While reading about dahalo in Madagascar (*), I stumbled across a wide-ranging collection of research papers about Madagascar. So I thought I would take a break from Timorese musings and share it with you all: the source is the SIT Study Abroad program, and by searching for Madagascar you get such amazingly-titled, exhaustively-researched papers as:
-Guano Exploitation in Madagascar, in which the author abandons a study on chemical fertilizers (little used in Madagascar), and instead investigates guano: "the organic fertalizer at the center of a complex web of interrelated environmental, cultural and economic interactions"
-Western Influence, Latent Racism, and their Impact on Access to Health Care in Madagascar, which details the causes and (healthcare) effects of Merina racism
-Malagasy Conceptions of Good Governance and Democracy, written in 2010 so it ought to be an interesting take on the level of interest Malagasy have for government post-2009 coup
-The Flavor of Money: The Vanilla Industry and the Economy of Antalaha, all the Gasy Vanilla you can handle
-and my favorite title: Romancing Dahalo: The Social Environment of Cattle Theft in Ihorombe, Madagascar,
which starts with a slighlty-incorrect recounting of the tragic Peace Corps Volunteer death in the early nineties (there was no Peace Corps in Madagascar in 1990, and every time I hear that story it is slightly different, though never any less horrific), and seems to be a commented version that was uploaded (weird but kind of funny)... but it looks fascinating!
As you might have guessed, I have not read these yet, only downloaded a few and skimmed them. But take a look at the treasure trove yourself, I bet you will find an interesting and unexpected Madagascar-related paper!
(*) The dahalo story is of increasingly-serious attacks in the south. Here is one article, and as always check Tananews for updates. And Romancing the Dahalo was the article I stumbled across...
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