Evaluation has never been neutral. Throughout history, the act of assessing has served as both instrument of control and catalyst for justice. This post examines how power, politics and ideology have always shaped what gets evaluated, by whom, and for what purpose.
How twisted narratives and simplistic measures can destroy a major effort to do good. This post examines what the backlash against ESG and ‘woke’ culture reveals about the dangers of poor measurement, ideological capture, and evaluation’s role in defending evidence-based progress
More than 60 evaluation reports over 13 years by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR): a perfect example of evaluation’s power, and its powerlessness. The damage done — hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars — when evaluation evidence is ignored.
We need Mission Thinking, Moonshot Thinking, and Mission-Oriented Evaluation if we are to ensure evaluation is fit for purpose for this era. The thought occurred to me as I was reading the latest book by visionary and outspoken UK economist Mariana Mazzucato, who is on a mission to establish
"Aid projects might yield satisfying micro-results, but they generally do little to change the systems that produce the problems in the first place." On 16 July 2018 fifteen prominent economists, including three Nobel winners, wrote in the Guardian that - my summary - the aid system is broken because
Back to blogging after a hiatus of three months during which I travelled too frequently for work assignments. Pressurised schedules do not support writing, but I am hoping to change this over the next month on the road from Beijing to Nairobi to Cape Town to Maastricht. There is much
In one of my recent posts I wrote about the pervasive influence of power on development, and the imperative to deal with it in our evaluations. Here I want to address the evaluation of "empowerment" - the support given to individuals in their efforts to empower themselves. In development
Evaluation is entering an exciting period - one that will challenge us all to think in new ways and to focus on new things. This blog post is the first in a series aimed at highlighting some of the most interesting considerations for evaluation in an era where the Sustainable Development
I have come to the conclusion that nearly everything in life is influenced by power. Yet we almost never evaluate for it. It is difficult to be powerless and happy. The type and extent of the power we want will differ from person to person, depending on our circumstances and
