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SurādiQ blog

The Seasoned Revolutionary: a short-er story

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The seasoned revolutionary, in her old age, once sat on the ground, gazing aimlessly into the night sky, then spoke quietly to those in her company:

“Do not seek justice. The universe will laugh at you. It is like spending serious time searching for your imaginary friend.

You cannot explain the big bang, the formation and explosion of stars, the creation of the elements inside the guts of stars, the formation of planets, solar systems, atmospheres, life, and evolution, in terms of justice.… More

Geopolitics of Dreams and God

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The field of geopolitics refers to the study of political events and processes as they relate to the factors of geography, or, more loosely, to the context of place. The idea seems quite intuitive: the context of place influences political events and processes in ways sufficient to say that the same political factors may render very different outcomes when they interact in different spacial/geographical contexts. … More

The Development Set

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Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet
I’m off to join the Development Set;
My bags are packed, and I’ve had all my shots
I have traveller’s checks and pills for the trots!

The Development Set is bright and noble
Our thoughts are deep and our vision global;
Although we move with the better classes
Our thoughts are always with the masses.

… More

The Nane-Nane Fair

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Nane-Nane means ‘Eight, Eight’ in Swahili. The date is reserved as ‘farmers’ day’ in Tanzanian calendar, a national holiday to recognize the importance of farmers to Tanzania’s national economy and development. While it is only one day itself, it is accompanied by a one-week fair in the form of agricultural exhibition. The fair is held by multiple zones (e.g. Northern Zone, Lake Zone, Eastern Zone, Southern Zone, etc.)… More

Visit to STIPRO: Policy Research for Technological Change

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On December 16th, I was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and I had the pleasure of visiting STIPRO: Science, Technology & Innovation Policy Research Organization.  Before my visit I have been in communication, through email and telephone, with the Executive Director, Dr. Bitrina Diyamett. I introduced myself and my research intentions to her earlier before my arrival to Tanzania, and she was kind enough to respond with positivity regarding staying in touch and considering STIPRO as one local source of information for my research.… More

On Voting

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Voting does not change the power structures in any given society. This is a general rule. The powers-that-be are typically so entrenched in the economic and political strata, as well as the mainstream culture, that the act of casting a ballot would not be able to remove them from rule, change hierarchies, and transform the big picture. There may be exceptions, you say?… More

Field Research: Challenges of Entering the Field

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As a student researcher, arriving to a country to do field research is quite a different experience from arriving for a visit of leisure or volunteer, or even for a work contract of some sort. As soon you step foot in the country that is your field, you are mostly your own supervisor. Steps are calculated towards a particular goal (mostly collecting as much relevant and efficient data as possible).… More

Statements that Matter (to me)

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– Morality is the explicator of human agency. In our daily lives we make multiple moral decisions, and these choices may be the only aspects of our circumstances to which we are justly accountable. We generally do not choose our genotype, phenotype, health, economic/social status, etc., but we are assumed to choose our morals and understand their consequences. It follows that moral discourse cannot be called “ideal” without dehumanizing daily ‘human’ activities.… More