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Monthly Archives: June 2013
Blood and vinegar: Practices of violence and Brazil’s protest movement
Notwithstanding my general sense of optimism about Brazil’s protest movement, disturbing incidents have occurred on the margins that raise questions about the role that violent practices play in actors’ responses to the uprising. It would seem that the citizen-centric governance … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Brazil, Brazil protests, democracy, human rights, Latin America, political violence
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Brazil’s protests: (English) literature review
Brazil’s evolving protests and protest movement continue to be a topic of intense interest, and every day sees not just new developments – like presidente Dilma embracing the protest movement as an impetus to constitutional reforms – but new and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged accountability, Brazil, Brazil protests, corruption, democracy, human rights, Latin America
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Open Data, Citizen Action, and the Sumatra-Singapore Smog Crisis
(Updated around 5pm Lima time to add more hedging, more pessimism, more words.) I’ve recently learned for the first time about the “smog crisis” afflicting Singapore, Sumatra, and parts of Malaysia, and it makes for fascinating reading (and striking, shocking, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged environmental policy, Indonesia, Malaysia, open data, Singapore, smog crisis, Southeast Asia, transparency
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Do Brazil’s protests hold transformative potential for the rest of Latin America?
Walking home from the Vivanda (Peruvian equivalent of Whole Foods) last night I came across a modest commotion on Avenida Pardo: a couple dozen young people, carrying signs and blowing whistles, one pushing a stroller, and another carrying a Brazilian … Continue reading
Brazil’s protests: demanding accountability, deepening democracy
Things are happening in Brazil almost too rapidly to keep up, but it’s imminently worth keeping up with. The images that have poured out of Brasilia, where protesters peacefully entered, then literally danced atop, government buildings including the national congress, … Continue reading
Of hope, football, and dirty wars
The Friday before last, June 7, was a real red-letter day in Peru. I have been busy with other writing projects (about which soon) and neglected to blog about it at the time. Still, that lovely, sunny, historic day, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Fujimori, human rights, Latin America, Peru, Shining Path
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“Nothing to hide”
I don’t agree with Ross Douthat that often, but I’m always happy to be reminded, and to remind others, as Douthat does in this piece, of a certain immortal phrase: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to … Continue reading
Opening data in an absolute monarchy: notes on Oman’s Open Government Data & Best Practices Symposium
No better example of the modishness of “open” can exist than holding an open government summit in an absolute monarchy. It would seem that such an event would indeed “open” itself to accusations of deliberately delicious irony, or deliberate contradiction. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged MENA, Oman, open data, open government, Sultan Qaboos, transparency
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Five notes on narco-nickname cartography
Ran across this interactive map of “The World’s Insane and Ever Expanding Drug Lexicon” yesterday. It prompted reflection on what this map – that is, a set of linguistic anecdotes bounded by time – could tell us about the state … Continue reading
Open government data isn’t just about entrepreneurs
Last month the Obama administration announced an executive order mandating an open, machine-readable default setting for government datasets, a move lauded by (among many others) open tech writer Alex Howard, whose piece in Slate was headlined “The Best Thing Obama’s … Continue reading
Obscure Suddha 