“I look to the private life of a philosopher. I like integrity. I cannot believe in a philosopher that speaks about justice and then treats his woman very cruelly and does not recognize his child.” Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021)

Food for thought that is applicable beyond the individual philosopher, in this case, Karl Marx, to the wider body of knowledge and practitioners.

How can we expect others to believe our body of work, when in our private lives we act and do contrary?

In our case, at CPAR Uganda, we saw the red flags and ignored them. Accepted to partner with academics who ended up derailing us and we had to prematurely end the relationship. Our values and principles were on an unsustainable collision course.

We would like to think that we have learnt the hard way. That we will be more cautious in the future, but that does not mean we will not be fooled again in the future.

An important lesson for us all to continue learning is to try as best as we can to notice and not ignore the red flags.

Featured photo of Nawal El Saadawi @ Financial Times