{"title":"African Issues","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"fighting-for-the-rain-forest-book-paul-richards-9780852553978","title":"Fighting for the Rain Forest","description":"Examines the war in Sierra Leone as a crisis of modernity.  Do small wars in Africa manifest a 'new barbarism'?  What appears as random, anarchic violence is no such thing. The terrifying military methods of of Sierra Leone's soldiers may not fir conventional western models of warfare,but they are rational and effective nonetheless. The war must be understood partly as a 'performance', in which techniques of terror compensate for lack of equipment.    PAUL RICHARDS is Professor of Technology and Agrarian Development, Wageningen University    Published in association with the International African Institute","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55000176820597,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55000176984437,"sku":"NIN9780852553978","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/0852553978.jpg?v=1738969349"},{"product_id":"lie-of-the-land-book-melissa-leach-9780852554098","title":"Lie of the Land","description":"Questions the reasoning behind Western images of the environmental destruction taking place in Africa.  This book addresses the issue of how environmental orthodoxies become established, and what the alternative and appropriate approaches for policy-making are. It shows that many of the established orthodoxies are ill-conceived or represent the interests of certain powerful groups.  The editors draw together material from 11 key case studies across the continent which use first hand research in different ecological zones.    Melissa Leach \u0026amp; RobinMearns are Fellows at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex    Published in association with the International African Institute","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55000177312117,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55000177574261,"sku":"NIN9780852554098","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/0852554095.jpg?v=1738969353"},{"product_id":"root-causes-of-sudan-s-civil-wars-book-douglas-h-johnson-9781847011510","title":"The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars","description":"Expanded third edition of this key text on the complex underlying conditions of the civil war from the 1960s to the present day, including a new chapter on the current wars in Sudan's new south and South Sudan.  Sudan's post-independence history has been dominated by political and civil strife. Most commentators have attributed the country's recurring civil war either to an age-old racial divide between Arabs and Africans, or to recent colonially constructed inequalities. This book attempts a more complex analysis, briefly examining the historical, political, economic and social factors which have contributed to periodic outbreaks of violence between the state and its peripheries. In tracing historical continuities, it outlines the essential differences between the modern Sudan's first civil war in the 1960s and today, including an analysis of the escalation of the Darfur war, implementation of the 2005 peace agreement and implications of the Southern referendum in 2011 and the new war in Sudan's new south and South Sudan. The author also looks at the series of minor civil wars generated by, and contained within, the major conflict, as well as the regional and international factors - including  humanitarian aid - which have exacerbated civil violence. This introduction is aimed at students of North-East Africa, and of conflict and ethnicity. It is essential reading for those in aid and international organizations who need a straightforward analytical survey which will help them assess the prospects for a lasting peace in Sudan.    Douglas H. Johnson is an independent scholar and former international expert on the Abyei Boundaries Commission.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55070625235317,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55070625497461,"sku":"NIN9781847011510","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/1847011519.jpg?v=1739631600"},{"product_id":"electricity-in-africa-book-christopher-gore-9781847011688","title":"Electricity in Africa","description":"Examines the history of electricity provision in Africa and the effects of privatization and infrastructure changes in energy transformation, offering a critical window into development politics in African states.    No country has managed to develop beyond a subsistence economy without ensuring at least minimum access to electricity for the majority of its population. Yet many sub-Saharan African countries struggle to meet demand. Why is this, and what can be done to reduce energy poverty and further Africa's development? Examining the politics and processes surrounding electricity infrastructure, provision and reform, the author provides an overview of historical andcontemporary debates about access in the sub-continent, and explores the shifting role and influence of national governments and of multilateral agencies in energy reform decisions. He describes a challenging political environment for electricity supply, with African governments becoming increasingly frustrated with the rules and the processes of multilateral donors. Civil society also began to question reform choices, and governments in turn looked to new development partners, such as China, to chart a fresh path of energy transformation.   Drawing on over fifteen years of research on Uganda, which has one of the lowest levels of access to electricity in Africa and has struggled to construct several, large hydroelectric dams on the Nile, Gore argues that there is a critical need to recognize how the changing political and social context in African countries, and globally, has affected the capacity tofulfil national energy goals, minimize energy poverty and transform economies.    Christopher Gore is Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.  OA EDITION This book has been made available as Open Access through the support of  the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts, Ryerson University; Ryerson  International; and the Department of Politics and Public Administration,  Ryerson University.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55070626840949,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55070627103093,"sku":"NIN9781847011688","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/1847011683.jpg?v=1739631616"},{"product_id":"diamonds-dispossession-and-democracy-in-botswana-book-kenneth-good-9781847013125","title":"Diamonds, Dispossession and Democracy in Botswana","description":"Analyses the limits to democracy in Botswana.  Is Botswana still 'an African miracle'? Thanks to diamonds the country's growth rate was the highest in the world into the 1990s, and regular parliamentary elections judged free on polling day have been held since 1965. However aduopoly of presidentialism and ruling party preponderance has stimulated arrogance, complacency and corruption among the country's rulers.  What is 'perpetual democracy'? The ruling BDP is kept in perpetual power by the first-past-the post election system. The President in Botswana is empowered to do whatever he pleases. President Mogae has amended the constitution to ensure the automatic succession of the Vice-President General Ian Khama, the son of Seretse and Ruth Khama.A new Directorate of Intelligence Services provides closer control of power.   Why are the Khoisan confined to 'a gulag of special settlements'? The expulsion of the San from Central Kalahari Game Reservewas relentlessly enforced in 1997 and 2002. A multi-cultural coalition asserts that the government is implementing 'a philosophy of cultural genocide on the non-Tswana tribes'.   How can the gift of diamonds be turned to reform?  Professor Good asserts the need to strengthen and democratise the electoral and voting systems. He sees diversification as essential to reduce the dependency on diamonds. He urges the use of mineral wealth to reduce the gap between rich and poor; half of the population are at present in poverty in a rich country.     KENNETH GOOD was Professor of Politics at the University of Botswana when he was expelled from the country.    South Africa: Jacana","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55070658560373,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55070658789749,"sku":"NIN9781847013125","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/1847013120.jpg?v=1739631910"},{"product_id":"ethiopian-red-terror-trials-book-kjetil-tronvoll-9781847013200","title":"The Ethiopian Red Terror Trials","description":"This collection analyses the approach taken by the current government of Ethiopia to deal with the massive human rights violations that took place from 1974 to 1991 under the Derg.  How was an autocratic emperor replaced by a totalitarian dictator?  An unexpected popular upsurge in February 1974 made the ancien regime of Emperor Haile Selassie buckle. The Derg, a group of army officers led by an obscure and ruthless major Mengistu Hailemariam, seized power by military coup in September 1974 and removed the Emperor.  What was the 'red terror'?  The callous executions of members of the old regime initiated a cult of violence. The Derg were united by the shedding of blood. Search and destroy campaigns against militants led on to the full-blown 'red terror' in which thousands of the regime's opponents were brutally murdered in the streets.  In what way was 'transitional justice' administered?   The main officials were found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity by the Ethiopian Federal High Court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Some of the minor officialshad already been sentenced to death, whilst President Mugabe has given Mengistu Hailemariam sanctuary in Zimbabwe.    KJETIL TRONVOLL is Professor in Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo; CHARLES SCHAEFER is Associate Professor of African History, Valparaiso University; GIRMACHEW ALEMU ANEME is a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55070660657525,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55070660919669,"sku":"NIN9781847013200","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/1847013201.jpg?v=1739631930"},{"product_id":"africa-rising-book-ian-taylor-9781847010964","title":"Africa Rising?","description":"Africa is said to be rising, turning a definitive page in its history, heralding new and exciting possibilities for the continent. This discourse maintains that with upsurge in economic growth comes improved governance and endogenous dynamics; that the emerging economies, and especially the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), have been instrumental in diversifying Africa's international relations, perhaps leading to a radical change in theglobal order, favourable to the developing world. But to what extent is this true, and how deep and how broad has been the impact on society at large? This book takes a critical look at the prevalent Africa Rising discourse, and explores the nature and implications of Africa's rise and the role that the BRICS have played in it. The author argues that Africa has still to undergo any structural transformation; that there is strong evidence that deindustrialisation and jobless growth have accompanied the upsurge of interest in the continent; and that far from making a radical turn in its developmental trajectory, Africa is being pushed into the resource corner as commodity exporters, to the North (and now, the BRICS) with little scope for industrial progress or skills advancement. Hope that the BRICS might offer an alternative to the extant neoliberal order are misplaced, for the BRICS have a stake in maintaining the current global unequality. Africa must therefore fashion its own independent path - while the emerging economies will be important, relying on external actors may simply reproduce anew the current state of underdevelopment. Ian Taylor is Professor in International Relations and African Politics, University of St Andrews; Chair Professor, Renmin, University of China; Professor Extraordinary, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; Honorary Professor, Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China; and a Visiting Scholar at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":56967219118453,"sku":"NIN9781847010964","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/9781847010964.jpg?v=1774144031"},{"product_id":"africa-s-land-rush-book-ruth-hall-9781847011305","title":"Africa's Land Rush","description":"Africa has been at the centre of a land grab in recent years, with investors lured by projections of rising food prices, growing demand for green energy, and cheap land and water rights. But such land is often also used or claimed through custom by communities. What does this mean for Africa? In what ways are rural people's lives and livelihoods being transformed as a result? And who will control its land and agricultural futures? The case studies explore the processes through which land deals are being made; the implications for agrarian structure, rural livelihoods and food security; and the historical context of changing land uses, revealing that these land grabs may resonate with, even resurrect, forms of large-scale production associated with the colonial and early independence eras. The book depicts the striking diversity of deals and dealers: white Zimbabwean farmers in northern Nigeria, Dutch and American joint ventures in Ghana, an Indian agricultural company in Ethiopia's hinterland, European investors in Kenya's drylands and a Canadian biofuel company on its coast, South African sugar agribusiness in Tanzania's southern growth corridor, in Malawi's Greenbelt and in southern Mozambique, and white South African farmers venturing onto former state farms in the Congo. Ruth Hall is Associate Professor at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; Ian Scoones is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex and Director of the ESRC STEPS Centre; Dzodzi Tsikata is Associate Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, Legon.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":56967219642741,"sku":"NIN9781847011305","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/9781847011305.jpg?v=1774144035"},{"product_id":"land-investment-politics-book-jeremy-lind-9781847012494","title":"Land, Investment \u0026 Politics","description":"Examines the new challenges facing Africa's pastoral drylands from large-scale investments and how this might affect the economic and political landscape for the regions affected and their peoples.    More than ever before, the gaze of global investment has been directed to the drylands of Africa, but what does this mean for these regions' pastoralists and other livestock-keepers and their livelihoods? Will those who have occupied drylands over generations benefit from the developments, as claimed, or is this a new type of territorialisation, exacerbating social inequality?  This book's detailed local studies of investments at various stages of development - from Kenya, Tanzania, Somaliland, Ethiopia - explore, for the first time, how large land, resource and infrastructure projects shape local politics and livelihoods.  Land and resources use, based on ancestral precedenceand communal practices, and embedded regional systems of trade, are unique to these areas, yet these lands are now seen as the new frontier for development of national wealth. By examining the ways in which large-scale investmentsenmesh with local political and social relations, the chapters show how even the most elaborate plans of financiers, contractors and national governments come unstuck and are re-made in the guise of not only states' grand modernist visions, but also those of herders and small-town entrepreneurs in the pastoral drylands. The contributors also demonstrate how and why large-scale investments have advanced in a more piecemeal way as the challenges of implementation have mounted.    JEREMY LIND is Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex. DORIS OKENWA holds a PhD in Anthropology from the London School of Economics. IAN SCOONES is a Professorial Fellow at the IDS, University of Sussex and co-director of the ESRC STEPS Centre.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":56967228031349,"sku":"NIN9781847012494","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/9781847012494.jpg?v=1774144089"}],"url":"https:\/\/stage.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/african-issues-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books Staging","version":"1.0","type":"link"}