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Opinion

Rethinking with uncertainty: two new articles

Published on 9 February 2026

Ian Scoones

Professorial Fellow

Two open access articles have just come out that take the theme of ‘uncertainty’ and explore how it encourages some fundamental rethinking. First, ‘development’ as conventionally understood and, second, ‘critical agrarian studies’.

They are published as part of two series, one in the Development Insights series of articles in World Development and the other the Key Concepts series in the Journal of Peasant Studies. They’re short essays with some Zimbabwe focused case material, but hopefully of wider interest.

Both draw on my book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World published by Polity in 2024. But they take the arguments further. Let me highlight some of the themes.

This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS Research Fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.

Read the full story on the Zimbabweland website

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IDS.

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Africa Zimbabwe

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