Author: joevarock
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Sharing findings with different audiences
A few weeks ago, Rachel Schurman and I published The Complex Choreography of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Africa in the journal African Affairs. In the article, we surveyed nearly 30 years of strategic and well-funded efforts by donors to bring GMOs to Africa. These efforts, we contend, have so far yielded very little. How come? We argue that…
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Public talk @ UC Berkeley March 10
I’m very excited to be giving a talk at UC Berkeley next month on genetically modified crops, sustainability, and qualitative research methods.
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Recipient of the 2019 Boahen-Wilks Prize
Happy to share that my article, “We Are Not Starving: Challenging Genetically Modified Seeds and Development in Ghana” received the 2019 Boahen-Wilks Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Article in Ghana Studies.
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The Fight for the Future of Food
On October 23, 2019, the University of San Francisco hosted five leading African food sovereignty activists for a night of discussion, food, and networking. We were fortunate to hear from Victoria Adongo (Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana), Mariam Bassey-Orovwuje (Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa), Dr. Million Belay (Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa), Mariam…
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Call for Papers: Political Ecology and the New Green Revolution in Africa (AAG 2020)
CALL FOR PAPERS Political Ecology and the New Green Revolution in Africa Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers Denver, Colorado April 6-10, 2020 Deadline for abstracts: October 18, 2019 Organizers: Jessie Luna, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University Joeva Rock, International Studies Department, University of San Francisco Brian Dowd-Uribe, International Studies Department,…
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Call for Papers: Drone Ecologies (Ghana Studies Assoc. 2019)
Call for Papers Drone Ecologies ** Ghana Studies Association Triennial Conference July 10-13, 2019 University of Ghana This panel explores critical ecologies and technologies in Ghana. The recent controversy over the government of Ghana’s partnership with Zipline International to supply blood via drone service reveals important tensions between the state, technology and public services. Drones,…
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2018 in Review
It’s December, which means I’ve hit the year anniversary of my defense (wow!) and 2019 is near. I’ve been reflecting on work done the past year – not because productivity is the goal – but because I, like many others, constantly fall into the trap of feeling underproductive and therefore overlooking actual accomplishments. So, I…
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A Potato Named Kofi
Earlier this week, Ghanaian scientists announced they plan to name a new sweet potato variety after fellow countryman Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General who died on August 18 of this year. The primary investigator overseeing the sweet potato project, Dr. Ernest Baafi, told reporters the naming was in tribute of Annan’s work with the…
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Encountering Food in the Field, Centering it in Development Studies
Why aren’t rich and tasty food cultures more central to development efforts?
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Dissertation Defense
I’m excited to announce that I will be defending my dissertation on December 1st, 2017. The defense is open to the public, and if you’ll be in DC and would like to attend, please send me a message and I’ll relay the details to you. My abstract is below: We Are Not Starving: GMOs and…
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An update on GM crops in Ghana
It’s been two years since Ghana’s High Court overturned a temporary injunction on the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) rice and cowpea. Since then, research on both have continued (though there was no indication that it stopped during the injunction), and GM cowpea is slated to hit the market in 2018.
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Making “the case for colonialism” in Ghanaian social studies textbooks
By using “The Case for Colonialism” as a point of departure to discuss Ghanaian school curriculum, my intention is not to overlook the very real problematics of the article, nor to suggest that Gilley’s argument is exceptional (it is not). Rather, I believe the quick lining up of for/against overlooks the need to interrogate the very real ways…
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On Farmers as “Very Difficult People”
The Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture resigned today after calling northern Ghanaian farmers “liars,” “very difficult people,” and accusing them of extortion. Many were understandably, and rightfully, upset at the Deputy Minister’s comments, but I argue that his comments, though vile, are not exceptional. During fieldwork, I regularly encountered super negative discourse about…
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Trotro Advice for Surviving Fieldwork
Let these wise taxis and trotros guide you through fieldwork’s unexpected challenges.
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On tech, representation, and African agriculture
There is a way in which popular media and development literature presents Africa, and Africans, as paralyzed by modernity, at a standstill: young people leaving agriculture and going to cities, inequalities rising, cities exploding, changing tastes via KFC and packaged noodles like Indomie. The flicker of hope du jour is tech, and writers, especially when discussing agriculture, often cite high…
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“The land is dead:” Fertilizers and Compost in the Upper East
“The land is dead,” said 61 year-old Isaiah, killed by an “addiction” to chemical fertilizers. These fertilizers were introduced to his community a few decades back by “the white man” and his church, who, he said with a bite of humor, preached the “goodness of the fertilizers.” “It was very harmonious,” he noted, and with mischief…
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No One Seems Concerned
I was recently telling a friend about our brave, tiny outdoor cats who run up trees and sneak out the bamboo fence, and how no one seemed concerned about their wanderings. My friend remarked that “no one seems concerned” would be a good title for a blog about cross cultural communication (her field). Or anthropology, I…
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Joking in the dark
A friend (you know who you are) recently remarked that my blog doesn’t tell much about life in Accra. So let’s talk about dumsor. Ghana (and Accra especially) has been suffering terrible power outages for the last three years. The intolerable situation is nicknamed “dumsor” – on/off. Here in Accra, dumsor is a daily topic: “how…
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Temporary Injunction on GM Rice and Cowpea Overturned in Ghana
A ruling in Ghana’s High Court Thursday morning overturned a temporary injunction on the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) rice and cowpea.
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The Continent Writes Back
The continent writes back to popular Western ideas about development, innovation, race, and neoliberalism.
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Coloniality: Africa as a “frontier”
Coloniality is alive and well in major US publications and their narratives about the African continent.
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Africa, Rising and Militarized
Discourse, both textual and visual, is a key component for maintaining and replicating everyday ideologies, processes, and structures of power. Lately I’ve been coming across images accompanying articles about Africa in major U.S. publications (e.g. the Economist and New York Times) that have caused my jaw to drop a bit. Here are a few:
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Some thoughts on the US militarized response to the ebola crisis
Last week I published a follow-up to my May article on militarized humanitarianism in Africa. Since its original publication in Foreign Policy in Focus, the piece has been republished in The Nation, AllAfrica, TruthOut, AntiWar.com, Common Dreams and InterPress Service News Agency. Six months into West Africa’s Ebola crisis, the international community is finally heading…
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Planting the Seeds of Future Occupation: Militarized Humanitarianism in Africa
Last week Foreign Policy in Focus, an offshoot of the Institute for Policy Studies, published my article on US militarism and aid in Africa. In it, I argue not that aid and security aren’t important, but rather that we should be wary of the ways in which the US is building up its presence in…
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“Our definition of the middle class… has to do with the ability to mask poverty:” Aesthetics, Statistics, and the Debate Around Ghana’s Middle Class
Originally posted on Sossah's Ravings: Guest Blogger: Joeva Rock Recent conversations around Ghana’s growing middle class have elicited excitement, despite the lack of agreement over a definition of what makes the group. For a country with socialist roots, the emergence (or perception) of a class system is at times controversial. While there is no doubt that…
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Embedded with AFRICOM/ Dans la base militaire de l’Africom
Embedded with AFRICOM [AFRICOM recently hosted a media delegation from Mauritania and Algeria. The following article, which appeared originally in Liberte on December 15, 2013, is from one of the Algerian participants who provides a critical, and at times humorous, insight of their trip, AFRICOM personnel, and AFRICOM’s ultimate goals.] Jabari Lewis is an 11…
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Nkrumah and AFRICOM: The Danger of Misrepresentation
The following is in response to an article entitled Accept AFRICOM Now! which ran in a few Ghanaian media sources first in September, and then this past weekend. I sent my response to the sites that carried the original article, and it is now published in SpyGhana and ModernGhana. This past month both SpyGhana and…
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KLM &You: UPDATE!
Oh, well that was fast. KLM has removed “the dark continent” from their site: “Commonly used” by who???? We’re glad @KLM have changed their description of Africa as “the dark continent”. Apparently we misinterpreted it as racist BS. — Africa is a Country (@AfricasaCountry) October 18, 2013 @AfricasaCountry @KLM Glad it changed, but commonly used?…
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KLM &You: Conquering the Dark Continent Since 2013
Thanks to Africa is a Country and Serginho Roosblad for this hat-tip. I feel like I’m in a time warp. @KLM suffers from #colonialmentality by calling #Africa ‘The Dark Continent’ – http://t.co/3XF2yiqvYM — Serginho Roosblad (@SRoosblad) October 18, 2013 What is this? KLM’s latest marketing campaign for their flight destinations in the African continent. You…
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“Developmental Army,” “Demographic Bomb:” linguistics in development literature
Spending the morning writing about intersections of development, aid, and militarism. Saw this tweet and thought it was appropriate: “The young people of Africa are our developmental army, the people who are going to transform the futures of our countries.” -Hadeel Ibrahim — Mo Ibrahim Fdn (@Mo_IbrahimFdn) October 14, 2013 And went quite well with…
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Spending the evening learning about the CPP
I’m a big fan of Kwame Nkrumah, but admittedly, I know very little about the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the party started by Nkrumah during the struggle for Ghanaian independence and sovereignty. Nkrumah and the CPP ruled Ghana from 1957-1966, and n 1964, a (highly contested) constitutional referendum made Nkrumah leader for life, and CPP…
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Ghana’s Growing Economy Fails to Create Jobs
By Billie McTernan (Reposted from IPS) ACCRA, Sep 19 2013 (IPS) – Ghana’s economy registered 7.1 percent growth last year but 23-year-old Jennifer Esi Avemee has had difficulty securing a permanent job since graduating in 2011. “It’s very stressful,” she laments. “It’s very hard to sustain yourself.” Avemee studied public relations at the Ghanaian Institute of…
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Monday Morning Roundup: Obama in Africa (reflections, criticisms, and more)
Some great commentary coming from around the world on Obama’s trip to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania: Obama Finally Scrambles Over Africa by Solomon Dersso #ChangeCourseObama by Jumoke Balogun (of CompareAfrique) A Cooler Welcome by the Economist Obama’s Trip Needs a New Policy Overhaul by Carina Ray ———————————– Yesterday, in a talk at the University of…
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#Obama in #Senegal and #SA: As Seen Through Twitter [#obamatakh]
#Senegalese creative twitters launch hash tag #obamatakh (wolof word for all this because of Obama) to voice their views on #Obama‘s visit — Khaita Sylla (@KhaitaSylla) June 25, 2013 Mbaye Ndiaye -Obama visit will cause losses of several million dollars esp to the informal sector who will take months to recover #obamatakh — Abdul Tejan-Cole…
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And so it begins: the Obamas in Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania
President Obama’s trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa is an ongoing PR campaign to boost American interests in the continent. Specifically, the Obama’s weeklong soiree will touch three countries that are significant in AFRICOM’s quest for influence and clout. AFRICOM has long searched for a permanent home in the continent, but has yet to…
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Sunday Tweet Roundup: Mahama ordained by god, CNN thinks Africa is a country
Because sometimes retweeting on Twitter is just not enough. President #Mahama has declared that it is God who ordained him as the President of Ghana. http://t.co/wekIZNugHZ pic.twitter.com/5ksujn19aV — Presidency of Ghana (@PresidencyGhana) June 23, 2013 CNN finds it remarkable that Obama and Bush will both be “in Africa” and they will not “meet up” http://t.co/VFbJirTpi2…
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Why are we still talking about Bono? pt. 2
Excellent article in The Guardian yesterday: Bono can’t help Africans by stealing their voice by George Monbiot It was bad enough in 2005. Then, at the G8 summit in Scotland, Bono and Bob Geldof heaped praise on Tony Blair and George Bush, who were still mired in the butchery they had initiated in Iraq. At…
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Obama in Africa: Talking Points?
The Obamas will soon be on their $60mil tour de afrique which means the US media might actually take a rare pause to talk about Africa in ways that won’t necessarily entail war, famine and AIDS. While we can’t expect the major news outlets to let go of the American insistence that Africa is a…
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Friday Roundup: AFRICOM, France, and Load-shedding
Stories of interest from today: Niger: New Drone Base Highlights a Shift in US-West African Relations (ISN) Libya becomes ‘the new Mali’ as Islamists shift in Sahara (Reuters) If Mali is the “new” Afghanistan then does that make Libya the new Afghanistan? @1d4tw Classic narrative. Come in, destroy, get what you want, leave, shrug at…
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Obamas in Africa! Pt. 2… or 3. Whatever.
This week it was announced that the President and First Lady will be visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania June 26-July 3. Apparently the trip will focus on : #OBAMAinSA Trip will focus on economic growth through trade and investment, engaging the next generation of African leaders, and democracy. — US Embassy Pretoria (@USEmbPretoria) May…
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Why are we still talking about Bono?
If an article starts with Bono, I’m inclined not to listen. I’m not sure why celebrities continue to hold the spotlight in being experts on poverty or development. This morning I read an article by Bright Simmons of Ghana thinktank Imani, and Jammie Drummond of One.org entitled Africa: The Rise and the Rise of the…
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Morning Reads: self-determination, mining murders & AFRICOM/Congo training
“Africa Must Stop the West” by Stephen Odoi-Larbi The First Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Ebo Barton-Odro, has told the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) that the time had come for Africa to act swiftly to stop the West from dictating to the continent, when it comes to legal matters that have international character. “Chinese Kill Two…
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“Whereas other countries that don’t cooperate, we ream them as best we can.”
I’m re-reading Craig Whitlock’s April 2013 Washington Post article on Niger and the US military in Africa: Human-rights groups have also accused the U.S. government of holding its tongue about political repression in Ethiopia, another key security partner in East Africa. “The countries that cooperate with us get at least a free pass,” acknowledged a…
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Universities profit off of student loans: unfortunately not new news
Today the Huffington Post is reporting that universities are profiting off of Sallie Mae, a large student loan provider, through direct endowment investments. As horrible as this is, its not news that universities profit from their students massive debt. A few months ago I published a paper on how the University of California uses student…
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AFRICOM in the Guardian and the Gulf of Guinea
There was good coverage in the Guardian last week with a piece by Mmanaledi Mataboge who was apart of a South African group of journalists who were invited to the AFRICOM base in Germany as part of what I call a wine and dine affair, Mataboge fondly termed a “media charm offensive,” and what was officially…
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Education as Underdevelopment
“It was not an educational system designed to give young people confidence and pride as members of African societies, but one which sought to instill a sense of deference towards all that was European and capitalist….. the racism and cultural boastfulness harbored by capitalism were also included in the package of colonial education. Colonial schooling…
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Updates to Great Lakes Twitter Outrage
As more and more learn about Great Lakes social media fail, the Twitter response gets better and better. Some new favorites: @strikedebt @wind2energy asks @mygreatlakes: You’re a collection agency posing as a “service provider.” Does that sound about right? — Wind2Energy (@Wind2Energy) April 27, 2013 @mygreatlakes am I going default if I don’t download your…
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Great Lakes Social Media Fail
Apparently Great Lakes, one of the largest student loan service providers in the US, is new to social media and wanted to let its customers know they had arrived. Some lenders were shocked when they received the following: Twitter immediately pounced. My student loan company just sent me an email that said if I don’t…
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Today I’m thinking about higher education in Ghana
Education with a capital E is not enough to spur “development” and “growth.” Institutions ought to closely scrutinize their curriculum to ensure it includes ways to spur creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
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Good morning, revolution!
Good Morning Revolution – Langston Hughes (1932) Good morning Revolution: You are the best friend I ever had. We gonna pal around together from now on. Say, listen, Revolution: You know the boss where I used to work, The guy that gimme the air to cut expenses, He wrote a long letter to the papers about…
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University of California: Debt for Education
As an undergrad at the University of California-San Diego it was no secret that the Regents, who controlled the operation and decision-making of the university, were involved in some risky business. The Regents, a group of Californians entrusted with the education of 11 undergraduate and graduate campuses, are appointed by the governor. Their appointments are…
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Bourdieu in Algeria
Speaking on colonial Algeria: “This society, … which was constituted through a totality of indissociable elements that were all expressions of the same original ‘style,’ suffered [a subi] the shock of another civilization that did not make itself felt in a piecemeal or targeted fashion but in totality, rupturing not only the economic order but…
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Spending the day with Foucault
“It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticize the working of institutions which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticize them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one…
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Covering Lie
“I like the term covering lie …: lies so big they are believed as truths and look so inevitable that they are justified by us in our daily lives even though there is plenty of evidence against them. Lies are: America is the land of opportunity for everybody; Britain is the home of modern democracy;…
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The People’s Bailout
Welcome to Strike Debt’s newest project, the Rolling Jubilee: A bailout of the people by the people. We buy debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish it. We cannot buy specific individuals’ debt – instead, we help liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will,…
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This week we’re talking about race
Tim Wise: The Creation of Whiteness Everyone’s a little bit racist!
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Do something
The mode of being of the new intellectual can no longer consist in eloquence, which is an exterior and momentary mover of feelings and passions, but in active participation in practical life, as constructor, organizer, “permanent persuader” and not just a simple orator. Antonio Gramsci
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Capacity to transform society
I’m looking forward to seeing Randall McGuire speak this weekend at the Public Anthropology Conference. We’re currently reading Archaeology as Political Action, in which he lays out three goals of a “Marxist radical praxis,” which provide a good outline for anyone interested in change-making: A Marxist radical praxis necessarily involves three goals to know the…
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Sunday morning
In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. -George Orwell Politics and the English Language
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Originally posted on In Defense of Boobs : September 18, 2012 Dear Provost Bass, Vice-Provost Peres, and Asst. Vice Pres. Of Communications Lepre: Let us begin by first stating our steadfast support of Dr. Pine as a professor, colleague and mother. She made a decision that other faculty, staff, and students at American University have…
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Reinventing
Last week, my Foundations of Anthropology professor opened with this quote: “Each anthropologist must reinvent [anthropology], as a general field, for him or herself, following personal interest and talent where best they may lead.” – Dell Hymes, Reinventing Anthropology Hyme’s insight encouraged me to be creative, different, and not hold myself to others’ standards. And…
Joeva Sean Rock 