Do you consider yourself an ‘expert’? And do you think experts have a role to play in development – and in broader society – after all the criticism they have come in for in recent times (especially the Brexit vote)? A World of Struggle is a widely praised study of expertise with a provocative argument: that experts have influence not just because they advise governments but because they shape the way everyone thinks.
Category: Politics
Pankaj Mishra, ‘Age of Anger’
Pankaj Mishra’s Age of Anger is a fascinating insight into the intellectual roots of our troubled times. It’s especially interesting on the psychological effects of rapid economic development. Mishra argues, controversially, that the anger we are seeing on the streets of developed and developing countries at the moment is linked closely to the economic and social changes brought about by capitalism – in other words to the successes of the development project over the past 30 years.
Teju Cole, ‘Known and Strange Things’
Teju Cole, best known in development circles for his trenchant critique of what he called ‘The White Saviour Industrial Complex’, is also a sophisticated novelist and art critic. This insightful collection of essays demonstrates Cole’s formidable knowledge and the wide range of his interests and passions. But it also points to ways in which ‘culture’ seems to be simultaneously bridging one societal divide whilst creating another one.
John DiIulio, ‘Bring Back the Bureaucrats’
Bring Back the Bureaucrats is a small book (it’ll fit in a jacket pocket) with a big message. John DiIulio argues powerfully and persuasively that the main problem with US Government is not that it’s overbloated but that it’s understaffed. DiIulio takes aim at the false economy of preventing the federal government from hiring more bureaucrats, whilst it delivers its huge and increasingly complex programmes through a vast array of contractors, sub-contractors, and non-profit organisations, as well as state and local governments. It’s a thought provoking argument which has significant implications for the development business, as we too deliver more aid through a range of proxies from multilaterals to NGOs to private companies. Continue reading “John DiIulio, ‘Bring Back the Bureaucrats’”
Development Book Review 