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Development GeekDev Analogies Movies Pop culture

Is your development agency Conan or Saruman?

[Original post from 24/3/2014. Reposted for fun factor]

The journal Development Policy Review will publish in May my article on the types of aid donors and their impact on institutional change. It will have been a little over two years since I first presented the argument at the Midwest Political Science Association with the help of Conan of Cimmeria, Saruman the White, the Black Knight, and the criminal genius Vizzini.

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Movies Pop culture

“Chewie, we’re home”

32 years later…

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Movies Pop culture

Let me tell you about my boat

Who wouldn’t want to conduct field research from aboard the Belafonte…

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GeekDev Analogies Movies Pop culture

Weber on Star Wars: Or Why the Empire Should Win in the End

Now that Disney is turning Star Wars into a Marvel-like cottage industry and Harrison Ford has broken a leg while playing an older Han Solo, the time is ripe for asking the real question about what happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away: Was the Galactic Empire such a bad thing after all? And what would Max Weber think about Jedis?

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Africa Movies

Pop Political Economy: Sahara (2005)

Hollywood does not have a track record of accurate or sensible portrayals of Africa in film. But that does not mean they can’t make a preposterous romp that somehow touches upon the key dilemmas of political economy in Africa. My personal favorite in this category is, without a doubt, Sahara (2005).

Consider awesomeness

Sahara stars Matthew McConaughey (before his current Academy Award-winning self but already in his “all-right, all-right, all-right” mode) as Dirk Pitt, the ultimate alpha male fantasy: ex-Navy seal, marine archaeologist, treasure hunter, classic automobile collector, charismatic, smart, irresistible to the ladies, and all-around good guy. Together with his inseparable pal Al Giordino – a crass, tech-savvy comic relief machine – Dirk follows the 140-year-old track of an old confederate ship believed to have sailed up the Niger river (you read right), and in so doing he manages to fight a warlord, help a doctor (Penélope Cruz with a thick Spanish accent) stop a plague, and thwart the plans of a shady European businessman.

Too much camp for you? Keep reading.

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Movies Pop culture

RIP H. R. Giger: Thanks for all the nightmares

Categories
Development Movies

Marxodology: Good governance