All the numbers on South Africa’s crisis dashboard are blinking red. The economy is failing to grow and more and more young people find themselves on the outside looking in as education falters and jobs disappear. Energy and transport are in crisis. Governance is floundering as debt mounts and government runs out of money.

Better Choices is a collection by South Africa’s top thinkers on the political economy, providing an unflinching account of the myriad challenges the country faces. The picture that emerges is of a nation on the brink of a catastrophic slide into failure unless better, if tough, policy choices are made. As stark as these problems are, their solutions are tantalisingly close at hand. The chapters in this book outline exactly the solutions – those ‘better choices’– that need to be made by leadership to alter the country’s bleak trajectory.

South Africa cannot talk its way out of trouble. Key to success is removing the sources of friction – the red tape, over-regulation and rents – that slow down investment. This is only possible if a more effective, focused government acts decisively.

Compiled by The Brenthurst Foundation, Africa’s leading think tank on economic development, Better Choices is for those who want to build a positive, inclusive future for South Africa.

In some settings, such as Ireland, contiguous Catholic and Protestant states are often not conducive to good relations or neighbourliness. In colonial and imperial southern Africa, formal inter-state arrangements took place at the expense of a third party - subjected African peoples.

Three Wise Monkeys explores some of the contradictions, silences and oversights, and working misunderstandings that arise when an emerging Anglophone, Protestant, industrial and urbanising state - South Africa - develops side by side with Mozambique - a Lusophone, Catholic, commercial, rural colony.

In three volumes, Charles van Onselen examines the intertwined relations between South Africa and Portugal's chronically weak east coast colony, as expressed through the migrant labour system, the tourist trade, the rise and fall of LM Radio and the extraordinary tale of the Lourenço Marques Lottery. These areas constituted zones of cross-cultural, transnational interaction that both states were reluctant to acknowledge formally, choosing instead to 'see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil' for much of the 20th century.

Three Wise Monkeys presents a startling new way of viewing the entangled, often hidden, economic, political and social dynamics that informed the rise of 20th-century South Africa, often at the expense of neighbouring Mozambique.

The volumes are:

• Volume 1: The Makings Of An African Economic Tragedy - Mozambique, circa 1500-1960
• Volume 2: Through The Turnstiles Of The Mind - White South Africans and the Freedoms Of Mozambique, circa 194-1975
• Volume 3: The Quest For Wealth Without Work - The Lourenco Marques Lottery, Protestant Panics and the South African White Working Classes , circa 1890-9165

Township Economy provides a unique insight into township informal business and entrepreneurship. It is set in the post-apartheid period, in the third decade of Africa’s democracy and draws on evidence collected from 2010-2018 in 10 township sites, nine in South Africa and one in Namibia. The book focuses on micro-enterprises, the business strategies of township entrepreneurs and the impact of autonomous informal economic activities on urban life.

The book is unique in approach and content. It looks at spatial influences at various gradients, from the city-wide level, to objects, to invisible infrastructure. The analysis examines the influence of power as a tool to dominate and control and thus constraint inclusive opportunities.

This captivating book will be of interest academic researchers, university students and specialists in business studies, urbanism, politics and socio-economic development.

First people communities are the groups of huntergatherers and herders, representing the oldest human lineages in Africa, who migrated from as far as East Africa to settle across southern Africa, in what is now Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. These groups, known today as the Khoisan, are represented by the Bushmen (or San) and the Khoe (plural Khoekhoen).

In First People, archaeologist Andrew Smith examines what we know about southern Africa’s earliest inhabitants, drawing on evidence from excavations, rock art, the observations of colonial-era travellers, linguistics, the study of the human genome and the latest academic research.

Richly illustrated, First People is an invaluable and accessible work that reaches from the Middle and Late Stone Age to recent times, and explores how the Khoisan were pushed to the margins of history and society. Smith, who is an expert on the history and prehistory of the Khoisan, paints a knowledgeable and fascinating portrait of their land occupation, migration, survival strategies and cultural practices.

Ferial Haffajee is highly respected as one of South Africa's thought leaders and commentators. She effectively uses her media platform to raise and discuss issues pertinent to the state of the nation. In What If There Were No Whites In South Africa?, Haffajee examines our history and our present in the light of a provocative question that yields some thought-provoking analysis for the country.

From roundtable discussions with influential as well as ordinary South Africans, to research, personal thoughts and powerful anecdotes, Haffajee takes the reader through the rocky terrain of race relations in our country and grapples towards a possible way forward in terms of what it means to be South African in 2015.

Showcasing ways in which the theory of the lifecourse has been applied in demographic research, this innovative Handbook uses key datasets to offer a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of demographic change across the lifecourse. This Handbook features contributions from leading international demographers and social scientists, covering a range of substantive areas such as employment, health, migration, social security, family formation, housing and inequality to give substance to investigations into the individual's lifecourse. Chapters highlight major theoretical and methodological advances in lifecourse research and present research that sheds light on family dynamics, health and mobility over the lifecourse, illustrating the implications of lifecourse research for policy and reform. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, this Handbook will be crucial reading for students and researchers of demography, social policy, sociology and gerontology at all levels looking to enhance their own research agendas. Policy makers and practitioners of demographic research will also benefit from its insights into the key methodological avenues for advanced investigations. Contributors include: K. Barclay, M. Benzeval, L. Bernardi, A. Berrington, A. Boersch-Supan, P. Bridgen, P. De Jong, H. De Valk, T. Emery, M. Evandrou, A. Evans, L. Fadel, J. Falkingham, A.E. Fasang, A. Findlay, I. Garfinkel, A.H. Gauthier, A. Goodman, E. Graham, J. Holmes, J. Huinink, K. Keenan, K. Kiernan, S. Kim, D. Kneale, M. Kolk, H. Kulu, M. Lyons-Amos, K.U. Mayer, D. McCollum, S. McLanahan, A. McMunn, T. Meyer, J. Mikolai, M. Qin, A. Sabater, L. Sariscsany, R.A. Settersten, C. Van Mol, L. Vargas, A. Villadsen, A. Vlachantoni, J. Waldfogel, M. Wright

Many developed countries are facing a demographic change with an increasing share of older individuals, yet little is known about how older workers will impact regional and national economies in terms of labor market dynamics. One possible outcome of this new demographic structure is that more individuals will become entrepreneurs at an older age. This Handbook contributes to the important and emerging field of entrepreneurship among this group and focuses on the behavioral perspectives of this phenomenon; on innovation, dynamics and performance; and the ways entrepreneurship among the elderly looks within different countries. Researchers interested in the field of entrepreneurship among older workers and policy makers dealing with the effects of changing demographic settings within countries or regions will turn to this work to gain a better understanding of entrepreneurship and aging. Contributors include: Z. Acs, M. Amaral, A.E. Brouwer, M. Cucculelli, M. Damman, H. Delfmann, M. Dragusin, R. Fonseca, M. Fritsch, M.M. Gielnik, J. Hessels, C. Holmquist, M. Klinthall, B. Leick, R. Mariana, A. Maritz, C. Matos, H. Mayer, M. Mensmann, G. Micucci, S.C. Parker, A. Sorgner, R. Sternberg, E. Sundin, P. van der Zwan, H. Van Solinge, D. Welsh, M. Wyrwich, H. Zacher, T. Zhang

Equity is the tool to achieve diversity and inclusion that will help eliminate injustice and fairly distribute the benefits of an equitable environment to everyone. Corporate culture around the world has already stated efforts for sustainable development through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in rural areas. This infrastructure must be strengthened so that the rural community can become an active part of changing the world of work. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts of Businesses in Rural Areas evaluates growth trajectories and educational opportunities in rural areas. It further explores the inclusion efforts of marginalized groups in rural society. Covering topics such as the construction industry, rural populations, and workplace inclusivity, this premier reference source is a valuable resource for policymakers, investors, professionals, business leaders and managers, economists, sociologists, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Alfred A. Marcus and Mazhar Islam examine how demographic changes introduce new challenges for businesses, with a focus on how the world today is divided between disproportionately old and young nations. Taking a broad international perspective, the book illustrates how demography affects underlying conditions in nations, presenting the risks and opportunities for businesses as well as a set of concrete obligations they owe to the nations in which they operate. The book analyzes the key challenges that nations face based on whether they have principally old, young, or middle-aged populations, and how businesses can best respond to these challenges. Chapters particularly emphasize the impacts of immigration and technology, democratic governance, crime, corruption, and stability. Providing an in-depth examination of the relationships between youth bulges, youth busts and violence, the book grapples with the question of whether the world is likely to be a more peaceful place in the future, and the implications this could have for the global business environment. Demography and the Global Business Environment will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of international business and strategic management. It will also be highly beneficial for business leaders looking for guidance about how to evaluate the opportunities and risks of investing in various countries.

Africa Reimagined is a passionately argued appeal for a rediscovery of our African identity. Going beyond the problems of a single country, Hlumelo Biko calls for a reorientation of values, on a continental scale, to suit the needs and priorities of Africans. Building on the premise that slavery, colonialism, imperialism and apartheid fundamentally unbalanced the values and indeed the very self-concept of Africans, he offers realistic steps to return to a more balanced Afro-centric identity.

Historically, African values were shaped by a sense of abundance, in material and mental terms, and by strong ties of community. The intrusion of religious, economic and legal systems imposed by conquerors, traders and missionaries upset this balance, and the African identity was subsumed by the values of the newcomers. Biko shows how a reimagining of Africa can restore the sense of abundance and possibility, and what a rebirth of the continent on Pan-African lines might look like. This is not about the churn of the news cycle or party politics – although he identifies the political party as one of the most pernicious legacies of colonialism. Instead, drawing on latest research, he offers a practical, pragmatic vision anchored in the here and now.

By looking beyond identities and values imposed from outside, and transcending the divisions and frontiers imposed under colonialism, it should be possible for Africans to develop fully their skills, values and ingenuity, to build institutions that reflect African values, and to create wealth for the benefit of the continent as a whole.

The birth of the world's great megacities is the surest and starkest harbinger of the "urban age" inaugurated in the twentieth century. As the world's urban population achieves majority for the first time in recorded history, theories proliferate on the nature of urban politics, including the shape and quality of urban democracy, the role of urban social and political movements, and the prospects for progressive and emancipatory change from the corridors of powerful states to the routinized rhythms of everyday life. At stake are both the ways in which the rapidly changing urban world is understood and the urban futures being negotiated by the governments and populations struggling to contend with these changes and forge a place in contemporary cities. Transdisciplinary by design, Monstrous Politics first moves historically through Mexico City's turbulent twentieth century, driven centrally by the contentious imbrication of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its capital city. Participant observation, expert interviews, and archival materials demonstrate the shifting strategies and alliances of recent decades, provide the reader with a sense of the texture of contemporary political life in the city during a time of unprecedented change, and locate these dynamics within the history and geography of twentieth-century urbanization and political revolution. Substantive ethnographic chapters trace the emergence and decline of the political language of "the right to the city," the establishment and contestation of a "postpolitical" governance regime, and the culmination of a century of urban politics in the processes of "political reform" by which Mexico City finally wrested back significant political autonomy and local democracy from the federal state. A four-fold transection of the revolutionary structure of feeling that pervades the city in this historic moment illustrates the complex and contradictory sentiments, appraisals, and motivations through which contemporary politics are understood and enacted. Drawing on theories of social revolution that embrace complexity, and espousing a methodology that foregrounds the everyday nature of politics, Monstrous Politics develops an understanding of revolutionary urban politics at once contextually nuanced and conceptually expansive, and thus better able to address the realities of politics in the "urban age" even beyond Mexico City.

The birth of the world's great megacities is the surest and starkest harbinger of the "urban age" inaugurated in the twentieth century. As the world's urban population achieves majority for the first time in recorded history, theories proliferate on the nature of urban politics, including the shape and quality of urban democracy, the role of urban social and political movements, and the prospects for progressive and emancipatory change from the corridors of powerful states to the routinized rhythms of everyday life. At stake are both the ways in which the rapidly changing urban world is understood and the urban futures being negotiated by the governments and populations struggling to contend with these changes and forge a place in contemporary cities. Transdisciplinary by design, Monstrous Politics first moves historically through Mexico City's turbulent twentieth century, driven centrally by the contentious imbrication of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its capital city. Participant observation, expert interviews, and archival materials demonstrate the shifting strategies and alliances of recent decades, provide the reader with a sense of the texture of contemporary political life in the city during a time of unprecedented change, and locate these dynamics within the history and geography of twentieth-century urbanization and political revolution. Substantive ethnographic chapters trace the emergence and decline of the political language of "the right to the city," the establishment and contestation of a "postpolitical" governance regime, and the culmination of a century of urban politics in the processes of "political reform" by which Mexico City finally wrested back significant political autonomy and local democracy from the federal state. A four-fold transection of the revolutionary structure of feeling that pervades the city in this historic moment illustrates the complex and contradictory sentiments, appraisals, and motivations through which contemporary politics are understood and enacted. Drawing on theories of social revolution that embrace complexity, and espousing a methodology that foregrounds the everyday nature of politics, Monstrous Politics develops an understanding of revolutionary urban politics at once contextually nuanced and conceptually expansive, and thus better able to address the realities of politics in the "urban age" even beyond Mexico City.

Guided by the thesis that literature can transform social reality, Tirana Modern draws on ethnographic and historical material to examine the public culture of reading in modern Albania. Formulated as a question, the topic of the book is: How has Albanian literature and literary translation shaped social action during the longue duree of Albanian modernity? Drawing on material from the independent Albanian publisher, Pika pa siperfaqe ("Point without Surface"), Tirana Modern provides a tightly focused ethnography of literary culture in Albania that brings into relief the more general dialectic between social imagination and social reality as mediated by reading and literature.

Guided by the thesis that literature can transform social reality, Tirana Modern draws on ethnographic and historical material to examine the public culture of reading in modern Albania. Formulated as a question, the topic of the book is: How has Albanian literature and literary translation shaped social action during the longue duree of Albanian modernity? Drawing on material from the independent Albanian publisher, Pika pa siperfaqe ("Point without Surface"), Tirana Modern provides a tightly focused ethnography of literary culture in Albania that brings into relief the more general dialectic between social imagination and social reality as mediated by reading and literature.

The half century of European activity in the Caribbean that followed Columbus's first voyages brought enormous demographic, economic, and social change to the region as Europeans, Indigenous people, and Africans whom Spaniards imported to provide skilled and unskilled labor came into extended contact for the first time. In Life and Society in the Early Spanish Caribbean, Ida Altman examines the interactions of these diverse groups and individuals and the transformation of the islands of the Greater Antilles (Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica). She addresses the impact of disease and ongoing conflict; the Spanish monarchy's efforts to establish a functioning political system and an Iberian church; evangelization of Indians and Blacks; the islands' economic development; the international character of the Caribbean, which attracted Portuguese, Italian, and German merchants and settlers; and the formation of a highly unequal and coercive but dynamic society. As Altman demonstrates, in the first half of the sixteenth century the Caribbean became the first full-fledged iteration of the Atlantic world in all its complexity.

By most accounts, Europe has been mired in a "demographic crisis" since about 1970. By a demographic crisis is meant that Europe's dependency ratio is increasing, and the net result has been declining populations and fewer workers to sustain society. However, there are certain issues that need attention. Two topics seem to capture some of these issues: The implications of the possible crisis, and the crisis' assessment. The present volume is organized around both topics (implications and assessment). There are at least three contributions being made by the proposed volume. To begin with, while there are other issues related to the demographic crisis in Europe the present volume should motivate additional research. Secondly, the research in the proposed volume does not necessarily assume that there is a demographic crisis in Europe nor that it is consistent across national lines. Thus, each chapter, in essence, examines a different issue associated with the proposal that there is a crisis. Finally, the present volume makes several methodological contributions. For example, the chapter by David Swanson uses non-Bayesian modeling in studying infant mortality. Richard Verdugo examines the dependency ratio and selected factors on economic growth in selected European nations, Kposowa and Ezzat conduct an assessment, Martins examines variation in the path toward a crisis, Johnson examines humanitarian migration and the crisis, Edmonston examines the association between geopolitics and the crisis.

This unique and important book investigates what it means to be multiracial and/or multiethnic in the United States, examining the issues involved from personal, societal, and cultural perspectives. More and more, the idea of America as a melting pot is becoming a reality. Written from the perspective of multiracial citizens, The New Face of America: How the Emerging Multiracial, Multiethnic Majority Is Changing the United States brings to light the values, beliefs, opinions, and patterns among these populations. It assesses group identity and social recognition by others, and it communicates how multiracial individuals experience America's reaction to their increasing numbers. Comprehensive and far-reaching, this thoughtful compendium covers the cultural history of multiracials in America. It looks at multiracial families today, at rural and urban multiracial populations, and at multiracial physical features, health disparities, bone and marrow transplant issues, adoption matters, as well as multiracial issues in other countries. Multiracial entertainers, athletes, and politicians are considered, as well. Among the book's most important topics is multiracial health and health care disparity. Finally, the book makes clear how America's current majority institutions, organizations, and corporations must change their relationship with multiracial and multiethnic populations if they wish to remain viable and competitive. A chronology of the growth of the multiracial population in the United States Charts highlighting multiracial population growth patterns in the United States A map showing which parts of the United States have the highest numbers and largest growth of multiracials A bibliography of multiracial and multiethnic references from all types of disciplines

Communicating Across Differences: Negotiating Identity, Privilege, and Marginalization in the 21st Century presents research and scholarship from a broad range of contributing authors who represent the voices and perspectives of traditionally marginalized and uniquely underrepresented groups. The anthology explores the intersectionality of intercultural communication and cultural studies, blending social science approaches with critical perspectives. Each chapter examines how marginality and privilege pertain to issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality, class, dis/ability, language, inter/nationality, and instruction that are negotiated through the process of communication and media messaging while being framed in hegemonic cultural dynamics. Readers gain insight into the breadth and depth of the intergroup identities that impact our ability to communicate effectively across differences today. Dedicated chapters examine cross-racial communication, racial representation and grouping in news coverage, cultural influences and variations in language usage, power dynamics surrounding disability discourse, instructor immediacy behaviors from the perspective of international students, and more. Designed to help us better understand and respect the cultural, social, and political implications that surround power, privilege, marginalization, and oppression, Communicating Across Differences is a timely and essential resource for courses focusing on diversity, multiculturalism, cultural studies, and intercultural communication.

Tucked into the files of Iowa State University's Cooperative Extension Service is a small, innocuous looking pamphlet with the title Lenders: Working through the Farmer-Lender Crisis. Cooperative Extension Service intended this publication to improve bankers' empathy and communication skills, especially when facing farmers showing "Suicide Warning Signs." After all, they were working with individuals experiencing extreme economic distress, and each banker needed to learn to "be a good listener." What was important, too, was what was left unsaid. Iowa State published this pamphlet in April of 1986. Just four months earlier, farmer Dale Burr of Lone Tree, Iowa, had killed his wife, and then walked into the Hills Bank and Trust company and shot a banker to death in the lobby before taking shots at neighbors, killing one of them, and then killing himself. The unwritten subtext of this little pamphlet was "beware." If bankers failed to adapt to changing circumstances, the next desperate farmer might be shooting.This was Iowa in the 1980s. The state was at the epicenter of a nationwide agricultural collapse unmatched since the Great Depression. In When a Dream Dies, Pamela Riney-Kehrberg examines the lives of ordinary Iowa farmers during this period, as the Midwest experienced the worst of the crisis. While farms failed and banks foreclosed, rural and small-town Iowans watched and suffered, struggling to find effective ways to cope with the crisis. If families and communities were to endure, they would have to think about themselves, their farms, and their futures in new ways. For many Iowan families, this meant restructuring their lives or moving away from agriculture completely. This book helps to explain how this disaster changed children, families, communities, and the development of the nation's heartland in the late twentieth century. Agricultural crises are not just events that affect farms. When a Dream Dies explores the Farm Crisis of the 1980s from the perspective of the two-thirds of the state's agricultural population seriously affected by a farm debt crisis that rapidly spiraled out of their control. Riney-Kehrberg treats the Farm Crisis as a family event while examining the impact of the crisis on mental health and food insecurity and discussing the long-term implications of the crisis for the shape and function of agriculture.