Ian Scoones

Oct 28, 2024 | thezimbabwean.co | Ian Scoones

Over the last 8 weeks I have provided a summary of each of the chapters of my new book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World. Published by Polity Books, it came out in Europe in August and in the US in October. It’s free to download or you can buy a copy with a discount code (SCO20)!In the last few weeks I have been presenting the book in a number of different places.

Oct 15, 2024 | thezimbabwean.co | Ian Scoones

We know climate change is happening, but it’s uncertain as to how the impacts will play out, to what extent, where, affecting whom. In the sixth chapter of Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World, I again look at models and how they act to mutually construct a particular set of global policy responses, often ignoring the challenges on the ground.

Oct 7, 2024 | thezimbabwean.co | Ian Scoones

A whole industry focused on disaster risk reduction and response has grown up. But does this address uncertainties or just focus on risk, trying to improve prediction? Moving from global UN discussions around the ‘Sendai framework’ to the rangelands of southern Ethiopia, the sixth chapter in the book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World, looks at how disasters are constructed and responded to by different actors.

Oct 6, 2024 | thestandard.co.zw | Ian Scoones |Gary Gerald Mtombeni |Nqobani Ndlovu |Nhau Mangirazi

I was pointed to an intriguing World Bank report recently – Creating markets in Zimbabwe: Mobilizing the private sector in support of economic transformation – that came out earlier this year. It is striking in a number of ways. Not only is it rather positive about the private sector, especially in agriculture, but it also is honest and realistic about the important role of the informal economy. It offers I think some important pointers for the future.

Sep 23, 2024 | thezimbabwean.co | Ian Scoones

In the fourth chapter of my new book – Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World –  I take the example of the electricity supply system in California, studied by Emery Roe and colleagues based in Berkeley, and a pastoral system in northern Kenya, central to the PASTRES research. What is interesting is that both operate in quite similar ways.