Category Archives: Uncategorized
African Fiction for Older Children
Publishing has an obdurate diversity problem that it is slow to address. The publishing industry in the US is persistently too white. In the UK, Booker prize winner Bernandine Evaristo has complained that there are still too few Black British … Continue reading
MDPI Journals – 2015 to 2019
In a previous blog (published December 2019) I explored the performance and changes of the MDPI journals, examining their growth up to the end of 2018. Since I wrote that blog, data for 2019 are now available – and they … Continue reading
The apparent decline of ‘overseas development / famine relief’ charities in the UK
What do changing patterns in charities’ declared purpose and geography of activity tell us about the health of charities working on international development? In the records of the Charity Commission, charities describe their purposes according to a fixed number of … Continue reading
An Open Letter to MDPI publishing
(For an updated analysis of more recent MDPI data please see here) Dear MDPI, Your journal publications have grown dramatically, and quite extraordinarily. But there are sceptics who suggest that this reflects low standards and distorting financial incentives. I was … Continue reading
Exploring the UK’s NGO sector
By Chris Jordan, Communications and Impact Manage. This Blog first appeared at the GDI site here: http://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/exploring-the-uks-ngo-sector/ [Visit the NGO explorer site here] After setting out to better understand the UK’s development NGO sector, Dan Brockington and Nicola Banks soon … Continue reading
Half-Earth is Half-Hearted. Make way for Thanos and The Half-Universe
Megademophobia – fear of overpopulation – has a lot to answer for. Malthus is serious enough, Ehrlich almost as bad. But now there is new problem: Marvel’s Infinity Wars. This film spectacularly unites multiple comic book heroes in an orgy … Continue reading
The Strange Neglect of Diversity within Microfinance Institutions
This blog was written by Dan Brockington, SIID Director. One of the vices of poverty is not being able to access that little bit of extra money when you need it. An opportunity comes up, such as a job interview, … Continue reading
The Sesame Seed Cash Injection: Asset Investment and Economic Change in Mtowisa Village, Rukwa Region 2000-2016
At the heart of the long-term livelihood change project is the question ‘is Tanzania’s growing national economic prosperity visible in its rural areas?’. If ever there was an archetypal place to seek answers to this question, it would be the … Continue reading
The evidence suggests that support for UK development NGOs is actually growing
International development NGOs are facing interesting times in the UK. We live in a rising tide of nationalism, parochialism and suspicion of, not care for, distant strangers. Austerity measures make charities, and the giving public, poorer. And this was all … Continue reading
Aid scepticism isn’t damaging donations to international charities – but it might in future
This article is co-authored with Nicola Banks and first appeared in The Conversation here. Getting aid to those who need it in Kenya. Oxfam International/flickr.com, CC BY-NC-ND Christmas is a time for giving, when people think about how to extend … Continue reading