• Hacker culture Gabriella Coleman published an article in the Atlantic Monthly on the anthropology of hackers. A cultural anthropologist, she is assistant professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University in its School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The article is based on her undergraduate class on computer hackers and walks [...]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced this past week the launch of a new international alliance to supply improved cooking stoves to 100 million poor households by 2020. An article in the Economist describes how many programs to promote cleaner stoves throughout the world have failed: “Too much emphasis has gone on technology and [...]
Guest post by Erica Buckingham The country is Tanzania. The scene is a woman, Janet, experiencing intense pregnancy pains. The hope is that the regional clinic will deliver Janet’s third baby. The reality is that hers is a “high-risk” pregnancy, and the clinic does not have the proper equipment. The tragedy is that Janet does [...]
• From the delta to the dump Shame on Chavez: an article in the New York Times describes how many Warao Indians survive by foraging in the massive Cambalache dump of Cuidad Guayana, Venezuela, a city planned by experts from Harvard and MIT. According to Wikipedia, the Warao have for centuries earned their living fishing [...]
Global Citizens in Pursuit of the Common Good A Human Development Conference at the University of Notre Dame CALL FOR PAPERS The Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies & Solidarity announces a student research conference on topics vital to human development to be held at the University of Notre Dame on February 11-12, 2011. [...]
• Consider trying this at home In the Huffington Post, medical anthropologist and licensed midwife, Melissa Cheyney of Oregon State University, takes on a recently published article by Dr. Joseph Wax et al. in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The article argues strongly that hospital-based births offer the best way to ensure a [...]
Guest post by Sam Beck The European Union must be held accountable if European states continue to expel Roma from member countries. The expulsions are taking place because Roma have created settlements not only in designated campgrounds but also within urban boundaries. This is not new. However, the scale and density of such settlements disturbs [...]
• Peanuts for poverty and to heck with patents The New York Times magazine featured an article on the rise of Plumpy’nut, a foil-wrapped peanut paste produced as a nutrition booster for starving people. A French company first started manufacturing and selling it. Now other manufacturers are making a similar product including Partners in Health [...]
