The label of "Third World" covers half the land surface and three quarters of the population of the planet. The problems and potential of this region and its peoples are attracting increasing concern and interest. Fully revised and updated this edition includes: * a wealth of photographic and line illustrations * boxed case studies * chapter summaries * guides to further reading Issues of increasing concern at the end of the twentieth century are fully addressed - for example, the widening...

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...

Facing threats ranging from Islamist insurgencies to the Ebola pandemic, African regional actors are playing an increasingly vital role in safeguarding peace and stability across the continent. But while the African Union has demonstrated its ability to deploy forces on short notice and in difficult circumstances, the challenges posed by increasingly complex conflict zones have revealed a widening divide between the theory and practice of peacekeeping. With the AU's African Standby Force b...

Many African migrants residing abroad nurture a hope to one day return, at least temporarily, to their home country. In the wake of economic crises in the developed world, alongside rapid economic growth in parts of Africa, the impetus to 'return' is likely to increase. Such returnees are often portrayed as agents of development, bringing with them capital, knowledge and skills as well as connections and experience gained abroad. Yet, the reality is altogether more complex.In this ...

This volume is a critical inquiry into the social project and socioeconomic realities of emerging Brazil, a country that faces profound changes. A team of acknowledged specialists on Brazil’s complex configuration addresses state policies, social dynamics and economic constraints and opportunities for emancipation. Chapters adopt long-run perspectives on the development of the Brazilian welfare state, limits and opportunities for emancipation in the labor market, the scope and depth of soc...

Most developed economies, including single-industry and resource dependent rural or small town regions, are transforming rapidly as a result of social, political, and economic change. Collectively, they face a number of challenges as well as new opportunities. This international collaboration describes a critical political economy framework that will be useful for understanding these transitions.Transformation of Resource Towns and Peripheries describes the multi-faceted process of...

The authors assess the constitutional and partisan powers of Asian presidents, and analyse how they are used in actual policy-making processes. Country case studies on Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan analyze how their constitutional and partisan powers are used in actual policy-making processes.

The authors critically evaluate the fair trade movement's role in pursuing a more just and environmentally sustainable society. Using fair trade as a case study of the shift toward non-state forms of governance, they focus on its role not only as a regulatory tool, but as a catalyst for broader social and political transformation.

First Published in 1979. Development economists, when they discuss the role played by international trade in a country’s economic development, tend to tell one of three types of story. The first shows how the welfare of both (and by easy extension, all) countries which engage in trade is increased, even when one country is absolutely very rich and the other is absolutely very poor. The second, is a dull and detailed story about the way in which differences in economic structure between cou...

The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them. Achieving the Millenni...

The Nigerian state has been oil-rich for decades, and yet perennially incapable of converting its oil resources into wealth for ordinary Nigerians. Adeoye O. Akinola tackles this “vexed” oil question by examining the political economy of efforts to deregulate the Nigerian downstream oil industry. Focusing on themes of globalization and democratization, this book considers how a resource-rich developing country like Nigeria can exploit the opportunities of globalization and navigate the pre...

Against the long sweep of economic history, the current moment is special. Living standards advanced so rapidly and across so many countries over the last decade that it is difficult to think of parallels-even the deepest recession since the Great Depression did not halt progress.In Juggernaut, Uri Dadush and William Shaw explore the rise of developing countries and how they will reshape the economic landscape. Dadush and Shaw project that the global economy will more than...