelines of the meeting.
Beagle said groundwork for the system, which volition last managed past times the secretariat, is consummate together with it was expected to last fully operational past times the summer.
Umberto Bacchi for Thomson Reuters Foundation News on how the United Nations secretariat is responding to the #AidToo movement.

EU asylum agency inwards disarray amid alleged ‘psychological violence’
Staff harassment, a “culture of irresponsibility” together with the utilization of “psychological violence” equally a direction tool are all prevalent at the EU’s atomic number 82 agency for managing migration, according to allegations inwards internal documents seen past times POLITICO.
The letters together with emails pigment a painting of an establishment inwards deep crisis with experienced staff leaving because of alleged coercion together with an absence of “rule of law” at the Malta-based European Asylum Support Office.
POLITICO reported inwards Jan that the agency’s Portuguese executive director, José Carreira, is already nether investigation past times the bloc’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, for alleged misconduct inwards procurement together with human resources together with possible breaches of information protection rules. He contests those charges together with the allegations made inwards the novel documents.
Jacopo Barigazzi for Politico with to a greater extent than bad word from within some other international organization.

'Dirty war' ravages Cameroon's anglophone region
They telephone call upwards it a "dirty war" - a still conflict inwards Cameroon's anglophone part marked past times near-daily attacks past times separatists together with a savage regular army backlash that shows no sign of abating.
Over the past times 8 months, scores of police, soldiers together with civilians receive got died inwards the heartland of francophone Cameroon's English-speaking minority.
Homes receive got been torched, shops looted, complaints of summary arrest together with detention are mutual and, according to United Nations estimates, tens of thousands receive got fled their homes.
AFP with an update on i of the less good covered crises inwards Africa.
Female Afghan coders pattern games to acquire by opium together with inequality
The course of study is solely aimed at females, aged 15-25, who are unable to pursue a four-year grade due to lack of funds or hail from families where they are prevented from enrolling inwards co-education schools.
“In Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan the powerfulness to run remotely is a fundamental tool inwards the force for equality,” said Rasa.
Jalil Ahmad Rezayee for Reuters with some other story of the possibilities of remote run equally a tool for women's empowerment.

Insurance hits peak hype inwards the assist & evolution biz – but what do nosotros really know?
What frustrates me is the lack of investment inwards M&E – yes, nosotros demand to explore novel together with innovative schemes, accept a punt on promising ideas, but this must come upwards with solid learning, evidence edifice together with robust M&E. And upwards to now, this has been notably lacking. While it is mayhap non surprising that insurance companies receive got neither the skills nor involvement inwards considering the impacts on gender, equity, social cohesion, female-headed households, the landless, or whether at that spot are negative unintended consequences – the donors funding these schemes really should.
Debbie Hillier for fp2p raises of import questions most the evolution impact of insurance schemes.

Maputo - Ethnography of a Divided City
This cinema projection seeks to visualise i of Africa’s divided cities, together with is component of the research projection “The Ethnography of a Divided City. Socio-Politics, Poverty together with Gender inwards Maputo, Mozambique” headed past times the Chr. Michelsen Institute together with funded past times the Norwegian Research Council. While the cinema relates actively to the research project, it approaches the themes of that projection from novel together with master copy angles together with ANIMA has had total artistic liberty inwards its filmic approach. H5N1 focus on the people inhabiting the city’s so-called bairros (districts/areas) render a privileged catch of the way inwards which symbolic together with cloth boundaries of diverse urban spaces are contested, negotiated and, ultimately, inscribed onto mental maps of the city.
Inge Tvedten for CMI introduces a documentary cinema from Mozambique that developed amongst a to a greater extent than traditional research project.

How Small Data Can Improve Access to Justice for the Poor
When collected together with analyzed, this information tin assist seat the problems that thing to a community. It tin shape the best ways to address those problems, together with it tin assist us assess the actual impact of a particular solution. Small information tin also give us the information to persuade governments together with individual funders to invest inwards the provision of community-based judge systems past times demonstrating how a low-cost solution tin relieve money—and, sometimes, foreclose a costly crisis.
While it does non supervene upon large-scale legal needs studies, collecting this information is less expensive because it is generated through the day-to-day provision of legal services. It also adds an of import complementary picture; it reflects experiences navigating real-time legal processes, whereas surveys often rely on people’s call back or perceptions.
Matthew Burnett & Tom Walker for Open Society Foundations on how small, real-time information matters for judge processes.

“Mayors Will Rule the World”
We are thinking most special evolution zones or most changing sure cities past times setting a framework of rules together with regulations. These regions would so no longer last governed past times the normal Libyan law but would receive got their ain rules. This is something that is familiar from special economical zones. But special economical zones are commonly places where factories are built together with workers move for work. We are taking this a measurement further, arguing that nosotros also demand to displace towards governance, together with that at that spot demand to last special forms of governance, too, since it is non only most line of piece of work concern or the economy.
Fabrice Braun talks to Killian Kleinschmidt for the BMW Foundation. My starting fourth dimension thought was 'Oh dear, Paul Romer's ill-fated "charter cities" are dorsum on the agenda'. His thought has never gained whatever pregnant traction. My 2d thought was 'Oh dear, this could last an opened upwards invitation for the European Union together with global securitization apparatus of migration to in conclusion acquire processing camps-just nether the guise of to a greater extent than friendly-sounding "refugee cities"'. My 3rd thought was 'Oh dear, "special governance" commonly agency less liberty together with fewer human rights'. You cite the instance of Dubai-a seat that is special indeed, but only because of the caste scheme it maintains. There is also the paradox that if "refugee cities" do well, the outside, unstable inwards Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Somalia for the foreseeable future, volition really either last jealous-or, an unstable 'state' volition negatively demeanour upon 'refugee cities'-or cities won't do good together with volition essentially remain refugee camps. Interesting nutrient for thought-but to a greater extent than a vision than a concept that seems implementable from what nosotros know most frail states together with the safety manufacture that is predominantly interested inwards keeping refugees where they are rather than providing an 'incentives' to migrate.

12 Development Journalists Of Color We’re Following Right Now
When nosotros wanted to diversify our evolution word diet, nosotros ran into a major problem: international evolution journalism is really, really white.
Bright Magazine with a listing of amazing journalists to follow on Twitter & beyond!

‘Manels’: Male speakers outnumber women 2 to i at United Nations climate talks
Of the 39 side events with announced speakers at talks inwards Bonn, which started on Monday, only i 3rd receive got an equal gender residue or bulk of women on their panel. 65% of all listed speakers are male.*
A spokesperson for Climate Focus, who helped organise an all-male panel on Tuesday, recognised the demand to last to a greater extent than thoughtful most representation inwards the future.
“Gender residue plainly wasn’t considered when putting together the panel but was noticed past times ourselves during the lawsuit together with also brought upwards during the lawsuit past times the panellists,” he said.
Soila Apparicio together with Megan Darby for Climate Change News. Who organizes a development-related conference these days together with only realizes at the lawsuit that they didn't consider gender balance?!?

Ready to move when crisis strikes
Since 1993, UNDAC (United Nations Disaster Assessment together with Coordination) has been the starting fourth dimension international emergency response squad to come inwards at the scene of over 281 disasters.
UNDAC celebrates 25 years with an interesting visual timeline of events together with engagements.


Our digital lives
The Subtle Sexism Of Your Open Plan Office
Fascinatingly, the study did non start out equally an exam of gender specifically–it was meant equally an exam of how workplace civilization shifts when purpose pattern changes radically. It was only when Hirst, who conducted interviews on-site together with spent a lot of fourth dimension observing the workplace, began to experience describe per unit of measurement area to wearing clothing inwards a to a greater extent than feminine way herself that she began to wonder most it. “She was surprised past times the odd amount of aid she took over her ain appearance, a grade of self-consciousness that she establish burdensome equally fourth dimension progressed,” the researchers write. “To ‘fit in’ with the modern, create clean aesthetic of the edifice itself together with a wearing clothing code that was widely adopted, she departed from her commons preference for wearing jeans together with no makeup; adopting a smart trouser suit together with putting on makeup.”
Katherine Schwab for Co.Design. Even though the findings are based on a little study they definitely heighten some interesting questions. One of the paradoxes of our electrical flow run civilization is that despite the fact that nosotros know opened upwards programme offices are bad, they maintain to last build (including inwards academia where I run inwards a similar environment...).

The starting fourth dimension dominion of beingness a adult woman inwards crypto is you lot do non beak most beingness a adult woman inwards crypto
But on its electrical flow path, crypto is replaying the same inequities that came before. Men still overwhelmingly dominate the technology’s evolution together with the accumulation of resulting wealth—though the gender of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym for bitcoin’s inventor, remains unknown. Without a concentrated attempt to alter the industry’s course, it volition farther entrench the existing gender gap inwards finance together with tech, this fourth dimension inwards an unregulated together with anonymous environment.
“What you’re observing is really a reflection of the much larger complications of gender together with run together with powerfulness inwards American society,” says Joy Rankin, a historian of gender together with engineering together with an assistant professor at Michigan State University. “This is a microcosm of all of the challenges of a developing, burgeoning sector of the economic scheme that has a lot of hope but is thence also fraught with high stakes.” The lack of variety inwards crypto has implications beyond a basic sense of fairness. If blockchain really does redefine the global fiscal system, the uniformity amongst its creators volition resultant inwards biased products.
Karen Hao for Quartz with yet some other aspect of how gender together with inequalities are interwoven inwards the tech industries problems.

Paradoxes of Hierarchy together with Authority inwards the Squatters Movement inwards Amsterdam
It remains a fascinating together with of import motion that shows the value of fusing the pragmatic demand for housing with anarchist approaches to life together with politics. I got to know this motion inwards the 1980s earlier Kadir’s at nowadays involvement.
(...)
Although the book’s sociological lens is useful equally an analytical tool its emphasis inwards the inconsistencies together with flaws sometimes immature adult woman the truthful achievements of this movement. This is peculiarly of import at a fourth dimension when the nature together with importance of transgressive sub-cultural movements are i time to a greater extent than inwards the spotlight. Indeed the difficulties of the motion insisting on its ain normative structures around the acquisition of specialist squatting skills from DIY to legal expertise to which members were expected to conform, far from beingness a weakness mightiness grip of import lessons for hereafter movements.
Bruce Sterling reviews a novel mass for Wired.

Publications
Why all randomised controlled trials make biased results
Researchers together with policymakers demand to move meliorate aware of the broader laid of assumptions, biases together with limitations inwards trials. Journals demand to also get down requiring researchers to outline them inwards their studies. We demand to furthermore meliorate utilization RCTs together with other research methods.
(...)
Trials involve complex processes – from randomising, blinding together with controlling, to implementing treatments, monitoring participants etc. – that require many decisions together with steps at dissimilar levels that convey their ain assumptions together with grade of bias to results.
Alexander Kraus with an open-access article for the Annals of Medicine. 9000 views already-that's equally academic viral equally things acquire ;)!

Manchester Workshop
An overview written report from the workshop provides to a greater extent than particular most emerging research themes, digital policy issues, together with summarises the workshop construction together with content.
The Development Implications of Digital Economies (DIODE) Strategic Research Network at Manchester University with a curt newspaper with a lot of nutrient for ICT4D thought!

The Moral Economy of Mobile Phones
The moral economic scheme of mobile phones implies a acre of shifting relations amongst consumers, companies together with nation actors, all of whom receive got their ain ideas most what is good, fair together with just. These ideas inform the ways inwards which, for example, consumers acquire together with utilization mobile phones; companies promote together with sell voice, SMS together with information subscriptions; together with nation actors regulate both everyday utilization of mobile phones together with marketplace activity around mobile phones. Ambivalence together with disagreement most who owes what to whom is thus an integral characteristic of the moral economic scheme of mobile phones. This mass identifies together with evaluates the stakes at play inwards the moral economic scheme of mobile phones. The vi primary chapters consider ethnographic cases from Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Fiji Islands together with Vanuatu. The mass also includes a brief introduction with background information on the recent ‘digital revolution’ inwards these countries together with 2 closing commentaries that reverberate on the significance of the chapters for our understanding of global capitalism together with the contemporary Pacific.
Robert J. Foster & Heather Horst with a novel opened upwards access mass from ANU Press!

Academia
My experience with depression inwards academia
It’s at nowadays been most a yr together with a one-half since I began opening upwards most my experience of depression. There receive got been many points when I felt that I was only complaining without feeling better, or when I did start to experience better, only to acquire totally knocked out when some novel source of stress came up. But the average tendency of my feelings has been decidedly upwards, towards a seat of much greater self-understanding together with much less fright together with shame. Talking most my emotions has deepened many of my friendships, equally I establish that people tended to response to my admissions most mental wellness non with derision, but past times sharing stories most their ain challenges. It’s helped me to receive got a calmer, happier, together with to a greater extent than trusting human relationship with my electrical flow partner, knowing that I tin at nowadays communicate openly most whatever problems that mightiness arise. It’s improved my performance at work, equally it allow me address some productivity issues which I hadn’t fifty-fifty realized were related to depression, similar what used to last a horrible habit of procrastinating on email. And it’s allowed me to experience curious most the Blue Planet again, which, equally someone who still hopes to complete her PhD research some day, is really reassuring!
Come for Rachel Strohm's of import post-but rest for the comments together with the give-and-take which adds of import nuances to the debate(s).

Indigenizing Canadian academia together with the insidious work of white possessiveness
What does this hateful for Indigenization or Decolonization of Canadian academe? It agency that the bulk of the people making decisions are white. It agency that arguments for changes to institutions receive got to last filtered through whiteness, through white bodies (both human together with institutional), together with that white people still, largely, operate to own, control, together with command what whatever changes to a campus looks like. (This is what Dr. Sara Ahmed articulates when she discusses the notion of ‘white men equally buildings’ inwards British academe (Ahmed 2014)). It agency that racialized students, staff, together with faculty are at an extreme disadvantage (and fifty-fifty at adventure of serious sanction, expulsion, or firing) when they heighten questions of racism together with ethical violations inwards Canadian universities. It agency that Indigenous faculty receive got to last the ‘good’ form of Indigenous (inoffensive, mystical, peace-full) or else last labelled equally trouble-makers or, for Indigenous women, adventure beingness seen equally the ‘angry Indigenous woman’ stereotype. It agency that Indigenization is non Decolonization (Giroux 2017).
Zoe Todd with a powerful post on whiteness, the limits of decolonization together with Canadian academia.

Competitive Hardship: ethnographic guilt together with early-career describe per unit of measurement area to demeanour ‘authentic’ fieldwork
Amongst my ain cohort of anthropologists, I discovery rather a deep-set sense of anxiety that our ain research, much of which is posited inwards communities together with topics exterior the parameters of what i time would receive got been considered legitimate ethnographic research, volition transcend muster. Ethnographic ‘depth’ tin last easily confused with an exoticised search for authenticity, which inwards plough tin often move synonymous with emotional or physical hardship. This is farther exacerbated past times a wall of quiet surrounding the ethnographer’s ain personhood together with province of affairs inwards the field, together with the complex realities of living together with working inwards fieldsites where total immersion together with isolation, if desirable, is practicably impossible due to digital connectivity. Anthropological lines of research receive got diversified enormously inwards the past times decade, together with notions of how to build a fieldsite are also inwards flux. Hegemonic structures within the academy, including teaching curricula, funding requirements together with task application processes still disproportionately stand upwards for the former schoolhouse however, together with until these select grip of upwards with the nowadays variety of research, early-career ethnographers volition maintain to experience insecure, anxious, together with pressurised inwards this fundamental rite of passage.
Jennifer Cearns for The New Ethnographer with an of import essay on how anthropological acre run is changing radically together with leaves a novel generation of researchers exhausted, pressured to stretch limits of acre run together with still faced with traditional academic structures.

Why Are We Meeting Like This?
But receive got you lot always met anyone who truly feels that most of these meetings are useful, productive, efficient or enjoyable? Me neither.
I tin only speculate that nosotros maintain having so many meetings because of a few goodness ones nosotros had inwards the past times -- we’re hoping to recapture the magic. Perhaps that’s why meetings are measure exercise together with a pregnant demand on everyone’s time, especially for those inwards administrative roles. And certainly, collaborative, innovative, thoughtful together with productive meetings are worthwhile.
Gary W. Lewandowski Jr. for Inside Higher Ed with a typology of coming together nightmares that most of us receive got experienced inwards i way or another...

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