Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey

How time flies! (that is a metaphor right there but I will get to that later). With a mixture of sadness and gladness, today is my last day in Guildford where I have been on a research visit to the University of Surrey for the past two weeks. It has been a very good and productive … Continue reading Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey

Forcing the butterfly out of a cocoon: institutional formation and change in developing countries

In the first week of June, 2015 I attended a tourism research conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania organised by ATLAS Africa. For my presentations titled “Today is party A, tomorrow is party B”: the politics of the tourism-poverty nexus in Ghana I made the argument that the state is critical for tourism development and … Continue reading Forcing the butterfly out of a cocoon: institutional formation and change in developing countries

On the making of academic country experts in international development

Just last week Thursday 12th March, 2015, I attended the 6th Annual Sheffield Institute for International Development  (SIID) Postgraduate Conference here at the University of Sheffield. This year's theme was “Reflecting on development: Global narratives, local realities”  with a number of interesting PhD student presentations. A thought-provoking keynote address by Prof. Diana Mitlin raised a number of … Continue reading On the making of academic country experts in international development

What a topsy-turvy week!

What a topsy-turvy week it was last week. Last week was my first working week in Sheffield after I got back from my fieldwork research in Ghana (more about that in a post soon). I had great expectations for the week which I had already made plans for while still in Ghana. My plan was … Continue reading What a topsy-turvy week!