Description
Book SynopsisThe China-Africa relationship has so far largely been depicted as one in which the Chinese state and Chinese entrepreneurs control the agenda, with Africans and their governments as passive actors exercising little or no agency. This volume examines the African side of the relation, to show how African state and non-state actors increasingly influence the China-Africa partnership and, in so doing, begin to shape their economic and political futures. The influx of public and private sector Chinese actors across the African continent has led to a rise of opportunities and challenges, which the volume sets out to examine. With case studies from Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Zambia, and across the technology, natural resource, manufacturing, and financial sectors, it shows not only how African realities shape Chinese actions, but also how African governments and entrepreneurs are learning to leverage their competitive advantages and to negotiate the growing Chinese p
Trade ReviewAfter engaging with the chapters of Africa and China…the reader will be hard pressed to maintain the stereotyped image of Chinese agency and African passivity. There is almost a sense of empathy evoked toward the Chinese side engaging in such complex and often difficult terrain. The book clearly sets out what it intends to achieve – namely that the role of Chinese actors on the continent needs to be grasped analytically within the varying regional and national contexts in which they operate. The strong empirical evidence provided for this argument demonstrates that this is not merely an exercise in polemical inversion – but rather an intractable reality that should be heeded by investors, policy-makers and academics alike. * South African Journal of International Affairs *
This is a wonderful collection of work by accomplished scholars in the China-Africa field who properly put the focus on Africa. The book makes the case for African agency as the continent increases its interaction with China. -- David Shinn, co-author of China and Africa: A Century of Engagement
Africa and China makes an important analytical contribution to a set of consequential issues that remain poorly understood. Gadzala and the chapter authors make a convincing case that Africans are no mere passive observers to China’s growing activities on the continent, but rather they are active shapers of the trends—and ultimately responsible for the economic and political effects. -- Todd Moss, Center for Global Development and author, African Development: Making Sense of The Issues and Actors
This is a significant contribution to the study of China-Africa relations by some of the most noted experts in the field, cutting through many clichés and providing a genuinely nuanced understanding of actor agendas, especially on the African side. Invaluable reading for anyone interested in this key dynamic in the domestic politics and external relations of Africa as it enters its second decade. -- Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, University of Oxford
Aleksandra Gadzala’s new edited volume puts African agency at the center of its analysis of the China-Africa engagement. These chapters have intellectual heft, careful scholarship, and vivid writing. A collection to read carefully, learn from, and savor. -- Deborah Bräutigam,, Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy, Director of the SAIS China Africa Research Initiative, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface Introduction Part I: African State Agency Chapter 1: China-Africa Trade Patterns: Causes, Consequences, and Perceptions Joshua Eisenman Chapter 2: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Agency-as-corruption and the Sino-Nigerian Relationship Ian Taylor Chapter 3: China and the Shaping of African Information Societies Iginio Gagliardone Chapter 4: Understanding Angolan Agency: The Luanda-Beijing Face-off Lucy Corkin Chapter 5: Ethiopia: Towards a Foreign Funded 'Revolutionary Democracy' Aleksandra W Gadzala Part II: African Agency Beyond the State Chapter 6: Making Space for African Agency in China-Africa Engagements: Ghanaian and Nigerian Patrons Shaping Chinese Enterprise Ben Lampert and Giles Mohan Chapter 7: Racialization as Agency in Zambia-China Relations Barry Sautman Chapter 8: #MadeinAfrica: How China-Africa relations take on new meaning thanks to digital communication Mark Kaigwa and Yu-Shan Wu Chapter 9: Afro-Chinese Cooperation: The Evolution of Diplomatic Agency Calestous Juma Bibliography Contributor Biographies Index
