Development studies Books

Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the evaluation of information projects, products and services from a learning perspective. It looks at evaluation within the context of the overall project cycle, from project planning and implementation to monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment, and then at the evaluation process itself, the tools involved and examples of their application. The theme running throughout the toolkit is: Participatory evaluation for learning and impact. The emphasis is on internal evaluation -- or ''self-evaluation'' -- rather than external evaluation. Internal evaluation contributes to organisational learning and represents a significant shift from traditional evaluation, which has tended to be donor-driven to meet the demand for accountability and compliance. If evaluation is to achieve its ultimate objectives of enhancing learning and demonstrating impact, it needs to be applied with confidence in a systematic and coherent way.

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Book SynopsisSustainable use of natural resources is a key element in the livelihoods of rural people. Especially the poor are often disproportionately affected by environmental degradation: it loosens their production base, makes them vulnerable to health risks, and can result in natural or man-made disasters. Sharing and accumulation of knowledge are important to help rural people make better decisions. This bulletin presents four examples on how projects and organisations in Western Africa deal with the knowledge aspects and capacity development in land resource management. With the ongoing processes of democratic decentralisation and privatisation, more and more actors are expected to play their role in sustainable resource management. The fragmented landscape of actors has huge consequences for the ways knowledge can be developed and shared. The bulletin analyses the examples and draws lessons with respect to the opportunities for knowledge sharing and capacity development. What are key ingredients for a knowledge management strategy? Strategic questions are identified that need attention in policy development both for donor agencies and governments in the region. We conclude that knowledge management is not easy to implement in the current multi-stakeholder context.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1970 and 2005, Bolivia lived through military coups, democracy and dictatorship. It suffered discontinuity, erratic political change, peasant and indigenous upheavals. It is in this context that we find the continuity of non-governmental organisations like CIPCA (Centre for Research and Promotion of the Peasantry), which contributed, among other actors, to the dawning, in 2006, of a new political era in which people who had been excluded since colonial times reached positions of formal State power. The primary aim of this book is to present the history of one particular NGO as part of the history of the social movements and the NGOs in Bolivia (and Latin America). Between 1970 and 1985 CIPCA carried out its rural development activities in an informal setting of a group of friends and against a background of military dictatorships, with the main objective of restoring the validity of democratic institutions. Once democracy was restored, in 1982, and CIPCA had become a formal institution, it had to adjust its objectives. Between 1985 and 2006 activities were carried out in an atmosphere of political democracy, in which economic exclusion of the peasantry and the indigenous population was nonetheless still present. This books systematisation of 35 years of (CIPCA) history offers the reader a reference that might serve to deepen reflections on rural development themes that are still matters of debate today.

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Book SynopsisThis book documents experiences by those at the forefront of technical support and capacity development. The experiences and lessons learned all originate from technical support and capacity development provided in Asia, Africa and Latin America through the UNAIDS Technical Support Facilities on these continents. The case studies in this book range from very practical experiences on how capacity building was carried out with local consultants working on harm reduction for injecting drug users in Indonesia, to the analysis of capacity building needs in relation to the Global Fund supported programs and the documentation of a successful South-South co-operation initiative involving countries in Latin America and Africa. This is the result of a writeshop in which the authors put on paper the various innovations and approaches they have used, and which can be adapted or adopted by countries, individuals and organisations working in the field of HIV to strengthen national HIV and AIDS responses.

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Book SynopsisIn April 2010, Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) organised a forum to share experiences on implementing interventions to address HIV and AIDS, sexuality, gender and education. The conference sought to provide a platform for sharing good practices and examining the role of culture in HIV and AIDS prevention and mitigation among participants working in training, home-based care, education, advocacy, lobbying and information production and dissemination, among others. The book is one of the avenues through which key conference outcomes are being shared. It targets professionals involved in an array of projects or programmes in the areas of HIV and AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, gender and education mainly working with NGOs, faith-based organisations (FBOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs). It is also aimed at policy makers and programme managers in governmental institutions, international NGOs (INGOs), UN agencies, media personnel, researchers and teachers. The objective of the book is to empower these target readers with skills to improve the way they implement their programmes.

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Book SynopsisAs smallholder farmers switch to producing for the commercial market, they face a steep learning curve. To select a product and to market it effectively, they must understand both their immediate market situation and how the whole value chain works. Individual smallholders probably cannot grow enough on their own, so they have to get organised and sell their produce as a group. That takes leadership, organisation, mutual trust and a common vision. They need to access a range of business services: inputs, financial services, training, market information, transport, government support, and so on. And they need to plan their businesses: analyse their potential markets, identify customers, negotiate with buyers and suppliers, work out their costs and expected income, look at their longer term position in the value chain, develop a business plan, and put the plan into operation. How best to help groups of smallholders to gain these skills? This book describes a learning alliance approach that combines training, practical assignments to develop an enterprise, on-the-job coaching, and the sharing of experiences among several groups of farmers. The approach was piloted in Ethiopia from 2007 to 2010 with 18 groups of farmers in Amhara, Oromia, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNPR) regional states. It covered a wide range of commodities, from staple grains to dairy, coffee, legumes, honey and incense. Where normal training courses impart skills that farmers find hard to apply to their own situation and soon forget, the learning alliance enables them to apply new skills to their own situations, reinforces their new knowledge, and gives them hands-on, guided experience with building their own businesses. That makes a learning alliance a highly effective way of enabling farmers to build their businesses in a sustainable way.

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Book SynopsisThe potato (Solanum tuberosum L) has a high potential to raise smallholder income and improve food security in Eastern Africa. Improving the quality of seed potatoes can contribute to increasing its productivity. Few seed potatoes are currently sourced from specialised multipliers, as farmers largely rely on farm-saved seed potatoes. This often makes economic sense in the absence of affordable high quality seed potatoes and limited market security. Seed potato system interventions need to address the quality of specially multiplied and farm-saved seed potatoes simultaneously. Here it is shown that positive selection, the selection of healthy looking mother plants for the production of seed potatoes by ware potato farmers, can contribute to improving seed potato quality. When looking back an essential success factor of the research trajectory was the researchers'' room to manoeuvre and immerse in partnerships with practitioners, while innovation was made the central objective, rather than research results. The experience shows that it is worthwhile to search for opportunities for incremental innovation and that these can be of a surprising simple nature. For an effective contribution to innovation the mandate of research needs to allow for the active engagement in training, communication and scaling-up.

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Book SynopsisTourism and development are frequently mentioned together, yet the contribution of tourism to development in the Third World is controversial. This book provides an in depth study of Mexico's experience with the international tourism industry since the 1960s.Table of ContentsIntroduction: tourism, industrial change and development. Theoretical issues: explaining industrial transformation. The stimulus: import substitution and the global tourism boom. Initiating the tourism export push: the state role. Patterns of development: hotels. Patterns of development: airlines. Conclusion: tourism, export promotion and development. References. Author index. Subject index.

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Book SynopsisThis book is based on several talks and papers presented by the author in recent years. It is organized in two parts, the first dealing with an emerging development paradigm, and the second with the imperative for a new international dialogue in topics central to human development such as a peace agenda for the Third World.Trade ReviewThis remarkably honest, and somewhat provocative book provides a nice account of recent development thinking. * Kyklos *

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Book SynopsisThis volume brings together a significant new collection of studies on formality and informality in developing countries. Containing contributions from some of the very best analysts in development studies, the volume is multidisciplinary in nature, with contributions from anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition No matter how you divide up the developing world-'formal-informal', 'legal-extralegal' (my preference)- one thing is not debatable: most people are poor, on the outside of the system looking in, and getting angrier every day. The message of this book is it's time to stop talking and start designing reforms based on the informal practices and organizations that poor entrepreneurs already use. I second that motion. If you rebuild the system from the bottom-up, they will come, with their enterprise, creativity, and piles of potential capital. * Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Peru *The obvious is not necessarily the best. For many, a well-defined set of formal institutions is the obvious road to economic success. Academic analysts are attracted by the parsimony of formal institutions. Policy makers appreciate the apparent predictability of the effect on addressees. Constitutional lawyers prefer formal institutions since they lend themselves to ex post control. Yet as the book convincingly demonstrates, in many contexts, and in developing countries in particular, going for the obvious is bad policy. Imposing a small set of formal institutions forces all economic activity into a Procrustes' bed. Often, a clever mixture of formal and informal elements has two main advantages: harnessing new resources for corporate governance, and making the firm more responsive to its environment, be it demand, competition or regulatory expectations. * Christoph Engel, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn *Linking the Formal and Informal Economy is an excellent synthesis of past debates and contemporary policy analysis. It embraces economic development, governance and social justice issues and it provides innovative case studies from a wide variety of contexts. * Ray Bromley, State University of New York at Albany *Table of Contents1. Beyond Formality and Informality ; CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENT ; 2. Bureaucratic Form and the Informal Economy ; 3. The Global Path: Soft Law and Non-sovereigns Formalizing the Potency of the Informal Sector ; 4. The Relevance of the Concepts of Formality and Informality: A Theoretical Appraisal ; 5. Rethinking the Informal Economy: Linkages with the Formal Economy and the Formal Regulatory Environment ; 6. Formal and Informal Enterprises: Concept, Definition, and Measurement Issues in India ; EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF POLICIES AND INTERLINKING ; 7. The Impact of Regulation on Growth and Informality: Cross-Country Evidence ; 8. Financial Liberalization in Vietnam: Impact on Loans from Informal, Formal, and Semi-formal Providers ; 9. Blocking Human Potential: How Formal Policies Block the Informal Economy in the Maputo Corridor ; 10. Microinsurance for the Informal Economy Workers in India ; 11. Turning to Forestry for a Way Out of Poverty: Is Formalizing Property Rights Enough? ; 12. Voluntary Contributions to Informal Activities Producing Public Goods: Can These be Induced by Government and other Formal Sector Agents? Some Evidence from Indonesian Posyandus ; 13. Social Capital, Survival Strategies, and their Potential for Post-Conflict Governance in Liberia ; 14. Enforcement and Compliance in Lima's Street Markets: The Origins and Consequences of Policy Incoherence Toward Informal Traders ; 15. Formalizing the Informal: Is There a Way to Safely Unlock Human Potential Through Land Entitlement? A Review of Changing Land Administration in Africa

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Book SynopsisForeign aid is now a $100bn business and is expanding more rapidly today than it has for a generation. But does it work? Indeed, is it needed at all? Other attempts to answer these important questions have been dominated by a focus on the impact of official aid provided by governments. But today possibly as much as 30 percent of aid is provided by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and over 10 percent is provided as emergency assistance. In this first-ever attempt to provide an overall assessment of aid, Roger Riddell presents a rigorous but highly readable account of aid, warts and all. Does Foreign Aid Really Work? sets out the evidence and exposes the instances where aid has failed and explains why. The book also examines the way that politics distorts aid, and disentangles the moral and ethical assumptions that lie behind the belief that aid does good. The book concludes by detailing the practical ways that aid needs to change if it is to be the effective force for good that itTrade Review'...[an] excellent and significant book...' * Alex De Waal, Times Literary Supplement *'...essential reading for anyone interested in the subject of aid and wishing to be informed about the issues involved.' * Nigel Grimwade, Times Higher Education Supplement *'Roger Riddell's text provides the single best introduction to the history and range of contemporary debates associated with foreign aid, including the rise of international NGOs as major actors and the centrality of domestic politics to shaping aid practice.' * John Gershman, Foreign Affairs *'Riddell provides a compelling and thorough account of the intricacies of foreign aid. The strength of this book is that it establishes the positive attributes of aid without avoiding the need to critically assess its failures. Through a combination of personal experience, conceptual insight and empirical substance, Riddell demonstrates that investigating whether foreign aid works could ensure its future, rather than undermining it.' * Sara E. Davis, International Affairs *'For anyone who wants to know more about development assistance, this is a 'must- read'. Roger Riddell provides us with a nuanced and honest outline of past and current aid-flows, their complexities, trends and possible impact. Does aid really work? His answer is a conditional, cautious - yes. And he presents some bold proposals to address some of the systemic weaknesses. It was strong international leadership that delivered the aid-reforms of the 90's. The question is whether the current leaders in development are ready for this debate?' * Hilde Frafjord Johnson, former Minister of International Development of Norway *'This book is a heroic achievement. Not only has Roger Riddell mapped out with great clarity the arcane world of international aid, in a way that will help the practitioner as much as the general reader, he has also produced visionary and challenging recommendations for reform of the system.' * Sir Michael Aaronson, former Director General of Save the Children UK *'In this impressive new study, Riddell has surpassed even his distinguished Foreign Aid Reconsidered. It includes a rare and much-needed analysis of emergency and voluntary assistance. Complete and authoritative, the book will have a long life as the definitive account of its important subject.' * Professor Robert Cassen, London School of Economics *Table of Contents1. 'A Good Thing?' ; PART I: THE COMPLEX WORLDS OF FOREIGN AID ; 2. The origins and early decades of aid-giving ; 3. Aid-giving from the 1970s to the present ; 4. The growing web of bilateral aid donors ; 5. The complexities of multilateral aid ; PART II: WHY IS AID GIVEN? ; 6. The political and commercial dimensions of aid ; 7. Public support for aid ; 8. Charity or duty? The moral case for aid ; 9. The moral case for governments and individuals to provide aid ; PART III: DOES AID REALLY WORK? ; 10. Assessing and measuring the impact of aid ; 11. The impact of official development aid projects ; 12. The impact of programme aid, technical assistance and aid for capacity development ; 13. The impact of aid at the country and cross-country level ; 14. Assesing the impact of aid conditionality ; 15. Does official development aid really work? A summing up ; 16. NGOs in development and the impact of discrete NGO development interventions ; 17. The wider impact of non-governmental and civil society organizations ; 18. The growth of emergencies and the humanitarian response ; 19. The impact of emergency and humanitarian aid ; PART IV: TOWARDS A DIFFERENT FUTURE FOR AID ; 20. Why aid isn't working ; 21. Making aid work better by implementing agreed reforms ; 22. Making aid work better by recasting aid relationships

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Book SynopsisSocial protection is fast becoming an important theme in development policy. This book examines the political processes shaping social protection policies; compares the key conceptual frameworks available for analyzing social protection; and provides a comparative discussion on social protection policies focused on the poor and the poorest.Table of ContentsForeword by Frances Stewart PART I. INTRODUCTION Social Protection for the Poor and Poorest: An Introduction; A.Barrientos& D.Hulme PART TWO: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTIONS: RISKS, NEEDS AND RIGHTS Risks, Needs and Rights: Compatible or Contradictory Bases for Social Protection?; L.Munro Insurance for the Poor?; S.Dercon, T. Bold& C. Calvo Transformative Social Protection: The Currency of Social Justice; S.Deveureux& R.Sabates-Wheeler Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras; M.Carter, P. Little, T. Mogues& W. Negatu PART THREE: WHAT POLICIES WORK FOR THE POOREST? Indonesia's Social Protection during and after the Crisis; S.Sumarto, A. Suryahadi& S. Bazzi HIV/AIDS, Social Protection and Chronic Poverty; R.Slater The Social Protection Function of Short-term Public Works Programmes in the Context of Chronic Poverty; A.McCord The Emergence and Popularity of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America; T.Britto Assisting the Poorest in Bangladesh: Learning from BRAC's 'Targeting the Ultra Poor Programme'; D.Hulme& K.Moore Protecting the Poorest with Cash Transfers in Low Income Countries; B.Schubert PART FOUR: THE POLITICS AND FINANCING OF SOCIAL PROTECTION Process Deficits in the Provision of Social Protection in Rural Maharashtra; S.Pellissery Conceptualising the Politics of Social Protection in Africa; S.Hickey Political Incumbency and Drought Relief in Africa; N. Munemo Can Low Income Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa Afford Basic Social Protection? First Results of a Modelling Exercise; C.Berendt Financing Social Protection; A.Barrientos PART FIVE: CONCLUSION Embedding Social Protection in the Developing World; A.Barrientos& D.Hulme

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Book SynopsisNotes on the Contributors - Acknowledgements - PART 1: THE FRAMEWORK - Women, Recession and Adjustment in the Third World: Some Introductory Remarks; H.Afshar & C.Dennis - Structural Adjustment in Developing Countries: The Impact on Women; F.Stewart - Male Bias in Structural Adjustment; D.Elson - Gender Equity and Efficiency in Adjustment Programmes; I.Palmer - PART 2: CASE STUDIES - Adjustment From Below: Low-Income Women, Time and the Triple Role in Guayaquil, Ecuador; C.O.N.Moser - Structural Adjustment and Gender in the Cote d'Ivoire; W.W.Vagliani - Women, Authoritarianism and Marker Liberalisation in Chile 1973-1989; G.Waylen - The Christian Churches and Women's Experience of Structural Adjustment in Nigeria; C.Dennis - Women and Work: Ideology not Adjustment at Work in Iran; H.Afshar - PART 3: POLICIES - Politicising Gender and Structural Adjustment; G.Ashworth - Final Declaration... Beyond the Debt Crisis: Structural Transformation; M.MolyneuxTable of ContentsNotes on the Contributors - Acknowledgements - PART 1: THE FRAMEWORK - Women, Recession and Adjustment in the Third World: Some Introductory Remarks; H.Afshar & C.Dennis - Structural Adjustment in Developing Countries: The Impact on Women; F.Stewart - Male Bias in Structural Adjustment; D.Elson - Gender Equity and Efficiency in Adjustment Programmes; I.Palmer - PART 2: CASE STUDIES - Adjustment From Below: Low-Income Women, Time and the Triple Role in Guayaquil, Ecuador; C.O.N.Moser - Structural Adjustment and Gender in the Cote d'Ivoire; W.W.Vagliani - Women, Authoritarianism and Marker Liberalisation in Chile 1973-1989; G.Waylen - The Christian Churches and Women's Experience of Structural Adjustment in Nigeria; C.Dennis - Women and Work: Ideology not Adjustment at Work in Iran; H.Afshar - PART 3: POLICIES - Politicising Gender and Structural Adjustment; G.Ashworth - Final Declaration... Beyond the Debt Crisis: Structural Transformation; M.Molyneux

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Book SynopsisFor Western Marxists, what is likely to be most astonishing is the many-sided approach to Marxism displayed throughout this work. This reflects a strong emphasis on cultivating an open Marxism, drawing on different views and debates, and various movement vernaculars, in the continuing world struggle for socialism.

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Book SynopsisA collection of essays, this volume is subdivided into sections posing research, policy, and strategic questions regarding social change. It introduces conceptual innovations regarding the spatial boundaries of development, sovereignty and the politics of globalization, food regime analysis, recompositions of rural activity, and more.Table of ContentsNew Research Agendas in the Era of Global Development. New Directions in Commodity Chain Analysis of Global Development Processes. (J.L. Collins). Trans-Local and Trans-Regional Socio-Economic Structures in Global Development: A 'Horizontal' Perspective. (S. Halperin). Changing Rural Scenarios and Research Agendas in Latin America in the New Century. (N. Long, B. Roberts). Conquering, Comprador, or Competitive: the National Bourgeoisie in the Developing World. (A. Schrank). Global Development and Policy Questions. What is Food and Farming For? - The (Re)emergence of Health as a Key Policy Driver. (T. Lang). Promoting Sustainable Development: the Question of Governance. (G. Lawrence). 'Stateless' Regulation and Consumer Pressure: Historical Experiences of Transnational Corporate Monitoring. (G. Seidman). Strategic Questions and Global Developments. The Poverty of Resource Extraction. (S.G. Bunker). From Colonialism to Green Capitalism: Social Movements and the Emergence of Food Regimes. (H. Friedmann). Global Development and the Corporate Food Regime. (P. McMichael). Shifting Strategies of Sovereignty: Brazil and the Politics of Globalization. (S. Schoonmaker).

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Trade Review"King...began her ethnographic research...under difficult and often dangerous conditions resulting from the brutal, even genocidal, war undertaken by Saddam Hussein to suppress a Kurdish nationalist movement. Her book focuses on kinship organization and household management, with primary emphasis on how patrilineal or male descent works to maintain Kurdish identity and social cohesion. Recommended." * Choice *"Kurdistan on the Global Stage is an important contribution to ethnographic studies of Iraqi Kurdistan and cannot be missed by anthropologists and others with an interest in the global connections of Kurdistand and the larger Middle East." * American Anthropologist *"King analyses how Kurdish symbols and social relations are sustained, reformulated, and questioned in the age of globalization. King's book is a valuable addition to the anthropology of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan. Its attention to diachronic changes in Kurdish society makes it particularly useful." * Middle East Journal *"This is a very readable, insightful anthropological study that will be welcomed by all those interested in the Kurds and how Kurdish political actors affect regional and even international politics. I highly recommend King's worthy contribution to the literature and encourage her to continue her valuable work." * Kurdish Studies *"Anthropologist Diane King guides the reader through Kurdistan using a radically different lens in an effort to understand social and political change in an unrecognized state. [This] study offers valuable insights into Iraqi Kurdistan's past and present." * Bustan: The Middle East Book Review *"A rare account by an anthropologist of uncommon courage, this unique analysis of the rapid transformation of Iraqi Kurdistan is a must-read for students and scholars of the Middle East." -- Marcia C. Inhorn * Yale University *Table of Contents List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration, Pronunciation, and Proper Nouns1. Kurdistan Glocal2. Fieldwork in a Danger Zone3. A Man on the Land: Lineages, Identity, and Place4. Gendered Challenges: Women Navigating Patriliny5. Politicking 6. Refuge Seeking, Patriliny, and the Global7. Kurdistan in the WorldNotesGlossary and AcronymsReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisReviews the experience of nearly 200 output-based aid (OBA) projects in six sectors. This book is suitable for OBA practitioners, donors, and governments.

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Book SynopsisWe live in an age of crises that are global in scale and potentially apocalyptic in severity, affecting the lives of millions billions of people. Peter Lee examines the struggle for truth at the heart of these crises to show how political leaders attempt to shape individual behavior, attitudes and identity.Trade Review“He explores the political manipulation of truth discourses to explain how individuals come to identify with particular truth claims. Lee divides his exploration into three sections with three chapters in each. … Lee’s ability to write in an engaging and responsible style that assists the reader in serious ethical introspection of these and other political crises is remarkable. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels.” (J. R. Pottenger, Choice, Vol. 53 (7), March, 2016)'Focusing upon the three great global political crises of our time military intervention, the financial meltdown, and the actual 'meltdown' threatened by climate change the author provides a probing and deeply unsettling assessment of the manner in which competing and often illusory truth-claims are fashioned by political leaders, governments, international institutions and demagogues solely in order to re-shape the world in their image, and to gain control over the lives of others. Our fundamental assumptions about what Truth is, or what it means, are put to test in this eloquent, articulate, and provocative work.' - George R. Lucas Jr., U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, USA 'Truth Wars makes a unique and important contribution to the literature on some of the most pertinent questions in global politics today. Peter Lee's new book really challenged my own thinking on what I thought was 'true' in the debates about climate change, drone warfare and the global financial crisis. I cannot wait to see my IR students engage with this thought-provoking analysis, which is guaranteed to lead to some heated discussions! Moreover, Truth Wars not only stands out for its innovative approach to global crises and controversies. It is written with such a sense of fun that I could not put it down once I started reading.' - Bettina Renz, University of Nottingham, UK 'Peter Lee provides the reader with a stimulating, non-judgmental foundation for what can only be classified as the attempt to understand how political truths become political truths and their impact on the political process of establishing policy, making decisions that will affect how policy is implemented, and how it ultimately affects each of us.At least after reading Politics in Crises: Truth Wars, each of us will have a better understanding of the way these truth wars are conducted and be better able to form our own truths.' Bill Powers, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, CanadaTable of ContentsIntroduction PART I: POLITICS, TRUTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE 1. Climate, Science and Truth 2. Politics and Climate Truth 3. One world, two visions PART II: POLITICS, TRUTH AND MILITARY INTERVENTION 4. Tyranny, Freedom, Democracy 5. Gendering Military Intervention 6. Drone Wars PART III: POLITICS, TRUTH AND THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS 7. It's All Your Fault 8. Governing Greed 9. Who Mentioned the War? 10. Epilogue

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Book SynopsisThis collection explores the productive potential of uncertainty for people living in Africa as well as for scholars of Africa. Eight ethnographic case studies from across the continent examine how uncertainty is used to negotiate insecurity, create and conduct relationships, and act as a source for imagining the future.Trade Review“The book Ethnographies of Uncertainty in Africa edited by Cooper and Pratten focuses specifically on one phenomenon that has been largely overlooked in development studies: uncertainty. … the book presents detailed ethnographies of people’s experiences of coping with uncertainty in their everyday life. … the book is relevant for readers involved in development practice and development studies, as well as for practitioners and academics concerned with change processes more generally.” (Aleid Groenewoudt, Progress in Development Studies, Vol. 18 (4), 2018)​Table of Contents1. Ethnographies of Uncertainty in Africa: An Introduction; Elizabeth Cooper and David Pratten PART I: SOCIAL CONTINGENCIES: BETWEEN SUSPICION AND THE SUBJUNCTIVE 2. Contingency: Interpersonal and Historical Dependencies in HIV Care; Susan Reynolds Whyte and Godfrey Etyang Siu 3. Charity and Chance: The Manufacture of Uncertainty and Mistrust Through Child Sponsorship in Kenya; Elizabeth Cooper 4. The Quest for Trust in the Face of Uncertainty. Managing Pregnancy Outcomes in Zanzibar; Nadine Beckmann 5. Food Security, Conjugal Conflict, and Uncertainty in 'Bangladesh', Mombasa, Kenya; Adam Gilbertson PART II: FUTURE VISIONS 6. Social Invisibility and Political Opacity. On Perceptiveness and Apprehension in Bissau; Henrik Vigh 7. Rhythms of Uncertainty and the Pleasures of Anticipation; Julie Soleil Archambault 8. Embracing Uncertainty. Young People on the Move in Addis Ababa's Inner City; Marco Di Nunzio 9. 'We Wait for Miracles.' Ideas of Hope and Future Among Clandestine Burundian Refugees in Nairobi; Simon Turner

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Book SynopsisThe interaction of failed states, terrorism and the need for 'nation building' is at the top of the international agenda, with particular focus on Afghanistan and Iraq.Trade Review"It is the unfortunate case that policymakers engaged in nation-building have time and again failed to tap existing knowledge about the countries that are the object of their efforts, and lessons from other nation-building exercises. Beyond Reconstruction in Afghanistan begins to correct this deficit by providing invaluable background to the problem of reconstructing one of the world's most troubled countries." - Francis Fukuyama, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Johns Hopkins University "This is the best place to start for increasing understanding of the challenges facing those who would engage in 'nation building.' Beyond Reconstruction in Afghanistan provides dispassionate and richly informed analysis of the troubled attempts to reconstruct and restore a devastated land. While every country is unique, the lessons drawn from Afghanistan and other, previous, attempts at nation building clearly have import for Iraq and any other potential cases. And one lesson surely is that caution is wisdom." - Alex Inkeles, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsPreface: Reconstruction in Afghanistan Introduction; J.D.Montgomery PART I: HOPES BEYOND RECONSTRUCTION International Goals and Strategies for Afghanistan'sDevelopment: Reconstruction and Beyond; D.A.Rondinelli Supporting Postwar Aspirations in an Islamic Society; J.D.Montgomery Between Reconstruction and Restoration: Three Historical Case Studies; J.M.Heffron The Afghan Experience with International Assistance; Y.V.Bossin Lessons from Post-Aid Conflict Experience; R.J.Muscat PART II: TOWARD A STABLE CIVIL SOCIETY The Rule of Law as a Goal in Afghanistan; C.H.Norchi Economic Growth and Development Policy in Afghanistan: Lessons from Experience in Developing Countries; D.A.Rondinelli Ethnic Diversity and the Structure of Government; M.J.Esman Warlordism and Development in Afghanistan; K.N.Abdullaev Health, Human Security, and Social Reconstruction in Afghanistan; P.Gutlove , G.Thompson & J.Hale Russell PART III: REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF RECONSTRUCTION The Afghan Neighborhood and Future Stability: A Regional Approach to Reconstruction and Development; E.Naby & R.N.Frye Reconstruction, Development, and Nation-Building: Prospects for Afghanistan; D.A.Rondinelli & J.D.Montgomery

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Book SynopsisEvery political system, either developed or adopted, has an impact on the structure of society and the level of development. This book analyzes the evolution and nature of political institutions and their effect on Africa's development. The challenges Africa face in developing viable institutions are not limited to the adoption of foreign institutions, but are also rooted in domestic norms that define society itself. Sometimes, these challenges have to do with the incompatibility between foreign and domestic institutions. The fundamental issue then is to understand the African societies, cultures, and other dynamics that have ensured stability in the past and that need to be recognized when adopting contemporary foreign institutions. This comprehensive text examines three key issue areas in Africa: politics, society, and economy. It demonstrates how the lack of consideration for domestic norms and societal realities explain the weaker institutions and lack of development on the AfricanTrade ReviewThe work by Ali Mazrui and Francis Wiafe-Amoako is an important contribution to our understanding of African institutions, in particular, and the study of institutions as a pivot around which societies hang together in general. . . .The book by Mazrui and Wife-Amoako provides an important frame of reference for understanding Africa’s future political paths and how the continent could play its role in the world. On the whole, the authors are hopeful about the prospects of democracy in Africa. Theirs is not banal hope characteristic of the mood swings in much of the analyses that one day see an Africa that is rising and the next see a hopeless continent. Their hope is grounded in analysis of trends over time, including the fact that military coups are receding, democratisation and economic progress are advancing in countries where institutions are solidifying and women are increasingly realising their political and economic roles in the continent. The analytical and argumentative manner in which the book is written makes it a fascinating and informative text on Africa’s institutions, their lack of maturity and the conditions that are necessary to ensure that they work optimally. * South African Journal of International Affairs *In 2009 President Barack Obama said, rightly in my view, that Africa didn’t need strong men, it needed strong institutions. Professor Ali Mazrui made almost the same point in 1970 in an article aptly titled “The Monarchical Tendency in African Political Culture”. He also grappled with the associated challenges. Now Mazrui’s numerous writings on the subject conveniently re-appear as multiple chapters in African Institutions, ably updated by Dr. Francis Wiafe-Amoako, the book’s co-author. The book is further enriched with Wiafe-Amoako’s own chapters. This is a timely book and an invaluable reference, most ideal for comparative politics, African studies and related fields. -- Seifudein Adem Ph.D, associate director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, State University of New York, Binghamton, New YorkMuch of what the younger partner to the late Mazrui wrote are contained in our celebrated Mazruian. Yet, it should be stated categorically here that Ali himself was sufficiently impressed by Francis Wiafe-Amoako to break bread with him in their lifetime journey to identify for posterity what must be done to cultivate institutions in modern Africa. In this age of Facebook, CNN, the BBC, and the VOA, the living voice of Mazrui and his colleague Francis will reverberate in the firmaments of African thoughts. -- Sulayman S. Nyang, professor and chairman of the African Studies Department, Howard UniversityTable of ContentsChapter One: Institutions: An Introduction Francis Wiafe-Amoako Chapter Two: Democracide: Who killed democracy in Africa? Clues of the past, concerns of the future Ali A. Mazrui Chapter Three: Political Ideologies and Democratic Consolidation in Africa Francis Wiafe-Amoako Chapter Four: Gender Roles in Africa: Traditional versus Contemporary Institutions Ali A. Mazrui and Francis Wiafe-Amoako Chapter Five: Legitimacy and Rule: Africa in Search of a Political Order Francis Wiafe-Amoako Chapter Six: Democracy and the Politics of Petroleum: Comparative African Perspectives Ali A. Mazrui Chapter Seven: Uhuru Bado Kidogo : Africa’s condition of “Not Yet Uhuru” Ali A. Mazrui Chapter Eight: “Katiba Na Kabila”: If African Politics Are Ethnic-Prone, Can African Constitutions Be Ethnic-Proof? Ali A. Mazrui Resources About the Authors

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Book SynopsisNumbers dominate global politics and, as a result, our everyday lives. Credit ratings steer financial markets and can make or break the future of entire nations. GDP drives our economies. Stock market indices flood our media and national debates. Statistical calculations define how we deal with climate change, poverty and sustainability. But what is behind these numbers? In How Numbers Rule the World, Lorenzo Fioramonti reveals the hidden agendas underpinning the use of statistics and those who control them. Most worryingly, he shows how numbers have been used as a means to reinforce the grip of markets on our social and political life, curtailing public participation and rational debate. An innovative and timely exposé of the politics, power and contestation of numbers.Trade ReviewLorenzo Fioramonti has written an urgent and highly accessible book, showing just how over-reliant our governance systems are on misleading numbers, which support market power and blur our understanding of the world. And it is also a better and more compelling read than exactly 95.4% of all other important books! * David Boyle, author of The Tyranny of Numbers *This book is a thoughtful political economic analysis of how our fates have come to be determined by a few numbers, and how these numbers have been shaped by a few people. If we want a vibrant and responsive politics, we’ll need to know where it has been enclosed by the world's powerful accountants. Fioramonti’s book provides an excellent map. * Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy *Timely and original, scholarly without ostentation, often scathing, Lorenzo Fioramonti's field guide to the prejudices, assumptions, financial interests and ideology that lurk behind the most innocent-seeming numbers equips us to challenge their spurious authority. Faith in numbers has helped to wreck the financial system, masked fraud and criminal activity, allowed the world's richest people to meddle in the "development" of societies they know nothing about and could lead us to damage our earthly habitat beyond recall. If you want to learn what numbers reveal and conceal; what can and, above all, can't be measured, don't trust the "experts" - read How Numbers Rule the World and become an expert yourself. * Susan George, author of Whose Crisis, Whose Future? and President of the Board, Transnational Institute *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The politics of statistics 1. The power of numbers 2. New global rulers: the untameable power of credit rating 3. Fiddling while the planet burns: the marketization of climate change 4. Measuring the unmeasurable: the financialization of nature 5. Numbers for good? The quest for aid effectiveness and social impact Conclusion: Rethinking numbers, rethinking governance

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Book SynopsisChocolate - the very word conjures up a hint of the forbidden and a taste of the decadent. Yet the story behind the chocolate bar is rarely one of luxury. From the thousands of children who work on plantations to the smallholders who harvest the beans, Chocolate Nations reveals the hard economic realities of our favourite sweet. This vivid and gripping exploration of the reasons behind farmer poverty includes the human stories of the producers and traders at the heart of the West African industry. Orla Ryan shows that only a tiny fraction of the cash we pay for a chocolate bar actually makes it back to the farmers, and sheds light on what Fair Trade really means on the ground. Provocative and eye-opening, Chocolate Nations exposes the true story of how the treat we love makes it on to our supermarket shelves.Trade ReviewA captivating read, painting a lively picture of the West African cocoa trade from a variety of perspectives. * Daniel Balint Kurti, Global Witness *Arresting and provocative. The author’s interviews with labourers movingly illuminate the struggles that lie behind an icon of western indulgence. * Financial Times *Presents the tragic and shocking detail behind the world's favourite confectionery. * New Agriculturist *I gave up eating chocolate years ago after seeing at first hand the exploitation that surrounds its production in Africa. Since then, endless panaceas and fair trading schemes have failed to improve the lot of the farmers. It was about time a book like this was written. * Stephen Chan OBE, author of The End of Certainty *Paints a disturbing and subtle picture of an industry few chocolate consumers think about. * Sydney Morning Herald *A fascinating account of the struggles of cocoa producers in West Africa, almost all of them smallholders, and what it takes to turn a crop of cocoa into a warehouse full of Ferrero Rocher. * The Guardian *That Mmmmoment when our lips meet the meltilicious chocolate bar we've been waiting for all day ... well, it could be the last bite we take of it that tastes right after reading this exposé of the cocoa industry. "Fair trade" is a great feelgood advertising line, but it is often a contradiction in terms. Not much profit trickles down from the shelves of our shops to the farmers and child labour (in reality, trafficked or slave labour, Ryan says) of Ghana and Ivory Coast whose poverty is covered up by weasel words from trade associations and financial interests glibly defending exploitation and profiteering. * The Times *A courageous and thoughtful account of a murky industry. * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. Ghana is Cocoa 2. Cocoa Wars 3. Child Labour 4. Follow the Money 5. From Bean to Bar 6. Fairtrade Myths and Reality 7. Trading Games 8. Building a Sustainable Future Epilogue Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Sexual History of the Global South explores the gap between sexuality studies and post-colonial cultural critique. Featuring twelve case studies, based on original historical and ethnographic research from countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the book examines the sexual investments underlying the colonial project and the construction of modern nation-states. Covering issues of heteronormativity, post-colonial amnesia regarding non-normative sexualities, women's sexual agency, the policing of the boundaries between the public and the private realm, sexual citizenship, the connections between LGBTQ activism and processes of state formation, and the emergence of sexuality studies in the global South, this collection is of great geographical, historical, and topical significance.Trade ReviewThis is an exciting collection that delivers what it promises: a truly transnational investigation of sexuality from the perspective of scholars from the Global South. Much more than a history of sexualities, or an exploration of sexual diversity cross-culturally, it offers compelling insights into the close interaction between political and social histories and ideologies of sexuality. It gives the reader a broad view of the colonial, the post-colonial, and the often reactionary ways that new and modernizing states shored up heterosexuality while condemning other types of gendered and sexual expressions. This will undoubtedly be a foundational text in sexual histories of the global South. * Dr Evelyn Blackwood, author of Falling into the Lesbi World: Desire and Difference in Indonesia *In examining transnational genealogies of sexualities, this book connects many lost dots. The cartographies it draws of both the Western gaze and of gendered and sexualized constructs in the Global South will undoubtedly enrich the field of sexual theorizing and research. Good reading! * Dr Sonia Corrêa, research associate at ABIA (Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS) and co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch *The Sexual History of the Global South is an exciting and challenging read. It puts together solid and original research with highly engaging analysis of sexuality in the colonial constructs of development. In the twelve chapters it covers huge ground, making it important reading for both students and scholars. It promises to be a landmark in the booming field of sexualities. * Dr Wendy Harcourt, Sexuality Research Institute at the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Hague *The Sexual History of the Global South is urgent reading for anyone interested in not only the history of sexual practices but also in critical theory and sexual politics. Its brilliant contributions go beyond mere "case studies" of diverse desires, pleasures, sexual subjects, and their regulation in colonial and post-colonial settings. By adapting Foucault and showing his Eurocentric limits, they open up whole new ways of thinking about sexual diversity as it interweaves with race, ethnicity, gender, class and the meanings of power in modernity. * Rosalind Petchesky, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York *Table of Contents1. Sexual politics in the global South: framing the discourse - Saskia Wieringa and Horacio Sívori 2. The rise of sex and sexuality studies in post-1978 China - Huang Yingying 3. The obscene modern and the pornographic family: adventures in Bangla pornography - Hardik Brata Biswas 4. Sexing the nation's body during the Cuban republican era - Abel Sierra Madero 5. Government and the control of venereal diseases in colonial Tanzania, 1920-60 - Musa Sadock 6. Violence and the emergence of gay and lesbian activism in Argentina, 1983-90 - Diego Sempol 7. Sexuality and nationalist ideologies in post-colonial Cameroon - Basile Ndjio 8. The 'lesbian' existence in Arab cultures: historical and sociological perspectives - Iman Al-Ghafari 9. 'Public women' and the 'obscene' body: an exploration of abolition debates in India - Nitya Vasudevan 10. Male homoeroticism, homosexual identity, and AIDS in Mexico City in the 1980s - Alberto Teutle López 11. Canons of desire: male homosexuality in twenty-first-century Keralam - Rajeev Kumaramkandath 12. Female criminality in Brazil: a study on gender and sexuality in a women's prison - Fabíola Cordeiro 13. Sexual pleasure and premarital sexual adventures of young women in Zimbabwe - Tsitsi B. Masvawure

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Book SynopsisThere is no alternative to neoliberal economics - or so it appeared when Reclaiming Development was published in 2004. Many of the same driving assumptions - monetarism and globalization - remain within the international development policy establishment. Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel confront this neoliberal development model head-on by combining devastating economic critique with an array of innovative policies and an in-depth analysis of the experiences of leading Western and East Asian economies. Still, much has changed since 2004 - the relative success of some developing countries in weathering the global financial crisis has exposed the latent contradictions of the neoliberal model. The resulting situation of increasingly open policy innovation in the global South means that Reclaiming Development is even more relevant today than when it was first published. History is being made.Trade ReviewChang and Grabel demolish the myths (or fabrications) underlying neo-liberal views about economic development and provide succinct, constructive suggestions for policies regarding trade and industry, privatization and intellectual property rights, private capital movements, financial regulation, and macroeconomics. Reclaiming Development is a manifesto that should be on the shelves of policy-makers, academics, and students worldwide. * Lance Taylor, New School University, author of Reconstructing Macroeconomics *The dominant neo-liberal economic doctrine asserts that there is no alternative to its policy prescriptions which provide the foundations for success in an age of globalization. This book questions and refutes the belief system implicit in the assertion. It does so in a manner that is highly iconoclastic. Yet, it is solidly grounded in economic theory and empirical evidence, both historical and contemporary. * Deepak Nayyar, Jawaharlal Nehru University *In a world wracked by crises, compromised institutions, and bourgeoning inequalities, Chang and Grabel provide a real, workable roadmap to a post-neoliberal future. Look no further - there are alternatives - and Reclaiming Development points the way. * James Heintz, University of Massachusetts Amherst *This unusually well-written, direct and succinct book describes neo-liberal positions fairly; offers theoretically rigorous and empirically accurate critiques; and describes feasible, practical alternative policies that take realistic account of political, economic and financial constraints. Discussion of financial, monetary, fiscal, trade and industry policy and intellectual property rights is especially strong and constructive and makes important innovative contributions. It is a fine, carefully analytical achievement which would contribute to hastening both efficient and socially just development wherever the insights are appropriately used. * John Langmore, University of Melbourne *Chang and Grabel's book takes on even more salience as the world moves from the global financial crisis. The crisis has created new political economies whereby nations and citizens are attempting to "reclaim" their economies for financial stability, inclusive growth, and environmental sustainability. Reclaiming Development remains a key manual for those looking for a more balanced future. It also serves as an important source for arguments that can debunk reactionary efforts to use the crisis as a means to push an agenda of deregulation. Essential reading for policy-makers, students and those in academia. * Kevin Gallagher, co-director, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University *A growing number of developing countries are taking back control over economic policy from the IMF and the World Bank. The wide range of policy suggestions contained in this book provides a rich mine of concrete and practicable alternatives from which to choose in taking advantage of whatever room globalization still allows developing countries and reshaping economic policy in their own interests. * Martin Khor, executive director, The South Centre *This book is not only a superb antidote to the numbing myths of neoliberalism but also a cogent and stimulating presentation of the many possibilities for alternatives to neo-liberal economic policy that both theory and history provide policy-makers and students of development. * Thandika Mkandawire, Professor of African Development, LSE *Table of ContentsForeword by Robert H. Wade Preface to the critique influence change edition Introduction: Reclaiming Development Part I: Myths and Realities about Development 1. Myth 1 'Today's wealthy countries achieved success through a steadfast commitment to the free market' 2. Myth 2 'Neoliberalism works' 3. Myth 3 'Neoliberal globalization cannot and should not be stopped' 4. Myth 4 'The neoliberal American model of capitalism represents the ideal that all developing countries should seek to replicate' 5. Myth 5 'The East Asian model is idiosyncratic; the Anglo-American model is universal' 6. Myth 6 'Developing countries need the discipline provided by international institutions and by politically independent domestic policymaking institutions' Part II: Economic Policy Alternatives 7. Policy Alternatives 1 Trade and Industry 8. Policy Alternatives 2 Privatization and Intellectual Property Rights 9. Policy Alternatives 3 International Private Capital Flows 10. Policy Alternatives 4 Domestic Financial Regulation 11. Policy Alternatives 5 Macroeconomic Policies and Institutions Conclusion Obstacles and Opportunities for Reclaiming Development

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Book SynopsisIn this hugely influential book, originally published in 2001 but just as - if not more - relevant today, Mark Duffield shows how war has become an integral component of development discourse. Aid agencies have become increasingly involved in humanitarian assistance, conflict resolution and the social reconstruction of war-torn societies. Duffield explores the consequences of this growing merger of development and security, unravelling the nature of the new wars and the response of the international community, in particular the new systems of global governance that are emerging as a result. An essential work for anyone studying, interested in, or working in development or international security.Trade ReviewGlobal Governance and the New Wars remains a must-read text for anybody wanting to interrogate the changing contours of global security governance. Anticipating with remarkable foresight the political consequences of the merger between security and development in zones of crises, its insightful prose not only defined a critical canon to move us beyond the conceit of sovereign academics, the force of its message remains as prescient as ever. * Brad Evans, University of Bristol *Duffield's well-written book offers groundbreaking research in the emerging field created by the intersection of international security and international development ...The book offers not only theoretical understanding of the problem but also good research to understand the problem in practice. * D. S. Reveron, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries *Mark Duffield's book is a must for anyone grappling with the contemporary nature of war and humanitarianism. Taking us beyond the stilted confines of international policy to the politics of modern violence, the argument exposes the way talk of "complex political emergencies" fails to grasp the fundamental characteristics of "emergent political complexes". Duffield lays bare the failings of aid policy in this regard. * David Campbell, Beijing Foreign Studies University *What is needed is to move beyond the idea of war-as-breakdown towards a fundamental rethink about how local elites, ordinary people, and international governments are continuously adapting to war and to global economic change. This breathtaking tour-de-force from one of the leading thinkers in this field points the way forward. * David Keen, London School of Economics and Political Science *Table of ContentsForeword by Antonio Donini Preface to the critique influence change edition 1. Introduction: The New Development-Security Terrain 2. The Merging of Development and Security 3. Strategic Complexes and Global Governance 4. The New Humanitarianism 5. Global Governance and the Causes of Conflict 6. The Growth of Transborder Shadow Economies 7. Non-Liberal Political Complexes and the New Wars 8. Internal Displacement and the New Humanitarianism: Displacement and Complicity in Sudan (Part 1) 9. Aid and Social Subjugation: Displacement and Complicity in Sudan (Part 2) 10. Conclusion: Global Governance, Moral Responsibility and Complexity - Internal Displacement and the New Humanitarianism

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Book SynopsisThe economic and political empowerment of women continues to be a central focus for development agencies worldwide; access to medical care, education and employment, as well as women's reproductive rights remain key factors effecting women's autonomy. Feminisms, Empowerment and Development explores what women are doing to change their own personal circumstances whilst providing an in-depth analysis of collective action and institutionalized mechanisms aimed at changing structural relations. Drawing on unique, original research and approaching empowerment as a complex process of negotiation, rather than a linear sequence of inputs and outcomes, this crucial collection highlights the difficulty of creating common agendas for the advancement of women's power and rights, and argues for a more nuanced, context-based approach to development theory and practice. An indispensible text for anyone interested in gender and development, this book shows that policies and approaches to development that view women as instrumental to other objectives will never promote women's empowerment as they fail to address the structures by which gender inequality is perpetuated over time.Trade ReviewA helpful book at the right time. After decades of trying to get women's rights to the top of policy-making agendas, it is refreshing to read sound analysis about the pitfalls, "rallying points" and "hidden pathways" that feminist activists, organizations and movements are today facing. * Nicky McIntyre, Mama Cash *This book, with rich empirically grounded chapters from around the world, is a truly feminist multidisciplinary collection that brings the discourse on women's empowerment to a new level. * Radhika Balakrishnan, Rutgers University *In a neoliberal development paradigm obsessed with silver bullets for complex social challenges, this book is a transformative text that reveals the multifaceted, unpredictable and even contradictory results of empowerment processes. Its rich array of insights and lessons - most powerfully articulated in the voices of women engaged in the struggle - has immense value for researchers, activists, policy makers, and the aid and philanthropic community. I consider this a vitally important text for all those who believe there can be no development or social justice without gender justice. * Srilatha Batliwala, Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) *Based on context-specific, wide-ranging and incisive analysis, this innovative and insightful book ... raises hard and serious questions that help us lay to rest conventional assumptions and easy generalizations related to women's empowerment. It provides a stimulating and solid contribution to ongoing debates on social change. * Zenbework Tadesse, women's rights activist and member of the board of DAWN *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Negotiating Empowerment - Andrea Cornwall and Jenny Edwards 1. Legal Reform, Women's Empowerment and Social Change: The Case of Egypt - Mulki Al-Sharmani 2. Quotas: A Pathway of Political Empowerment? - Ana Alice Alcantara Costa 3. Advancing Women's Empowerment or Rolling Back the Gains? Peace Building in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone - Hussaina J. Abdullah 4. Education: Pathway to Empowerment for Ghanaian Women? - Akosua K. Darkwah 5. Paid Work as a Pathway of Empowerment: Pakistan's Lady Health Worker Programme - Ayesha Khan 6. Steady Money, State Support and Respect Can Equal Women's Empowerment in Egypt - Hania Sholkamy 7. Changing Representations of Women in Ghanaian Popular Music - Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Awo Mana Asiedu 8. Subversively Accommodating: Feminist Bureaucrats and Gender Mainstreaming - Rosalind Eyben 9. Reciprocity, Distancing and Opportunistic Overtures: Women's Organizations Negotiating Legitimacy and Space in Bangladesh - Sohela Nazneen and Maheen Sultan 10. Empowerment as Resistance: Conceptualizing Palestinian Women's Empowerment - Eileen Kuttab 11. Crossroads of Empowerment: The Organization of Women Domestic Workers in Brazil - Terezinha Gonçalves 12. Women's Dars and the Limitations of Desire: The Pakistan Case - Neelam Hussain 13. The Power of Relationships: Money, Love and Solidarity in a Landless Women's Organization in Rural Bangladesh - Naila Kabeer and Lopita Huq 14. Women Watching Television: Surfing between Fantasy and Reality - Aanmona Priyadarshini and Samia Afroz Rahim 15. Family, Households and Women's Empowerment through the Generations in Bahia, Brazil: Continuities or Change? - Cecilia M. B. Sardenberg

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Book SynopsisIn this highly original work, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui explores the trajectory of women's movement from the margins of urbanization into the centres of business activities in Nairobi and its accompanying implications for urban planning. While women in much of Africa have struggled to gain urban citizenship and continue to be weighed down by poor education, low income and confinement to domestic responsibilities due to patriarchic norms, a new form of urban dynamism - partly informed by the informal economy - is now enabling them to manage poverty, create jobs and link to the circuits of capital and labour. Relying on social ties, reciprocity, sharing and collaboration, women's informal 'solidarity entrepreneurialism' is taking them away from the margins of business activity and catapulting them into the centre. Bringing together key issues of gender, economic informality and urban planning in Africa, Kinyanjui demonstrates that women have become a critical factor in the making of a postcolonial city.Trade ReviewWomen and the Informal Economy is a well-researched critical analysis, providing new perspectives on urbanization in Kenya. The book is essential reading for geographers, planners, policy makers and students of African urbanization and gender studies. * Agnes Musyoki, professor of human geography, University of Venda *Kinyanjui has presented us with a fresh way of understanding the complexities associated with women's socio-economic empowerment in a hostile city, in terms of access to economic space. This book is a paradigm shift in the way we talk and write about poverty alleviation in marginalized communities! * Faith Maina, professor of education, State University of New York, Oswego *This is a powerful case study, with important implications for urban planning and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Kinyanjui provides vital evidence of the genuine significance of women's informal economic activity for contemporary Nairobi. It is a concise, seminal contribution, very effectively situated in the burgeoning literature of African urban studies. * Garth Myers, Urban and International Studies, Trinity College, Hartford *The informal sector dominates Africa's economy and women have long played an important role in it. However, their contribution to the continent's urban informal economy is neither well understood nor documented. I applaud Kinyanjui for this timely volume on the contributions of women to the continent's urban informal economy and to the broader postcolonial African urban scene. * Kefa M. Otiso, associate professor of urban and economic geography, Bowling Green State University *Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Theorizing planning and economic informality in an African city 3. Economic informality in Nairobi between 1980 and 2010 4. Women in Nairobi 5. Women, mobility and economic informality 6. Women in economic informality in Nairobi 7. The quest for spatial justice: from the margins to the centre 8. Women's collective organizations and economic informality 9. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe Zapatistas of Chiapas and the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) of Brazil are often celebrated as shining examples in the global struggle against neoliberalism. But what have these movements achieved for their members in more than two decades of resistance and can any of these achievements realistically contribute to the rise of a viable alternative? Through a perfect balance of grassroots testimonies, participative observation and consideration of key debates in development studies, agrarian political economy, historical sociology and critical political economy, Land and Freedom compares, for the first time, the Zapatista and MST movements. Casting a spotlight on their resistance to globalizing market forces, Vergara-Camus gets to the heart of how these movements organize themselves and how territorial control, politicization and empowerment of their membership and the decommodification of social relations are key to understanding their radical development potential.Trade ReviewIn this provocative and unique book, Vergara-Camus compares and contrasts the important new models of socioeconomic interaction the rural poor of Brazil and Mexico have developed through collective action. Within the context of capitalist hegemony, unprecedented wealth concentration and the spread of authoritarian regimes, Vergara-Camus demonstrates how two large peasant movements have worked to construct alternative egalitarian societies, where the cash nexus does not reign supreme, making the book essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary radical social change. * Clifford Andrew Welch, São Paulo Federal University *Today's historic struggle by peasants, indigenous peoples and rural workers is for an alternative to neoliberal globalization. This book engagingly and vividly gives voice to the subaltern classes and their collective effort to create new communities and solidarity networks. This is indeed a ground-breaking and compelling work. * Cristóbal Kay, International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague *This is a fundamental book for anyone who wants to understand the anti-capitalist path created by contemporary peasant rebellions. Vergara-Camus examines the impact of land struggles which, in the 1990s, challenged the "neoliberal consensus" in Mexico and Brazil. These movements have given the world a new political language, and have won a more dignified life for their impoverished members. * Débora Lerrer, Centre for Development, Agriculture and Society, Rio de Janeiro *This book represents an important new take on two emblematic Latin American social movements. While most scholarship has analyzed each of them separately, from a variety of disciplinary viewpoints, few have compared and contrasted them, despite the similar impact they have both had on movement thinking worldwide. This book is particularly refreshing, in that it is perhaps the only major piece of scholarship to compare them through the lens of peasant studies. * Peter Rosset, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Chiapas, Mexico, and the Land Research Action Network (LRAN) *The appeal of this book lies in its comprehensive comparison of two quite distinct agrarian social movements within the current neoliberal conjuncture. Vergara-Camus casts a critical lens on a grounded historical analysis of these two iconic struggles, their political, economic, cultural and institutional relations, and their successes and failures. This is a path-breaking contribution to the "peasant question". * Philip McMichael, Cornell University, author of Food Regimes and Agrarian Questions *Land and Freedom offers an original and compelling theory of peasant struggles that challenge neoliberal globalization. Vergara-Camus aptly compares the contributions of MST and EZLN to contest neoliberal hegemony from the ground up. They have empowered the diverse peasant class they represent as educators in citizenship, class power and self-government for the subaltern classes. A must read for students of development. * Professor Gerardo Otero, Simon Fraser University *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Peasant Struggles and Primitive Accumulation 2. Neoliberalism and New Forms of Peasant Rebellions 3. The New Modern Prince and Autonomous Rural Communities 4. Resistance, Alternative Development and the Market 5. Revolution in Times of Neoliberal Hegemony Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThrough the efforts of increasingly media-aware NGOs, people in the west are bombarded with images of poverty and inequality in the developing world. Representations of Poverty is the first comprehensive study of the communications and imagery used by international NGOs to represent the developing world. In this meticulously researched and original book, Nandita Dogra examines the full cycle of representation - integrating analyses of the public messages of international development NGOs in the UK with the views of their staff and audiences. Exploring the Europeanised discourses inherent in appeals to this notion of a 'common humanity', she argues for a greater acknowledgment of NGOs as significant mediating institutions which can expand understandings of global inequalities and their historical causation. The book is a timely addition to the growing fields of development and media studies and will be a key resource for academics, policymakers and practitioners alike who have an interest in global poverty, aid, NGOs, and the politics of representation.Trade Review'How exactly do international non-government organisations conceptualise the developing world when they legislate their mandate? This valuable book addresses precisely this question by insightfully and skilfully unearthing the subtext of NGO representations of global poverty, development and rights.' Neera Chandhoke, Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi 'This provocative analysis of the visual language of British international non-governmental development organisations raises a set of important and pressing questions, and deserves to be read by practitioner and researcher alike.' David Lewis, Professor of Social Policy and Development, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I - Difference: People, Spaces and Problems Ch. 2 - Cast of Characters Ch. 3 - Distant Spaces Ch. 4 - Causes and Solutions of Global Poverty Part II - Oneness Ch. 5 - One Humanity Ch. 6 - Uniform First World Part III - Reflexivity Ch. 7 - Connecting with the Lives of Others Ch. 8 - Conclusions: Towards Reflexive Understandings Annex 1 Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDestined to transform its field, this volume features some of the most exciting feminist scholars and activists working within feminist political ecology, including Giovanna Di Chiro, Dianne Rocheleau, Catherine Walsh and Christa Wichterich. Offering a collective critique of the ‘green economy’, it features the latest analyses of the post-Rio+20 debates alongside a nuanced reading of the impact of the current ecological and economic crises on women as well as their communities and ecologies. This new, politically timely and engaging text puts feminist political ecology back on the map.Trade ReviewThis outstanding volume at last brings us a much-awaited sequel to the highly acclaimed Feminist Political Ecology. It illustrates like no other book I know the unprecedented coalitions being pioneered by women in regions across the world. * Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *Moving beyond narratives of eco-hero/ines to nuanced explorations of identity, activism, and the complexity of environmental justice in the lived world, this collection represents a high-water mark in the new feminist political ecology. * Joni Seager, author of Earth Follies and Carson's Silent Spring *This wonderful book brings vital counter-visions and practices to today’s debates about the green economy and sustainable development. This should be required reading for all concerned with the troubling future of humanity on our planet. * Melissa Leach, University of Sussex *Table of ContentsIntroduction: are we 'green' yet? And the violence of asking such a question - Wendy Harcourt and Ingrid L. Nelson Section I: Positioning feminist political ecology 1. A situated view of feminist political ecology from my networks, roots and territories - Dianne Rocheleau 2. Contesting green growth, connecting care, commons and enough - Christa Wichterich 3. Life, nature and gender otherwise: feminist reflections and provocations from the Andes - Catherine Walsh Section II: Rethinking feminist political ecology 4. Feminist political ecology and the (un)making of 'heroes': encounters in Mozambique - Ingrid L. Nelson 5. Hegemonic waters and rethinking natures otherwise - Leila M. Harris 6. Challenging the romance with resilience: communities, scale and climate change - Andrea J. Nightingale Section III: Living feminist political ecology 7. A new spelling of sustainability: engaging feminist-environmental justice theory and practice - Giovanna Di Chiro 8. The slips and slides of trying to live feminist political ecology - Wendy Harcourt 9. Knowledge about, knowledge with: dilemmas of researching lives, nature and genders otherwise - Larissa Barbosa da Costa, Rosalba Icaza and Angélica María Ocampo Talero 10. World-wise otherwise stories for our endtimes: conversations on queer ecologies - Wendy Harcourt, Sacha Knox and Tara Tabassi

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Book Synopsis‘A valuable corrective to the fraying narrative of [African] failure.’ Foreign Affairs Not so long ago, Africa was being described as the hopeless continent. Recently, though, talk has turned to Africa rising, with enthusiastic voices exclaiming the potential for economic growth across many of its countries. What, then, is the truth behind Africa’s growth, or lack of it? In this provocative book, Morten Jerven fundamentally reframes the debate, challenging mainstream accounts of African economic history. Whilst for the past two decades experts have focused on explaining why there has been a ‘chronic failure of growth’ in Africa, Jerven shows that most African economies have been growing at a rapid pace since the mid nineties. In addition, African economies grew rapidly in the fifties, the sixties, and even into the seventies. Thus, African states were dismissed as incapable of development based largely on observations made during the 1980s and early 1990s. The result has been misguided analysis, and few practical lessons learned. This is an essential account of the real impact economic growth has had on Africa, and what it means for the continent’s future.Trade ReviewA refreshing contribution to the debate about development scholarship on Africa and it deserves to be read by all. * Africa is a Country *In this stimulating book, Morten Jerven questions the historical focus of development economics as applied to Africa and calls for greater emphasis on the individual experiences of African countries. * African Affairs *In his incisive book Morten Jerven provides a critical analysis of the economic development literature on Africa. * African Studies Quarterly *Everyone interested in Africa or in the great mysteries of how to understand economic growth can benefit from this excellent book. * Choice *[A] compelling critique. * Development Policy Review *Morten Jerven provides a valuable reminder of the need not just to cite statistics but to question them. * Financial Times *A valuable corrective to the fraying narrative of [African] failure. * Foreign Affairs *Jerven provides a very useful explanation and argument as to why Western policies or technologies cannot simply be grafted onto the current reality of Africa. * International Socialism Journal *i>'[T]his is indeed an exhilarating and devastating critique of much of what passes as ‘scientific study’ of African economies ... This thought-provoking work has put down a marker for mainstream economists not only to think about, but also to respond to. * Review of African Political Economy *Students and researchers in a wide range of fields like international development, statistics, economics and sociology will find this book helpful ... it will help scholars conduct better research and change the conversation about African economic development. * Science and Public Policy *By deconstructing the common assumptions guiding most of the econometric exercises leading to all sorts of prognoses, [Jerven] has challenged the mystification practised by mainstream economists. * Strategic Review for Southern Africa *This analysis reshapes some of the central questions in the literature on African economic development. * Catherine Boone, London School of Economics and Political Science *Jerven's lucid and straightforward writing gravely undermines long-established policy positions concerning trade liberalization and state intervention. * Gustav Peebles, The New School *A highly readable and absolutely devastating critique of an increasingly extensive and influential body of work by economists seeking to explain "what's wrong with Africa". Jerven argues convincingly that a better understanding can be obtained by setting aside the "African failure" frame, and paying careful empirical attention to the continent's complex historical trajectories of episodic and recurring growth. * James Ferguson, Stanford University *In a short space of time, Morten Jerven's work has influenced debates about economic growth and the nature of the underlying data, especially in the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Jerven is essential reading for anyone working in this area. * Jonathan Temple, University of Bristol *An excellent and timely scholarly contribution that challenges both the pessimistic view of Africa as a growth failure as well as the exuberant view of Africa's recent growth resurgence. It forces all of us to rethink where the "character flaw" lies - on the African side or on the analyst's side. * Léonce Ndikumana, University of Massachusetts, Amherst *[R]eading this book is important ... setting out how statistics and economic analysis have been central to inform policies.' * Policy and Practice, Oxfam *Jerven brings a healthy scepticism to economists' pronouncements about Africa. He argues that these sweeping generalizations are too often based on shaky econometrics, bad data and superficial concepts. This book should be required reading for anyone who cares about African development. * William Easterly, author of The Tyranny of Experts *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Misunderstanding economic growth in Africa 2. Trapped in history? 3. African growth recurring 4. Africa's statistical tragedy? Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAs economic crises, growing inequality and climate change prompt a global debate on the meaning and trajectory of development, increasing attention is focusing on 'social and solidarity economy' as a distinctive approach to sustainable and rights-based development. While we are beginning to understand what social and solidarity economy is, what it promises and how it differs from 'business as usual', we know far less about whether it can really move beyond its fringe status in many countries and regions. Under what conditions can social and solidarity economy scale up and scale out - that is, expand in terms of the growth of social and solidarity economy organizations and enterprises, or spread horizontally within given territories? Bringing together leading researchers, blending theoretical and empirical analysis, and drawing on experiences and case studies from multiple countries and regions, this volume addresses these questions. In so doing, it aims to inform a broad constituency of development actors, including scholars, practitioners, activists and policy makers.Trade ReviewBy examining the conditions for scaling up social and solidarity economy, this book brings the politics of emancipation into the sustainable, inclusive and right-based development agenda. It does so in a reflexive and inspiring manner, pointing to spaces and strategies for capacity building, institutional innovation and social change, without neglecting either the internal constraints or the oppositional forces. * Isabelle Hillenkamp, IRD-CESSMA *This book is a major pioneering work which critically documents the role and potential, as well as the challenges, of the social and solidarity economy in a worldwide perspective. It also reflects the leadership of UNRISD and the persistent efforts of Peter Utting to place SSE in the debates within and around the United Nations system. * Jacques Defourny, Centre for Social Economy, HEC-University of Liege, Belgium *Coming at a time when citizens around the world are searching for economic and organizational alternatives to the prevailing neoliberal economic model, and full of convincing examples and practical solutions, this book is a source of inspiration for everyone. * Jürgen Schwettmann, director, Department for Partnerships and Field Support, International Labour Organization *This book provides a progressive assessment of the history, theory, practice and potential of SSE over a wide geographical range. It is particularly good on scaling up to meet the challenges of competition and partnership with state, corporate and popular economies today. * Keith Hart, London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Pretoria *Social and Solidarity Economy is essential reading for understanding this growing international citizen-based movement for a more inclusive and democratic economy. Each chapter illustrates how the social and solidarity economy can actively contribute to the emergence of a new, more sustainable and equitable development model for our planet. * Nancy Neamtan, Chantier de l'économie sociale of Quebec *The growing presence of the social and solidarity economy on all continents points to the real possibility of social, civic, ecological and technological changes that are conducive to more human-oriented growth models. This book demonstrates clearly how the social and solidarity economy can play its full role, without borders, as a friend of the Earth and of humankind. * Thierry Jeantet, president of the the Mont-Blanc Meetings and author of Des Croissances *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The challenge of scaling up social and solidarity economy - Peter Utting Part I History, theory and strategy 1. Social and solidarity economy in historical perspective - Jean-Louis Laville 2. Prometheus, Trojan horse or Frankenstein? Appraising the social and solidarity economy - John-Justin McMurtry 3. Beyond the business case: a community economies approach to gender, development and social economy - Suzanne Bergeron and Stephen Healy 4. Can social and solidarity economy organisations complement or replace publicly traded companies? - Carina Millstone 5. Scaling the social and solidarity economy: opportunities and limitations of Fairtrade practice - Darryl Reed 6. The potential and limits of farmers' marketing groups as catalysts for rural development - Roldan Muradian 7. Institutionalising the social and solidarity economy in Latin America - José Luis Coraggio 8. Rebuilding solidarity-driven economies after neoliberalism: the role of cooperatives and local developmental states in Latin America - Milford Bateman 9. Enabling the social and solidarity economy through the co-construction of public policy - Marguerite Mendell and Béatrice Alain Part II Collective action and solidarity in practice 10. Beyond alternative food networks: Italy's solidarity purchase groups and the United States' community economies - Cristina Grasseni, Francesca Forno and Silvana Signori 11. Social and solidarity investment in microfinance - Paul Nelson 12. Balancing growth and solidarity in community currency systems: the case of the Trueque in Argentina - Georgina M. Gómez 13. State and SSE partnerships in social policy and welfare regimes: the case of Uruguay - Cecilia Rossel 14. Extending social protection in health through SSE: possibilities and challenges in West Africa - Bénédicte Fonteneau 15. Enabling agricultural cooperatives in Uganda: the role of public policy and the state - Justine Nannyonjo 16. Embeddedness and the dynamics of growth: the case of the AMUL cooperative, India - Abhijit Ghosh 17. Taking solidarity seriously: analysing Kerala's Kudumbashree as a women's SSE experiment - Ananya Mukherjee-Reed 18. Demonstrating the power of numbers: gender, solidarity and group dynamics in community forestry institutions - Bina Agarwal

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