@Aar Sare I am reading his book at the moment. There's a chapter entitled "Important Slayings of Malthus' Zombie". That in itself is one of the coolest chapter titles I have seen by a political scientist, and there are plenty of sentences that make perfect quotes... De Waal is a rare specimen in policital science, on a par with Jean-François Bayart whose paper "Africa in the World" is worth reading just for its opening sentences, let alone the argument. Fortunately, De Waal's articles can be found on The Conversation, African Arguments, and he wrote an excellent piece that's really worth its considerable length here: bostonreview.net/science-nature/alex-de-waal-new-pathogen-old-politics