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A review by haagedoorn
Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding--And How We Can Improve the World Even More by Charles Kenny
2.0
Having finished the book, I am still unsure what exactly to think of it. The premise is interesting and gives a different view on the question of development, predominantly in Africa. The general theme is that development in Africa has not failed, quite the contrary. When not taking GDP per capita into account as a tool of measurement, Africa has seen spectacular improvement. The main indicators that Kenny looks at are levels of education (i.e. literacy), healthcare (i.e. life expectancy and child mortality) and social and democratic rights.
This is also more or less where the book ends. He is very unclear in his organisation and more or less parades the same principles in every chapter. Some methods of looking at these issues (dissemination of technology as a tool or Western development aid) pop up in multiple chapters, some do not. In short, his ordering of arguments is quite unclear and unprofessional, which is somewhat strange, given the amount of research that obviously went into it. I veered towards given three stars, but the incoherence and repetition made me go for two.
This is also more or less where the book ends. He is very unclear in his organisation and more or less parades the same principles in every chapter. Some methods of looking at these issues (dissemination of technology as a tool or Western development aid) pop up in multiple chapters, some do not. In short, his ordering of arguments is quite unclear and unprofessional, which is somewhat strange, given the amount of research that obviously went into it. I veered towards given three stars, but the incoherence and repetition made me go for two.