About
Limn is an experiment in outlining.
It combines the collaborative focus of a special issue of a journal with the spontaneity and interactivity of new media. Limn focuses on reconstruction and recomposition of concepts in contemporary culture. Limn is modeled on the convivial and critical features of a studio in art, architecture or design. Each episode differs from the last-different curators bring different problems and approaches to the basic concepts and tools developed in and through the process.
Issue 9, 2017
Little Development Devices and Humanitarian Goods
Editors: Stephen J. Collier, Jamie Cross, Peter Redfield, and Alice Street
This issue of Limn examines the recent profusion of micro-technologies in the worlds of humanitarianism and development, some focused on fostering forms of social improvement, others claiming to alleviate suffering, and many seeking to accomplish both. From water meters, micro-insurance and cash transfers, to solar lanterns, water filtration systems, and sanitation devices, examples proliferate across the early 21st century landscapes of international aid. Although small-scale endeavors are far from novel, today these devices are animated by different intellectual and moral energy, drawing on novel financial and organizational resources. Many blur distinctions between public and private interests, along with divisions between obligations, gifts and commodities. At the same time, they entail novel configurations of expertise, political obligation and forms of care. The articles in this issue explore these new convergences of developmental and humanitarian projects, alongside reworked relationships between experts, governments, and purported beneficiaries, focused on fostering “participation” and “partnerships” rather than nation-building.
Articles
Preface: Little Development Devices / Humanitarian Goods
A brief introduction to the idea behind Issue Number Nine, and the concepts associated with it.
On Band-Aids and Magic Bullets
Peter Redfield probes the merits of small solutions to big problems.
Demanding Mobile Health
What are the infrastructural requirements of mobile health? Vincent Duclos reports on the MOS@N experiment in Burkina Faso.
EXCREMENTA I: Welcome to Excrementa
Brenda Chalfin and Xhulio Binjaku imagine designs for the future with Dwelling-Based Public Toilets in Urban Ghana.
EXCREMENTA II: The Legitimizing Model
Xhulio Binjaku explores the role of the model in upholding regimes of power, expertise, and commerce and explains the inspiration for Excrementa Estates.
EXCREMENTA III: The Leader in Upscale Sanitary Solutions?
Brenda Chalfin reflects on the use of design as a little development device.
Solar Basics
Jamie Cross explores how a solar-powered lamp became the go-to solution to Puerto Rico’s energy crisis.
Deep Diagnostics
Alice Street examines the market infrastructure behind off-grid diagnostics.
Microfinance as a Credit Card?
Jonathan Morduch traces the rise of microfinance, and argues that it's time for a new vision.
Humility and Hubris in Hydropower
Austin Lord considers the unstable politics of micro-hydropower development in the wake of Nepal’s 2015 earthquake.
A Slightly Better Shelter?
Tom Scott-Smith gets inside an award-winning shelter designed for refugees and asks: what makes it any better than a tent?
Glucometer Foils
Amy Moran-Thomas examines why diabetes patients worldwide still struggle to measure glucose.
The Humble Cookstove
Meena Khandelwal and Kayley Lain reflect on half a century of failed efforts to change how people cook in rural India, before adding a little device of their own to the fire.
“Water is life, but sanitation is dignity”
Tatiana Thieme explores how doing your business has become an opportunity for business in Nairobi.
Rational Sin
David Reubi explores how Chicago Economics remade Global Public Health.
Customer Care
Robert Foster explores how mobile phones in Papua New Guinea offer new ways for both companies and consumers to give and receive care.
The Participatory Development Toolkit
Christopher Kelty opens up a toolkit from the 1990s to explore the prehistory of apps, platforms, and algorithms.
Iterate, Experiment, Prototype
Anke Schwittay and Paul Braund explore the curious intersection between international aid and design.
Governing Development Failure
How did little development devices make their way into big development institutions? Jacqueline Best explores the history of policy failure at the World Bank.