The LIDN Weekly Roundup #70
2020 might have felt a year of unremitting awfulness, but there have been some bright spots amongst the gloom. The recent Institute of Development Studies Annual Lecture from IDS alumni and now President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada is one such moment. A wonderfully personal exploration from a ‘reluctant frontman’ of the interconnectedness of issues such as climate change and social inequality with the Covid-19 pandemic, the lecture ends on a note of hope for the future.
Recently released, and winning superlative reviews, Mira L. Siegelberg’s book ‘Statelessness: A Modern History’ looks unmissable. Siegelberg examines how the legal category of ‘statelessness’ (a person who does not have a nationality of any country) has fundamentally altered the relationship between states and their citizens since the early part of the twentieth century.
Global Health Film has been highlighting classic movies from their back catalogue all Summer. This coming Sunday their ‘Global Health Film Festival’ will instead host the brand new documentary by the acclaimed director of ‘How to Survive a Plague’, David France. ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ is reputed to be a harrowing look at the work of Chechnyan activists who face immense risks in attempting to rescue LGBTQ+ victims from government efforts to detain, torture, and execute them. The director is speaking in a panel discussion afterwards.
Jack Shenker authored a poignant and highly recommended article for The Guardian last month; the story of the reunion between a photographer and the family whose life of poverty he famously documented in the early 90s. Shenker’s account of their lives in the intervening years is compassionate journalism at its best.
Finally, in honour of the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (Sunday 29 November), watch Rafeef Ziadah’s stirring poem ‘We Teach Life, Sir’. A future of justice, equality, and self-determination for all is possible - if we fight for it.
