Tobias Denskus
@aidnography.de
Associate Professor in Development Studies at Malmö University, Sweden. Global development. Humanitarianism. Communication & Social Change. Chief Blogger at www.aidnography.de since 2010.
More: https://linktr.ee/tobiasdenskus
More: https://linktr.ee/tobiasdenskus
Pinned
Tobias Denskus
@aidnography.de
· Jan 27
With new followers & first citations showing up it may seem to be a good time to introduce our "Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality" that @silkeroth.bsky.social, Bandana Purkayastha & @aidnography.de edited in a longer 🧵 (1/x)
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
🗓️ The aid system is losing legitimacy. Join us for our Annual Event on 4 Dec as we explore how humanitarians can rebuild a narrative that admits flaws, shifts power to marginalised voices and defends core principles – while resonating with both donors & crisis-affected communities → buff.ly/9p4ZKZG
November 20, 2025 at 3:44 PM
🗓️ The aid system is losing legitimacy. Join us for our Annual Event on 4 Dec as we explore how humanitarians can rebuild a narrative that admits flaws, shifts power to marginalised voices and defends core principles – while resonating with both donors & crisis-affected communities → buff.ly/9p4ZKZG
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
@andypsumner.bsky.social and @stephanklingebiel.bsky.social ask: What does the #GlobalDevelopment architecture look like in this world five years from now?
The experts see four stylised visions emerging in competition. Which is most likely to prevail?
🔗 policybrief.org/briefs/compe...
The experts see four stylised visions emerging in competition. Which is most likely to prevail?
🔗 policybrief.org/briefs/compe...
Will the UK and the EU be Norm-Makers or Norm-Takers at the G7 and the G20? Competing visions of the global development architecture in 2030 - Policy Brief
Global development policy is going through an upheaval following the cuts in ODA (Official Development Assistance) by leading donors and the knock-on effects
policybrief.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
@andypsumner.bsky.social and @stephanklingebiel.bsky.social ask: What does the #GlobalDevelopment architecture look like in this world five years from now?
The experts see four stylised visions emerging in competition. Which is most likely to prevail?
🔗 policybrief.org/briefs/compe...
The experts see four stylised visions emerging in competition. Which is most likely to prevail?
🔗 policybrief.org/briefs/compe...
In today's "evidence-based policy-making" case study I am almost certain that 250m+ GBP will be spent to renovate Hammersmith Bridge into a car-friendly crossing again...
Every time
November 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
In today's "evidence-based policy-making" case study I am almost certain that 250m+ GBP will be spent to renovate Hammersmith Bridge into a car-friendly crossing again...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
They line up perfectly.
November 22, 2025 at 2:32 AM
They line up perfectly.
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
The humanitarian NGO medico international has adopted a three-pronged strategy towards humanitarian aid: to defend it, to criticize it, and to overcome it. I propose to adopt a similar perspective regarding development cooperation"
From our blog
www.developmentresearch.eu?p=2231
From our blog
www.developmentresearch.eu?p=2231
The End of Development Aid?
By Aram Ziai / Development and Development Policy in the Trump Era Series In the last few months, our object of research has seen some dramatic changes. I am referring to the de-facto dismantling o…
www.developmentresearch.eu
November 17, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The humanitarian NGO medico international has adopted a three-pronged strategy towards humanitarian aid: to defend it, to criticize it, and to overcome it. I propose to adopt a similar perspective regarding development cooperation"
From our blog
www.developmentresearch.eu?p=2231
From our blog
www.developmentresearch.eu?p=2231
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
This is not the worst book we've ever read but it is the meanest episode we've ever done.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
This is not the worst book we've ever read but it is the meanest episode we've ever done.
The global humanitarian system is disintegrating in real time; this is the reality for @unhcr.org:
1. UNHCR is ending 2025 with $1.3 billion less than last year, a 30% workforce reduction, and 185 offices consolidated or closed. (1/x)
1. UNHCR is ending 2025 with $1.3 billion less than last year, a 30% workforce reduction, and 185 offices consolidated or closed. (1/x)
November 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
The global humanitarian system is disintegrating in real time; this is the reality for @unhcr.org:
1. UNHCR is ending 2025 with $1.3 billion less than last year, a 30% workforce reduction, and 185 offices consolidated or closed. (1/x)
1. UNHCR is ending 2025 with $1.3 billion less than last year, a 30% workforce reduction, and 185 offices consolidated or closed. (1/x)
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
Can I quietly ask we stop talking about what "AI" *could* do in education and identify instead what's actually happening with AI in education? I'll start...
November 15, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Can I quietly ask we stop talking about what "AI" *could* do in education and identify instead what's actually happening with AI in education? I'll start...
Dear journalism students, when the assignment requires you to write a piece that makes the perpetrator look like the victim, get inspired by the summary below…
A teenager in Florida with a homeless parent wanted money for braces and ended up having sex for money with powerful men, setting off a chain of events that would have a dramatic impact on her life and help upend the political career of Representative Matt Gaetz. nyti.ms/49PSkL9
November 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Dear journalism students, when the assignment requires you to write a piece that makes the perpetrator look like the victim, get inspired by the summary below…
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
📝 More than 300,000 refugees live in Kakuma camp in northern Kenya, an isolated and arid region, shut away from the rest of the country, depending on a faltering aid system for survival. These poems by Peter Kidi explore that tension ⬇️
buff.ly/tDBYPxB
buff.ly/tDBYPxB
“The weight we carry”
Poet Peter Kidi explores the human cost of aid cuts, and the resilience of refugees living between hunger and hope.
www.thenewhumanitarian.org
November 14, 2025 at 9:35 AM
📝 More than 300,000 refugees live in Kakuma camp in northern Kenya, an isolated and arid region, shut away from the rest of the country, depending on a faltering aid system for survival. These poems by Peter Kidi explore that tension ⬇️
buff.ly/tDBYPxB
buff.ly/tDBYPxB
“Abundance”
The fundamental impetus and ideology of AI is to destroy real people’s professions and lives, while soiling the environment and debasing our most treasured cultural practices, for the vague promise of increasing shareholder profits in the name of efficiency. It’s a “fuck you” to human civilization.
How is AI *really* impacting jobs?
Henley Chiu, the CTO of Revealera, a jobs data analysis firm, analyzed 180 million jobs listings in 2024 and 2025, in an effort to find out. Chiu found an:
-8% drop in all jobs postings
-~30% drop in art, photography, writing jobs
-22% drop in journalism jobs
Henley Chiu, the CTO of Revealera, a jobs data analysis firm, analyzed 180 million jobs listings in 2024 and 2025, in an effort to find out. Chiu found an:
-8% drop in all jobs postings
-~30% drop in art, photography, writing jobs
-22% drop in journalism jobs
November 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
“Abundance”
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
Sharing the Sudan issue of Transition Magazine with you with essays, analysis and art work by Sudanese writers and artists.
transitionmagazine.fas.harvard.edu/home/current...
transitionmagazine.fas.harvard.edu/home/current...
Current Issue – Transition Magazine
transitionmagazine.fas.harvard.edu
November 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Sharing the Sudan issue of Transition Magazine with you with essays, analysis and art work by Sudanese writers and artists.
transitionmagazine.fas.harvard.edu/home/current...
transitionmagazine.fas.harvard.edu/home/current...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
A good summary of what’s going on in Tanzania, and how we got here:
In Tanzania, the Gen Z uprising meets a state whose old bargains have collapsed. africasacountry.com/2025/11/afte...
After the coronation
Tanzania’s Gen Z uprising meets a state whose old bargains have collapsed.
africasacountry.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
A good summary of what’s going on in Tanzania, and how we got here:
Powerful image. They are delivering humanitarian aid in the capital of the United States of America-and as problematic as Huffington's "Third World America" was even in 2010 it is a phrase that captures some of the current downward dynamics relatively accurately...
world central kitchen providing free meals for federal employees impacted by the shutdown -- and their families.
every weekday at canal park in navy yard. 200 m street southeast. 11am - 2pm. mad, mad respect.
every weekday at canal park in navy yard. 200 m street southeast. 11am - 2pm. mad, mad respect.
November 3, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Powerful image. They are delivering humanitarian aid in the capital of the United States of America-and as problematic as Huffington's "Third World America" was even in 2010 it is a phrase that captures some of the current downward dynamics relatively accurately...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
Once more from yesterday: My newsletter was about how hurricanes kill people long after the wind and water is gone, how that will probably be worse in Jamaica, and how the media has already moved on from one of the worst storms to strike land in recorded history.
Please subscribe!
Please subscribe!
The Long Tail of Hurricane Death Will Be Even Longer in Jamaica
A growing body of research has demonstrated that hits from tropical cyclones leave more than just damaged rooftops in their wake, in fact raising mortality rates through a likely wide variety of mecha...
www.gravityisgone.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Once more from yesterday: My newsletter was about how hurricanes kill people long after the wind and water is gone, how that will probably be worse in Jamaica, and how the media has already moved on from one of the worst storms to strike land in recorded history.
Please subscribe!
Please subscribe!
That was my first thought as well "thank God for 'investors' they have a brilliant track-record of doing good"
The country is in line for a pay-out from catastrophe bonds
Investors will help Jamaica recover from Hurricane Melissa
The country is in line for a pay-out from catastrophe bonds
econ.st
October 30, 2025 at 11:50 AM
That was my first thought as well "thank God for 'investors' they have a brilliant track-record of doing good"
These are problems we often see with private education in developing countries...the US is really losing so many features of an OECD country these days...
Alpha School, which promises to educate kids using an "AI tutor" in two hours a day, is a budding national empire and a darling of the Trump administration.
According to some parents who spoke to @wired.com for this investigation, it's had nightmarish effects on their kids.
According to some parents who spoke to @wired.com for this investigation, it's had nightmarish effects on their kids.
Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out
In Brownsville, Texas, some families found a buzzy new school’s methods—surveillance of kids, software in lieu of teachers—to be an education in and of itself.
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
These are problems we often see with private education in developing countries...the US is really losing so many features of an OECD country these days...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
"Another war looms, one that could pit Tigrayans against each other. I fought once to defend my people; I will not fight again
in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left."
@thecontinent.org
in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left."
@thecontinent.org
October 24, 2025 at 9:19 PM
"Another war looms, one that could pit Tigrayans against each other. I fought once to defend my people; I will not fight again
in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left."
@thecontinent.org
in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left."
@thecontinent.org
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
The World Bank Group is planning to reorganize its research functions. The results could be even uglier than the powerpoint: an end to independent research at the institution and conflicts of interest all over...
New blog with @eeshani.bsky.social, link in reply.
New blog with @eeshani.bsky.social, link in reply.
October 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The World Bank Group is planning to reorganize its research functions. The results could be even uglier than the powerpoint: an end to independent research at the institution and conflicts of interest all over...
New blog with @eeshani.bsky.social, link in reply.
New blog with @eeshani.bsky.social, link in reply.
This is a pretty grim story about the new humanitarian realities in some parts of Africa-especially when Russian involvement is part of the problem…
Arrested & tortured by Russian forces in Central African Republic, humanitarian researcher Joseph Figueira Martin has been imprisoned in inhuman conditions for over 500 days. Finally, he has a trial date: Tuesday, 28 October.
www.internationalaffairsfornormalpeople.eu/hope-for-joe/
www.internationalaffairsfornormalpeople.eu/hope-for-joe/
Hope for Joe
Readers who followed me here from my newsletter at Human Rights Watch may remember the grim case of my one-time colleague at the International Crisis Group, Joseph Figueira Martin.
Joe was arrested b...
www.internationalaffairsfornormalpeople.eu
October 23, 2025 at 12:42 PM
This is a pretty grim story about the new humanitarian realities in some parts of Africa-especially when Russian involvement is part of the problem…
The UN system is in crisis so appointing another white male European politician from a former top-notch colonial power to a top job at UNDP is really sending out a strong message about reform, localization & decolonization!
www.politico.eu/article/form...
www.politico.eu/article/form...
Former Belgian PM Alexander De Croo snags big UN job
The U.N. General Assembly is expected to confirm the appointment in the coming days.
www.politico.eu
October 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The UN system is in crisis so appointing another white male European politician from a former top-notch colonial power to a top job at UNDP is really sending out a strong message about reform, localization & decolonization!
www.politico.eu/article/form...
www.politico.eu/article/form...
Modern "development" is often a lose-lose scenario as Filipino workers will eventually be replaced by something cheaper, older workers in Japan lose jobs or jobs that could have filled by migrants moving to Japan; in the end, energy companies & AI platforms are the only ones making money...
“Inside a multistory office building in Manila’s financial district, around 60 young men and women monitored and controlled artificial intelligence robots restocking convenience store shelves in distant Japan.”
Japanese convenience stores are hiring robots run by workers in the Philippines
Filipino tele-operators remotely control Japan’s convenience store robots and train AI, benefiting from an uptick in automation-related jobs.
restofworld.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Modern "development" is often a lose-lose scenario as Filipino workers will eventually be replaced by something cheaper, older workers in Japan lose jobs or jobs that could have filled by migrants moving to Japan; in the end, energy companies & AI platforms are the only ones making money...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
I did a conversation about my book, The Second Emancipation, with Kola Tubosun, at Africa House, in Harlem. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZarM...
October 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I did a conversation about my book, The Second Emancipation, with Kola Tubosun, at Africa House, in Harlem. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZarM...
"Corporate universities, coding bootcamps, and professional certification programs are already moving faster than traditional institutions"-yep, the good, ol' "LinkedIn, MOOCs & micro credential will destroy higher ed" line I have heard about for at least 10, probably 15 years now...
We have had this precise discussion many times before, with the invention of the book, radio, TV, the internet, etc. Knowledge of these discssions are freely available, but apparently the WSJ can't find it or doesn't understand its relevance.
Might this kind of thing be what professors are for?
Might this kind of thing be what professors are for?
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
"Corporate universities, coding bootcamps, and professional certification programs are already moving faster than traditional institutions"-yep, the good, ol' "LinkedIn, MOOCs & micro credential will destroy higher ed" line I have heard about for at least 10, probably 15 years now...
Reposted by Tobias Denskus
Interested in the transitory nature of academia and how this shapes scholarship on internationalism? Come along to our virtual conference, 'Blind Spots and Buzzwords in Internationalism' on 5th and 6th Nov 👁️. Get your tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/blind-spot...
October 6, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Interested in the transitory nature of academia and how this shapes scholarship on internationalism? Come along to our virtual conference, 'Blind Spots and Buzzwords in Internationalism' on 5th and 6th Nov 👁️. Get your tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/blind-spot...