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A common perception of global resource scarcity holds that it is
inevitably a catalyst for conflict among nations; yet,
paradoxically, incidents of such scarcity underlie some of the most
important examples of international cooperation. This volume
examines the wider potential for the experience of scarcity to
promote cooperation in international relations and diplomacy beyond
the traditional bounds of the interests of competitive nation
states. The interdisciplinary background of the book's contributors
shifts the focus of the analysis beyond narrow theoretical
treatments of international relations and resource diplomacy to
broader examinations of the practicalities of cooperation in the
context of competition and scarcity. Combining the insights of a
range of social scientists with those of experts in the natural and
bio-sciences-many of whom work as 'resource practitioners' outside
the context of universities-the book works through the tensions
between 'thinking/theory' and 'doing/practice', which so often
plague the process of social change. These encounters with scarcity
draw attention away from the myopic focus on market forces and
allocation, and encourage us to recognise more fully the social
nature of the tensions and opportunities that are associated with
our shared dependence on resources that are not readily accessible
to all. The book brings together experts on theorising scarcity and
those on the scarcity of specific resources. It begins with a
theoretical reframing of both the contested concept of scarcity and
the underlying dynamics of resource diplomacy. The authors then
outline the current tensions around resource scarcity or
degradation and examine existing progress towards cooperative
international management of resources. These include food and water
scarcity, mineral exploration and exploitation of the oceans.
Overall, the contributors propose a more hopeful and positive
engagement among the world's nations as they pursue the economic
and social benefits derived from natural resources, while
maintaining the ecological processes on which they depend.
A common perception of global resource scarcity holds that it is
inevitably a catalyst for conflict among nations; yet,
paradoxically, incidents of such scarcity underlie some of the most
important examples of international cooperation. This volume
examines the wider potential for the experience of scarcity to
promote cooperation in international relations and diplomacy beyond
the traditional bounds of the interests of competitive nation
states. The interdisciplinary background of the book's contributors
shifts the focus of the analysis beyond narrow theoretical
treatments of international relations and resource diplomacy to
broader examinations of the practicalities of cooperation in the
context of competition and scarcity. Combining the insights of a
range of social scientists with those of experts in the natural and
bio-sciences-many of whom work as 'resource practitioners' outside
the context of universities-the book works through the tensions
between 'thinking/theory' and 'doing/practice', which so often
plague the process of social change. These encounters with scarcity
draw attention away from the myopic focus on market forces and
allocation, and encourage us to recognise more fully the social
nature of the tensions and opportunities that are associated with
our shared dependence on resources that are not readily accessible
to all. The book brings together experts on theorising scarcity and
those on the scarcity of specific resources. It begins with a
theoretical reframing of both the contested concept of scarcity and
the underlying dynamics of resource diplomacy. The authors then
outline the current tensions around resource scarcity or
degradation and examine existing progress towards cooperative
international management of resources. These include food and water
scarcity, mineral exploration and exploitation of the oceans.
Overall, the contributors propose a more hopeful and positive
engagement among the world's nations as they pursue the economic
and social benefits derived from natural resources, while
maintaining the ecological processes on which they depend.
Globalisation and new identities - a view from the middle brings
together 12 ethnographic studies of post-apartheid South Africa,
which focus on the emergence of new South African identities with
both strong local characteristics and powerful global influences.
It shows how, in different ways, through adoption, adaptation,
avoidance and resistance - South Africans are responding to the
forces and connections of globalisation. These ethnographies refuse
to make of South Africa a special case, a case apart from the rest
of the world, but instead locate it within the rest of the world.
In adapting northern approaches to globalisation to their own
purposes, the originality of the authors' engagement with South
Africa's social fabric becomes clear in historical perspective. All
these studies show how globalisation constitutes and is constituted
by the spreading of localised interests and identities - quite a
tranformation from the intense national politicization associated
with the anti-apartheid struggle.
This volume explores some of the key features of popular politics
and resistance before and after 1994. It explores continuities and
changes in the forms of struggle and ideologies involved, as well
as the significance of post-apartheid grassroots politics. Is this
a new form of politics or does it stand as a direct descendent of
the insurrectionary impulses of the late apartheid era? The scale
of popular protest in the 2000s does not rival that of the 1970s
and 1980s, but posing questions about continuity and change before
and after 1994, as some of these papers do, in itself raises key
issues concerning the nature of power and poverty in the country.
Contributors suggest that expressions of popular politics are
deeply set within South African political culture and still have
the capacity to influence political outcomes. Some chapters address
pre-1994 conflicts and movements, some post-1994, and some straddle
the two periods. The introduction by William Beinart links the
papers together, places them in context of recent literature on
popular politics and "history from below," and summarises their
main findings, supporting the argument that popular politics
outside of the party system remains significant in South Africa and
have helped to influence national politics. The roots of this
collection lie in post-graduate student research conducted at the
University of Oxford in the early twenty-first century.
Contesting Transformation is a sober and critical reflection on the
wave of social movement struggles which have taken place in
post-Apartheid South Africa. Moving beyond a social movement
scholarship that has tended to romanticise emergent movements, this
collection takes stock of the contradiction and complexity that is
necessarily entangled in all forms of popular resistance. Through
an exploration of labour strikes, legal organisations, community
protest and local government elections, the contributors consider
how different movements conceive of transformation and assess the
extent to which these understandings challenge the narrative of the
ruling African National Congress (ANC). An empirically grounded
analysis from a coterie of leading researchers and analysts,
Contesting Transformation is the definitive critical survey of the
state of popular struggle in South Africa today.
Contesting Transformation is a sober and critical reflection on the
wave of social movement struggles which have taken place in
post-Apartheid South Africa. Moving beyond a social movement
scholarship that has tended to romanticise emergent movements, this
collection takes stock of the contradiction and complexity that is
necessarily entangled in all forms of popular resistance. Through
an exploration of labour strikes, legal organisations, community
protest and local government elections, the contributors consider
how different movements conceive of transformation and assess the
extent to which these understandings challenge the narrative of the
ruling African National Congress (ANC). An empirically grounded
analysis from a coterie of leading researchers and analysts,
Contesting Transformation is the definitive critical survey of the
state of popular struggle in South Africa today.
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