Reading Recommendations 2022

Today’s post is for all of you who are looking for a (very…) last minute present or simply a good read over the holiday break. We asked some of our friends and partners for reading recommendations and found quite a few who are still following the beautiful and ancient habit of readying. Yeay! We are absolutely thrilled by the fantastic responses we received. We can’t wait to start reading them all 🥰📚💡🙌

We are grateful for an exciting year at Azurit Foundation and thank anyone who has been part of the journey. We look forward to being back next year and will share a more detailed review of Azurit’s 2022 with you very soon.

So, please scroll down and look for yourself. Will you find the video (discussing a book) we hid among the recommendations? And if you think we have missed the ultimate discovery of 2022 (or you just want to add your favorite to the list) please reach out!

The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain

By Annie Murphy Paul

“This book compellingly tells us why and how we should not think only with our brain but also with our body and even our surroundings. To make her case, the author reviews and summarizes research from different academic fields, such as psychology, cognitive science and neuroarchitecture. The conclusion: out-of-the-box-thinking is not sufficient anymore to master our daily challenges; maybe it never was. We perform better when we think out-of-the-brain.”

/ Yanick Kemayou, Co-founder and Chief Learning Officer at Kabakoo Academies

Pitch Anything

By Oren Klaff

“This book is a must read for anyone who is pitching and not drowned in offers. It is a real eye opener. Thanks to Oren’s approach, we are becoming much more effective at communicating our opportunities for partners.“

/ Tendai Pasipanodya, Co-founder Drones Doing Good Alliance

Election vs sortition – Is random selection the better choice?

With David van Reybrouck

“The philosopher Aristotle was of the opinion that sortition (selection by random lot) is the best method of choosing office holders in a democracy, while election is best for sustaining an oligarchy, in which wealthy and powerful individuals can readily manipulate the election process. David van Reybrouck has brought sortition back on the democratic agenda where it belongs. Watch this video to learn more.”

/ Antonis Schwarz, Impact Investor, philanthropist and impact investing consultant

Realizing women’s economic, social and cultural rights: Challenges and strategies in Nigeria

By Joy Ngwakwe

(in Canadian Journal of Women and The law: Vol. 14, 1/2002)

“This article speaks to the inherent discrimination against women in almost every aspect of life. It shows how women’s economic, social and cultural rights are routinely violated, and the fact that Economic, Social and Cultural rights are not recognized as human rights. This fact further deepens the issues women face. Many Gender advocates in Nigeria and most of Africa are tackling these issues from different perspectives, but there is still so much to do for women in Africa to get to a place where equity is recognized, women voices are heard, rights are upheld and women have a space to explore, be themselves and succeed. It is our responsibility to ensure that this new world is built by supporting women and Gender advocates.”

/ Josephine Nzerem, Advisory Board Azurit Foundation

Operationalising the decentring agenda: Analysing European foreign policy in a non-European and post-western world

By Stephan Keukeleire & Sharon Lecocq

/ Anton Hieber, Advisory Board Azurit Foundation

Klara and the Sun

A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro

“My favorite book this year is Klara and the Sun, a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. For the past six years, BarefootLaw has been working on automation of the law using AI and ML hopefully leading to the creation of an artificial general lawyer (AL). Klara and the Sun got me thinking about how such a “thing”, in its fruition, might navigate our world, to find reason for things we as human beings, take for granted.”  

/ Gerald Abila, Founder and Executive Director at BarefootLaw

Are you leaving breadcrumbs for the next generation?

By Fred Swaniker

“This piece touches deeply on leadership and creating opportunities for others. Fred Swaniker reminds us about why it is so important to invest in the next generation.”

/ Patience Silungwe Khembo, Founder and Executive Director at Ladder to Learning 

Transforming Education through African-Led Research and Solutions

By Shikha Goyal & Abdelrahman Hassan

“This report combines some of the key topics Azurit Foundation cares about: education, African-led initiatives and a research focus. The report’s findings are unfortunately not very surprising: education research in/on Africa, as well as resulting policy recommendations, are often based on strong North-South power dynamics and largely driven by stakeholders with limited understanding of local contexts. Yet, it doesn’t stop there but also provides hands-on recommendations for funders how to shift more power to African education researchers.”

/ Lea Buck, Managing Director Azurit Foundation