Recommended Reads

Important news and blogs:

• The Guardian UK Poverty Matters Blog
• The New York Times Fixes Blog
• From Poverty to Power blog, written by Oxfam Great Britain’s Head of Research Duncan Green
• And this 2010 “Grad Student’s Guide to the International Development Blogosphere” that offers numerous additional (good and informative) links

A few favorite books:

• The Post-Development Reader collects excellent essays from talented writers, researchers, and activists who ponder the limitations of our language, our understanding of development, the tools at our disposal, and the kinds of communities we wish to build.
• Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, by MIT Economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, shares insights from the work of their Poverty Action Lab, which (controversially) utilizes randomized control trials in efforts to fight poverty. 
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (Vintage), a best-selling book by Pulitzer-prize-winning team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky successfully positions the struggle for women’s rights as the most important rights issue of our time.
• The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Columbia Professor Jeffrey Sachs, contextualizes current challenges through an optimistic review of development to date, along with arguments for targeted development initiatives in specific villages. 
• We are in the process of building this list, but feel free to send your own suggestions (or suggestions for review) to buildingbetterworld@gmail.com. Thank you.