Can developing countries trade their way out of poverty? International trade has grown dramatically in the last two decades in the global economy, and trade is an important source of revenue in developing countries. Yet, many low-income countries have been producing and exporting tropical commodities for a long time. They are still poor. This book is a major analytical contribution to understanding commodity production and trade, as well as putting forward policy-relevant suggestions for '...

With increasing pressure on resources, the looming spectre of climate change and growing anxiety among eaters, ecology and food are at the heart of the political debates surrounding agriculture and diet. This unique contribution unravels agri-environmental issues at different spatial levels, from local to global, documenting the major shifts in agriculture from a long-term perspective.The book begins by exploring the changes in the industrialisation and socialisation of agriculture...

This Open Access book is for scientists and experts who work on urban food policies. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding the urban food system sustainability and how it can be tackled by local governments. Written by a collective of researchers, this book describes the existing conceptual frameworks for an analysis of urban food policies, at the crossroads of the concepts of food system and sustainable city. It provides a basis for identifying research questions related to...

Since the 1990s, the Ankarana region of northern Madagascar has developed a reputation among globe-trotting gemstone traders and tourists as a source of some of the world's most precious natural wonders. Although some might see Ankarana's sapphire and ecotourist trades as being at odds with each other, many local people understand these trades to be fundamentally connected, most obviously in how both serve foreign demand for what Madagascar has to offer the world. Walsh explores the tensio...

This primer will give you everything you need to know rather than everything there is to know about gold and inflation. From the birth of money to current gold investment vehicles, The Prudent Investor's Guide to Owning Gold is a great guide for those interested in investing in the most famous of precious metals. Furthermore, it will likely prompt concern with where the dollar is headed as it highlights the current state of inflation and the potential threat of hyperinflation.

With his first book, Better Birder, Michael Ketover emerges as an exciting voice in travel writing. Ketover, an expert in poverty reduction and social justice, chronicles inspiring, outrageous, and mundane assignments in international development work and his reflections on the resilience of the poorest of the poor. These interactions reveal his flaws and slowly remake him into someone better than he used to be. With the theme of watching birds woven into each story, Ketover focuses on eac...

Linking environmental sustainability with poverty reduction and social justice, and making science and technology work for the poor, have become central practical, political and moral challenges of our times. These must be met in a world of rapid, interconnected change in environments, societies and economies, and globalised, fragmented governance arrangements. Yet despite growing international attention and investment, policy attempts often fail. Why is this, and what can be done about it...

Samir Amin remains one of the world's most influential thinkers about the changing nature of North-South relations in the development of contemporary capitalism. In this highly prescient book, originally published in 1997, he provides a powerful analysis of the new unilateral capitalist era following the collapse of the Soviet model, and the apparent triumph of the market and globalization.Amin's innovative analysis charts the rise of ethnicity and fundamentalism as consequences of...

International development cooperation is undergoing a revolution. The authors question how far bilateral and multilateral aid agencies succeed in mainstreaming global issues in their operations and assess how emerging and traditional donors address competing objectives, often with diverging rationales. Cases include Brazil, China and South Africa.

The contributors to this volume draw on a non-dogmatic Marxist approach to explain the systemic and conjunctural dynamics of crisis inherent in global capitalism. Their analysis asks what is historically specific to capitalism's crises while avoiding catastrophic or defeatist claims. At the same time the volume situates left agency within actual patterns of resistance and class struggle to clarify the potential for transformative change.The cycle of resistance strengthened by the Wo...

Militarism is the elephant in the room of global warming. Of all government sectors, 'Defence' has the highest carbon footprint and expenditure, yet has largely been exempt from international scrutiny and regulation. Marty Branagan uses Australian and international case studies to show that nonviolence is a viable alternative to militarism for national defence and regime change. 'Active resistance', initiated in Australian environmental blockades and now adopted globally, makes the song 'W...

This book explores the process of policymaking and implementation in the finance, energy and security sectors in the United Arab Emirates. It looks at the role of informal advisory networks in a nascent private sector, federal politics, and historical ties in foreign relations.