This is the African politics co-editors' swan song for
#TheMonkeyCage's time at the Washington Post.
Together, @texasinafrica and I reflected on some of the great analysis our colleagues wrote up this year (including a few pieces published elsewhere).
apropos of a friend asking about #ChatGPT on Facebook earlier today, I was curious what it would spit out if I asked it "What is #TheMonkeyCage ?"
It was /mostly/ correct.
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The Monkey Cage is a blog that is affiliated with The Washington Post and focuses on political science research and analysis...It is named after a type of enclosure used in laboratories to study non-human primates, and the name is meant to reflect the blog's focus on the "political animal."
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[that last part = wrong]
Don't miss this great overview of Russian public opinion on the war in Ukraine, by Bryn Rosenfeld and published today in #TheMonkeyCage.
In honor of #InternationalMigrantsDay yesterday, @texasinafrica & I wrote a review piece in #TheMonkeyCage on 3 recently published books examining the experiences of refugees and migrants and their host countries in #Africa and beyond.
I hope you'll read the review. More importantly, I hope you'll read the books. I learned from each of them.
Sally Hayden's book in particular is a very difficult read (because of the content, not the writing).
@egojunk I have not seen this -- thanks for sharing. @smotus wrote this recent piece for us in #TheMonkeyCage: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/14/tv-politics-veep-borgen-andor/
I've also been working (here and there) on curating a list of books, films, videos, and TV shows for a class I'm developing tentatively titled "Life and Politics Under Dictatorship" -- but it's very much a work in progress. Adding "Brazil" to that list!
https://www.pinterest.com/dadakim/life-and-politics-under-dictatorship/
If you read nothing else today, please read this explainer by political scientist Dani Gilbert on the lessons we learn from #BrittneyGriner's painful, wrongful detention.
🔗 : https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/12/griner-russia-hostages-merchant-death/
#TheMonkeyCage @politicalscience #PoliticalScience #InternationalRelations
Last week, #ECOWAS Heads of State announced they would form a new "coup-proofing" force to retain/reinstitute security and constitutional order. I interviewed Emmanuel Balogun about that security force and about ECOWAS more broadly.
📖 Our conversation drew on Emmanuel's book, Region-Building in West Africa: https://www.routledge.com/Region-Building-in-West-Africa-Convergence-and-Agency-in-ECOWAS/Balogun/p/book/9781138348325
🔗 And our interview was published in #TheMonkeyCage today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/12/ecowas-west-africa-peacekeeping-security/
@politicalscience @africanstudies #PoliticalScience #WestAfrica
Ahead of next week's US-Africa Leaders Summit, #Afrobarometer's leadership has analyzed their most recently collected survey data to tell us what African citizens might prioritize, were they consulted.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/10/africa-surveys-economy-climate-afrobarometer/
Among other highlights, I draw your attention to the overwhelming majority of Africans who want their governments to do more to limit #ClimateChange, “even if it is expensive or causes some job losses or other harm to our economy.”
At #TheMonkeyCage we're compiling a list of fan favorites -- whether you read them or wrote them. Please send me yours. We have something planned for the holidays.
A few already mentioned elsewhere: @smotus's "review" of House of Cards: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/03/08/house-of-cards-is-the-worst-show-about-american-politics-ever/
My piece with @texasinafrica for April Fool's Day: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/01/weary-professors-give-up-concede-that-africa-is-a-country/
But also @texasinafrica's scathing review of that terrible book: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/25/beach-reads-jeffrey-gettlemans-love-africa/
+ More seriously, this on Frederick Douglas: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/06/150-years-ago-frederick-douglass-predicted-americas-dilemma-today/
kim yi dionne (she/her)
Seth Masket