This book brings into sharp focus the problems of development under conditions of structural adjustment and their relation to democratic change in Africa. Contributors to this volume are interested in specific countries such as Kenya, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, etc., but do bring to bear a rigorous comparative method which uses a political economy approach to the study of democracy, gender, industrialization, agriculture and the state. Its comparative approach in revisionist political economy allows for issues such as the new international division of labor to become central to the analysis of the relationship between developed and underdeveloped countries.

The state-centric approach, although useful, may have missed important undercurrents in civil society. An analysis of development through the state's lenses has predominated the study of Africa. The approach by contributors in this volume is equally interested in the state but is also concerned with non-state actors. This dynamic approach characterizes few texts on Africa. This work should attract those who are concerned with African development, specifically, and international political economy in general.

Offering insights from pioneering new perspectives in addition to well-established traditions of research, this Handbook considers the activities not only of advocacy groups in the environmental, feminist, human rights, humanitarian, and peace sectors, but also the array of religious, professional, and business associations that make up the wider non-governmental organization (NGO) community. Including perspectives from multiple world regions, the book takes account of institutions in the Global South, alongside better-known structures of the Global North. International contributors from a range of disciplines cover all the major aspects of research into NGOs in International Relations to present: a comprehensive overview of the historical evolution of NGOs, the range of structural forms and international networks coverage of major theoretical perspectives illustrations of how NGOs are influential in every prominent issue-area of contemporary International Relations evaluation of the significant regional variations among NGOs and how regional contexts influence the nature and impact of NGOs analysis of the ways NGOs address authoritarianism, terrorism, and challenges to democracy, and how NGOs handle concerns surrounding their own legitimacy and accountability. Exploring contrasting theories, regional dimensions, and a wide range of contemporary challenges facing NGOs, this Handbook will be essential reading for students, scholars, and practitioners alike.

Enhancing competitiveness poses a challenge to all countries. The analysis of different developing regions shows that the most dynamic countries are not those that bank solely on competition between isolated forms, unconditioned free trade and the state as an institution of regulation and supervision. Instead, the successful countries are those that actively shape locational and competitive advantages. The authors emphasize that an economy's competitiveness relies on purposive and intermeshed measures at four system levels (the meta-, macro-, meso-, and micro- levels) and a multidimensional guidance concept consisting of competition, dialogue and shared decision-making which integrates the key groups of actors.

This book assesses Ecological Migration and Precision Poverty Alleviation Measures, based on research conducted in Ningxia. "Resettling residents currently living in poor areas" is an important measure for "precise poverty alleviation." China's central government has provided extraordinary support for these areas, so as to help with "removing poverty nests," "changing poverty industries," and "pulling out the roots of poverty."This book is mainly based on research conducted in Ningxia, one of the earliest areas in China to achieve poverty alleviation and development through immigration and relocation. Since the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, Ningxia's ecological migration has been integrated into the process of new urbanization and industrialization. Poverty alleviation and relocation not only involves regional transfer, industrial transformation, and changes in livelihood, but also the social adaptation and integration of migrant groups. In addition to examining these aspects, the book shares stories of how impoverished individuals have succeeded in changing their fates.

As the first biography of Professor Herman Daly, this book provides an in-depth account of one of the leading thinkers and most widely read writers on economics, environment and sustainability. Herman Daly's economics for a full world, based on his steady-state economics, has been widely acknowledged through numerous prestigious international awards and prizes. Drawing on extensive interviews with Daly and in-depth analysis of his publications and debates, Peter Victor presents a unique insight into Daly's life from childhood to the present day, describing his intellectual development, inspirations and influence. Much of the book is devoted to a comprehensive account of Daly's foundational contributions to ecological economics. It describes how his insights and proposals have been received by economists and non-economists and the extraordinary relevance of Daly's full world economics to solving the economic problems of today and tomorrow. Innovative and timely, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, researchers, activists and policy makers concerned with economics, environment and sustainability.

Impassable roads, poorly maintained railways, bankrupt airlines, congested cities, and inefficient ports -- how do these conditions inhibit the economic progress of developing countries? With case material from Latin and central America, Southeast Asia, and Africa, author David Hilling illustrates the differences in transportation strategies and structures between the developed and developing worlds. In examining such projects as inland waterways, ports, railways, roads, and air and urban transportation networks, Hilling emphasizes the relative importance of timing, location, technology, and decision making structures in each case, and then illustrates how these factors contribute to the success or failure of economic development strategies.

This open access book offers a compelling account of everyday life, livelihoods, and governance in post-apartheid South Africa among the urban poor and marginalized, anchored in and through a critique of the concept of informality, or living outside of the state, its laws, services, and protection. Using a case study of the Zama Zama, loosely translated from the isiZulu as 'to hustle, or to strive' and colloquially used to refer to those working as informal artisanal miners on Johannesburg's numerous disused and abandoned gold mines, the book documents an ethnography of this community's everyday lives, struggles, and hopes. It provides an intimate account of a community, its social relations, and its political relationship to the state. The narratives of the Zama Zama are used to raise broader questions about precarity, belonging, and governance in post-apartheid South Africa, and suggest that pervasive informality could risk the country's democratic order.

It is commonly imagined that in recent years the rampant growth of consumer credit has lured American consumers into a crippling state of indebtedness, a state that has upended old cultural values of Puritan thrift and stimulated a frenzy of consumption. Drawing on the sociological concept of 'government' and informed by a historical perspective, Marron presents a much more complex and nuanced reality. From its early antecedents in nineteenth century salary lending and instalment selling, she shows how the emergence and growth of consumer credit in the United States have always been subject to shifting regimes of control and regulation.

provides an overview of the limits to the circular economy, emphasising the relationship between integrated resource use and more systemic leadership-management approaches. provides a hands-on contribution toward building the knowledge and skill-sets of current and future decision-makers who face these complex-systemic crises in their day-to-day business. is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resource use, sustainable business, environmental economics and sustainable development, as well as decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society.

West Africa (1977) surveys the first century of European enterprise – rivalry, and exploitation – in West Africa. It examines the achievements of the Portuguese during the century following their exploration of its shores, and the successive attempts of its rivals – Castilians, the French and English – to disrupt the commercial monopoly claimed by Portugal in West African waters.

'Sustainable development' is the catchphrase of the 1990s. Governments around the world, international institutions, local organizations and NGOs have committed themselves to its principles and have adopted policies to promote it. But 'sustainable development' is difficult to define - let alone implement - and its proponents and advocates may all interpret it in very different ways. This introductory guide provides a clear and accurate account of what sustainable development actually is. David Reid gives an overview of the history of the concept and how it has evolved in recent years, describes the obstacles to achieving sustainable development, and looks at recent progress towards implementing it - and at how much we have still to do.

Such a huge number of books, journals and papers have been devoted to defining, assessing and implementing 'sustainable development' that students and other readers face information overload. Earthscan alone has published hundreds of essays and books on the subject. Now, though, the most authoritative writings have been carefully assessed and collected together in the Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Development. The contributions included span five years of the debate, and cover all the principal themes: the history of the concept; the problems in defining it; the issues surrounding it; and national and international policies and schemes to implement it. For ease of use, the essays have been split into key subject areas - such as agriculture, population and the commons - and they include practical case studies and examples, together with analyses from a number of different viewpoints from both the North and South. These seminal essays will provide readers with a unique overview of the subject, as well as the long-awaited basic course material for students of environmental studies, economics, geography, politics, planning and the social sciences.

The depletion of the tropical rain forests has attracted considerable attention in recent times, and the serious consequences for the global biosphere are widely acknowledged. Yet deforestation continues apace, and in some areas (for example, southeast Asia) the very existence of the forests is seriously threatened. Contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that local economic and living conditions are more significant in this than timber exploitation for exports to the Northern countries."Tropical Deforestation: A Socio-Economic Approach" offers a new perspective on the economic imperatives which encourage indigenous populations to encroach upon their own forests, and shows how action against deforestation must form part of a wider movement to improve both the living conditions of the local inhabitants and the durability of their national economies.Part One offers an overview of the processes surrounding deforestation, and an assessment of the current situation. Part Two analyses the land-use issues, and explains the socioeconomic imperatives in the affected regions. In an absorbing conclusion. Part Three guides the reader through a series of hypothetical policy scenarios, using a specially adapted economic computer model, to predict which combinations of policies and trade arrangements might bring about a more beneficial state of affairs.

"The demise of the Cold War and the spread of globalization seemed to end the era of solidarity politics pursued by the developing world, or the "South." This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the changing dynamics of the South and its relationship to the issues, content and structure of the evolving international system"--Provided by publisher.

This revised and updated guide to the environmental economics of development projects demonstrates how the environmental impacts of projects can be translated into monetary values. The theoretical bases are examined, and the techniques themselves given detailed exposition, supported by extensive case studies illustrating a wide range of applications. The text should become a useful complement to all standard forms of project analysis.

Elinor Ostrom's Nobel Prize-winning work on common pool property rights has implications for some of the most pressing sustainability issues of the twenty-first century - from tackling climate change to maintaining cyberspace. In this book, Derek Wall critically examines Ostrom's work, while also exploring the following questions: is it possible to combine insights rooted in methodological individualism with a theory that stresses collectivist solutions? Is Ostrom's emphasis on largely local solutions to climate change relevant to a crisis propelled by global factors? This volume situates her ideas in terms of the constitutional analysis of her partner Vincent Ostrom and wider institutional economics. It outlines her key concerns, including a radical research methodology, commitment to indigenous people and the concept of social-ecological systems. Ostrom is recognised for producing a body of work which demonstrates how people can construct rules that allow them to exploit the environment in an ecologically sustainable way, without the need for governmental regulation, and this book argues that in a world where ecological realities increasingly threaten material prosperity, such scholarship provides a way of thinking about how humanity can create truly sustainable development. Given the inter-disciplinary nature of Ostrom's work, this book will be relevant to those working in the areas of environmental economics, political economy, political science and ecology.

This book presents several perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis as it impacted the United States, focusing on policies, practices, and patterns. It considers the relationship between government policies and neo-liberalism, (anti)federalism, economies of scale, and material culture. The COVID-19 crisis became the primary current event in the United States in March 2020 and continued for several years. In the early days of the crisis, the United States lacked a cohesive, comprehensive approach to combating its spread. As a result, the pandemic was experienced differently in different parts of the United States and at different scales. The chapters in this volume include both quantitative and qualitative explorations of the pandemic as it occurred in the United States. Collectively, they help the reader to better understand this geographically salient issue and provide lessons to learn from so as to improve upon responses to crises in the future. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of Geography, Sociology, Political Science, and Economics with an interest in United States and the socio-political effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Geographical Review.

This book explores the second-order effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and economic development in India. The chapters in this volume provide theoretical perspectives and empirical insights from a range of disciplines including history, economics, water management, food and nutrition security, agriculture, rural management, public health, urbanization, gender studies and development of the marginalized. It discusses the pressing questions that have been raised by the disruption caused by the pandemic and proposes insights and interventions to build a more just, sustainable and united post-COVID India.

This book discusses how to develop green transitions which benefit, include and respect marginalised social groups. Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism explores the challenge of taking into account issues of equity and justice in the green transformation and shows that ignoring these issues risks exacerbating the gap between the rich and the poor, the marginalised and included, and undermining widespread support for climate change mitigation. Expert contributors provide evidence and analysis in relation to the thinking and practice that has prevented us from building a broad base of people who are willing and able to take the action necessary to successfully overcome the current ecological crises. Providing examples from a wide range of marginalised and/or oppressed groups including women, disabled people, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and others (LGBTQ+) community, the authors demonstrate how the issues and concerns of these groups are often undervalued in environmental policy-making and environmental social movements. Overall, this book supports environmental academics and practitioners to choose and campaign for effective, equitable and widely supported environmental policy, thereby enabling a smoother transition to sustainability. This volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners of environmental justice, social and environmental policy, planning and environmental sociology.

This is an academic inquiry into how labor power has been dehumanized and commodified around the world through the ages for capital accumulation and industrialization, and colonial and post-colonial economic transformation. The study explores all major episodes of slaveries beginning from the ancient civilizations to the end of Transatlantic Slave Trade in the eighteenth century; the worlds of serfdoms in the context of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia; the worlds of feudalisms in the context of Latin America, Japan, China, and India; the worlds of indentured servitudes in the context of the Europeans, the Indians, and the Chinese; the worlds of guestworkers in the contexts of the United States and Western Europe; the worlds of migrant labor programs in the context of the Gulf States; and the contemporary world of neoslavery focusing on human trafficking in both developing and developed countries, and forced labor in global value chains. The book is designed not only for students and academia in labor economics, labor history, and global socio-economic and political transformations, but also for the intelligent and inquiring policy makers, reformers, and general readers across the disciplinary pursuits of Economics, Political Science, History, Sociology, Anthropology, and Law.

This book sets out to address some of the issues that a smart city needs to overcome to make use of both the data currently available to them and how this can be enhanced by using emerging technology enabling a citizen to share their personal data, adding value. It provides answers for those within a smart city, advising their mayors or leaders on introducing new technology. We will cover the topic so as to enable many different public officials to be able to understand the situation from their own perspective, be they lawyers, financial people, service providers, those looking at governance structures, policy makers, etc. We are contributing to the new model for the European Data Economy. Case studies of existing best practice in the use of data are augmented with examples of embracing a citizen’s personal data in the mix, to enable better services to develop and potential new revenue streams to occur. This will enable new business models and investment opportunities to emerge. We will address the topic of how to put a value on data and will conclude by looking at what new technologies will be emerging in the coming years, to help cities with carbon-neutral targets to have more chance of succeeding.

This book applies Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools and techniques to problems in location analysis. It begins with a generic model for MCDM and subsequently develops specific versions of the technique for particular location problems. Throughout the book, MCDM is understood to encompass all tools and techniques that choose or rank existing or feasible solutions, including discrete multi-attribute decision making (MADM) problems, which typically include an attribute table that specifies the consequences of each decision with regard to the given criteria, as well as multi-objective linear problems (MOLPs), which incorporate all objectives in a single optimization problem.  The book is organized as follows: the first four chapters introduce readers to the basic tools and techniques used in single-objective optimization, multicriteria decision making, location analysis, and other tools, such as statistical regression and geographical information systems. This is followed by ten chapters on model applications, each of which introduces readers to a specific location problem and applies one technique to solve it. The book is then wrapped up in a closing chapter that looks at the location process from a practitioner’s point of view.  This book is intended as a textbook for upper-undergraduate and master-level courses on location analysis. It will also benefit decision-makers who actually need to locate facilities. 

This edited volume explores the principle of solidarity in international and EU law. Although the concept is regularly invoked in international and EU legal and policy debates alike, its meaning, nature and functions, as well as normative contours still remain nebulous.The contributions in this volume reflect on the legal trajectory of solidarity in international and EU law and offer unique insights into the evolution and status of the principle in different fields of international and EU law. By doing so, the book also serves as a springboard for answering broader questions pertaining to what the stage of development of this principle may imply for the two legal orders and their interaction. As the chapters of this book show, the debate on solidarity is premised on conflicting visions regarding the values underpinning the international legal order as well as the self-interest or community-oriented driving forces behind States' action at the international level. The regional (EU law) perspective offers a new lens through which to revisit classic questions pertaining to the nature of modern international law and to assess its continuing relevance in a world of regional organizations presenting different visions (and levels) of co-operation. This book, the second volume to appear in the Global Europe Series, will appeal to international and EU law researchers and policy-makers alike with an interest in the nature and function of the principle of solidarity in international and EU law. Eva Kassoti is Senior researcher in EU and International Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, The Netherlands and the Academic Co-ordinator of CLEER. Narin Idriz is Researcher in EU Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Where can one get a synthesis of research findings on urban development planning in Africa? This book addresses this gap in knowledge by distilling existing research to provide insights into theories, research designs, empirical findings and approaches on urban development planning in Africa. Starting with the overall planning culture and strategies, the book chapters move on to specific themes such as governance, population, poverty, water, recreation, transport, agriculture, air quality and rural-urban linkages. This book reduces the prevailing risk of unnecessary duplication of research and the inadequate attention that is being given to extending research in new areas. This situation has partly been due to existing research remaining scattered in different organizations and publications and has not been subjected to critical synthesis to unearth any new developments that it contains. The book makes available research findings to be utilized in current and future urban development planning in Africa.

Mental health has always been a low priority worldwide. Yet more than 650 million people are estimated to meet diagnostic criteria for common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, with almost three-quarters of that burden in low- and middle-income countries. Nowhere in the world does mental health enjoy parity with physical health. Notwithstanding astonishing medical advancements in treatments for physical illnesses, mental disorder continues to have a startlingly high mortality rate. However, despite its widespread neglect, there is now an emerging international imperative to improve global mental health and wellbeing. The UN's current international development agenda finalised at the end of 2015 contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG3, which seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. Although much broader in focus than the previous eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the need for worldwide improvement in mental health has finally been recognised. This Handbook addresses the new UN agenda in the context of mental health and sustainable development, examining its implications for national and international policy-makers, decision-makers, researchers and funding agencies. Conceptual, evidence-based and practical discussions crossing a range of disciplines are presented from the world's leading mental health experts. Together, they explore why a commitment to investing in mental health for the fulfilment of SDG3 ought to be an absolute global priority.