What makes a classic IDS Bulletin article? Wandering through almost 40 years and 140 issues of the IDS Bulletin, some common features can be discerned. The most memorable IDS Bulletin articles challenge orthodoxy and present alternative perspectives on development issues.
They also reflect the spirit of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) as both an eclectic bunch of opinionated individuals and a community of thinking – but not necessarily a unanimity of views – and showcase the various contributions of IDS and its partners to development thinking and practice. Almost as important as content is writing style.
The most widely cited articles are accessible to a wide readership (they avoid technical jargon, even if they convey specialist knowledge), and they are written in a deceptively informal style – yet beneath the easy narrative and occasional polemical flourishes is an authority that comes from deep knowledge of the subject area, often inflected with an urgency driven by a conviction that this matters!
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