This unique collection combines historical accounts with current socio-political analysis to present an agenda for social-spacial justice for the people of the Eastern Cape. The title explores economics, the environment, development and service delivery, and includes a series of case studies. The contributors' areas of expertise range from political science, social policy, economics, geography, anthropology, biology and education. The Fate of the Eastern Cape not only provides a biography of the post-1994 region, but also makes an important contribution to debates about future policy prescriptions to tackle the wider questions about the future of provinces in South Africa.

In recent years as globalization and market liberalization have marched forward unabated, and the global commons continue to be commodified and privatized at a rapid pace. In this global process, the ownership, sale and supply of water is increasingly the flashpoint for debates and conflict over privatization, and nowhere is the debate more advanced or acute than in southern Africa. The Age of Commodity provides an overview on the debates over water privatization including a conceptual overview of water 'privatization', how it relates to human rights, macro-economic policy and GATS and how the debates are shaped by research methodologies. The book then presents case studies of important water privatization initiatives in the region, drawing out crucial themes common to water privatization debates around the world including corruption, gender equity and donor conditionalities. This is book is powerful and necessary reading in our new age of commodity.

The inspiration for this book was a Summer School on State, Governance and Development presented by distinguished academics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Written by young African scholars, the chapters here focus on state, governance and development in Africa as seen from the authors’ vantage points and positions in different sectors of society.

The book opens with three forewords by eminent African scholars including Ben Turok, Johan Burger and Mohamed Halfani. The chapters that follow examine rent-seeking, patronage, neopatrimonialism and bad governance. They engage with statehood, state-building and statecraft and challenge the mainstream opinions of donors, funders, development banks, international non-governmental organisations and development organisations. They include the role of China in Africa, Kenya’s changing demographics, state accountability in South Africa’s dominant party system, Somalia’s prospects for state-building, urban development and routine violence, and resource mobilisation.

At a time in which core institutions are being tested -- the market, the rule of law, democracy, civil society and representative democracy – this book offers a much-needed multi- and inter-disciplinary perspective, and a different narrative on what is unfolding, while also exposing dynamics that are often overlooked.

Recognizing how critics of privatization are often told they present no alternatives, this book takes up that challenge, proposing conceptual models for what exactly constitutes a dependable alternative to privatization and commercialization. The analysis delves into what makes these potential alternatives successes or failures, citing empirical data on creative public service initiatives in more than 40 countries in the global south. Providing a robust platform for comparisons across regions and sectors with a focus on health, water, and electricity, this groundbreaking study presents a compelling survey penned by leading academics, practitioners, and activists in the field. Sectoral and regional overviews of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean are included.

The growth in private health care for the middle classes has resulted in deeply segregated and unequal health care, with poor people being relegated to under-resourced and unresponsive public systems, and wealthy minorities receiving world-class treatment at very high prices. - from the Introduction *** This book examines the scope for health care reform in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Both countries are undergoing significant attempts at reforming inequitable, private sector-dominated, health care systems in the context of fragile, negotiated, social settlements. In South Africa, the government is moving towards introducing a national health insurance scheme that holds the historic promise of introducing social solidarity and effective health care for all its citizens. However, key aspects of the proposed scheme remain unresolved and need to be widely debated. In Zimbabwe, mandatory national health insurance has been discussed for decades without any conclusion being reached or a system implemented. This option needs to be revisited as the economy stabilizes and confidence in governance improves. Based on extensive research, the contributors to this volume examine health care reform in historical context, analyze the views of key stakeholders, and reflect on current proposals for better health financing and more people-centered health systems, based on the principles of universality and social solidarity. Universal Health in Southern Africa is essential reading for academics, health professionals, and policy makers concerned with the historical, ideological, and institutional background to the current policy debate on the commercialization of health care and proposed alternatives, such as a national health system.

There is a vast literature for and against privatizing public services. Those who are against privatization are often confronted with the objection that they present no alternative. This book takes up that challenge by establishing theoretical models for what does (and does not) constitute an alternative to privatization, and what might make them 'successful', backed up by a comprehensive set of empirical data on public services initiatives in over 40 countries. This is the first such global survey of its kind, providing a rigorous and robust platform for evaluating different alternatives and allowing for comparisons across regions and sectors. The book helps to conceptualize and evaluate what has become an important and widespread movement for better public services in the global South. The contributors explore historical, existing and proposed non-commercialized alternatives for primary health, water/sanitation and electricity. The objectives of the research have been to develop conceptual and methodological frameworks for identifying and analyzing alternatives to privatization, and testing these models against actually existing alternatives on the ground in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Information of this type is urgently required for practitioners and analysts, both of whom are seeking reliable knowledge on what kind of public models work, how transferable they are from one place to another and what their main strengths and weaknesses are.

There is a vast literature for and against privatizing public services. Those who are against privatization are often confronted with the objection that they present no alternative. This book takes up that challenge by establishing theoretical models for what does (and does not) constitute an alternative to privatization, and what might make them 'successful', backed up by a comprehensive set of empirical data on public services initiatives in over 40 countries. This is the first such global survey of its kind, providing a rigorous and robust platform for evaluating different alternatives and allowing for comparisons across regions and sectors. The book helps to conceptualize and evaluate what has become an important and widespread movement for better public services in the global South. The contributors explore historical, existing and proposed non-commercialized alternatives for primary health, water/sanitation and electricity. The objectives of the research have been to develop conceptual and methodological frameworks for identifying and analyzing alternatives to privatization, and testing these models against actually existing alternatives on the ground in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Information of this type is urgently required for practitioners and analysts, both of whom are seeking reliable knowledge on what kind of public models work, how transferable they are from one place to another and what their main strengths and weaknesses are.