Saturday 11 May 2013

Bits and Bobs

Here are some interesting things I've been reading this week...

- China sure has some bizarre buildings. Click here to see the weird, the wonderful and the downright ugly.

- This is a fascinating piece about women in Afghanistan struggling between modernity and tradition. It reminds me of Escobar's wonderful book, Encountering Development (1985).

Escobar discusses how women in Lamu, Kenya, have been affected by Western music, films and soap operas, leading to a reflexive interpretation of what it is to be a Muslim woman in a modern world. However Escobar points out that there are differences between the liberty that the Kenyan women strive for and the liberty that Western women enjoy. For example, women in Lamu were rejecting the veil, not because they perceived it as illiberal and a symbol of oppression but because they saw it as impractical as a part of a busy modern lifestyle. A must read for anyone interested in international development!

- These children's playgrounds are both incredible and nightmare-inducingly surreal!

- Throwing a lavish Gatsby-themed party might be somewhat missing the point of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic book but here's some reasons why you should throw that party anyway. 

- And speaking of Gatsby - check out this wonderful site looking at Fitzgerald's relationship with fashion.

- Delving into the shady world of the Paparazzi and the Italian elites

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