Overview

"Population growth, business interests, and global connections are transforming Africa from a ""lost"" continent to one of ""strategic opportunity"" in the worldwide geopolitical sphere. A timely synthesis of current thinking on this diverse, complex, and changing region, Africa: Geographies of Change offers students the most realistic portrait of modern Africa available. Integrating material on China in Africa, the mobile-phone revolution, the Millennium Development Goals, sustainable development, ""land and water grabs,"" food security, informal livelihoods, the ""Green Revolution,"" and new satellite cities, this text adopts a realistically optimistic narrative that focuses on Africa's burgeoning cities. By using case studies to highlight important topics, Africa: Geographies of Change incorporates new perspectives from urban studies, public health, political geography, and sustainable development in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of African issues.Features*Integrated cutting-edge topics--such as China in Africa, the mobile-phone revolution, sustainable development, informal livelihoods, and food security--keep the text relevant and thought-provoking*Emphasis on contemporary Africa motivates students to consider alternative and more positive possibilities for African development *Historical knowledge underpins the assessment of contemporary issues and helps students to envision future development and policy outcomes*Uniquely African perspectives enhance each chapter*Carefully selected sidebars and case studies vividly illustrate the topics being discussed"

Full Product Details

Author:   Grant
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 18.80cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780199920563

ISBN 10:   0199920567
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   15 July 2014
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Setting the African Stage The Urban Revolution and Emerging Rural Revolution in Africa The Concept of Africa How to Write About Africa? sidebar The New Africa Growth Story Urbanization in Small Towns in East Africa sidebar Africa as a Millennium Development Frontier Urbanization in Africa in Consideration Conclusions Chapter 2 Reframing and Rerepresenting African Affairs Introduction Representing Africa: The Darkness Legacy The Coming Anarchy sidebar Moving from a World of Shadows into Splintering Light Social Media: Africa Reporting, Blogging Africa, and Africa Podcasting Africans' Revisioning of Africa Unchaining Africa Ending the Looting of Africa Political Leadership Environmentalism of the Poor and Sustainable Development Ending Aid? Civil Society African Postcolonial Urbanists Conclusion Chapter 3 Africa's Environments Introduction The Environment and International Development Agendas The Diversity of African Environments Africa's Rainfall and Climate Change Africa's Mineral Resources The Resource Curse or Cure? sidebar Coltan sidebar Environments of Africa's Fisheries Somali Pirates: Responding to Africa's Fish Rush? sidebar Human Environments Urban Environments and Ecological Footprints Conclusions Chapter 4 The Scramble for Africa and the State of European Geographic Knowledge on the Region Introduction Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) sidebar Timbuktu: Colonial Escapades and Unanswered Questions Colonial Motivations Africa's Urban Past Great Zimbabwe : An Urban History Almost Forgotten sidebar Colonial Legacies Geographies of Empire The Bungalow sidebar Urban Development and Planning the Colonial City Conclusions Chapter 5 Rural Africa Introduction Rural Development Themes and Policy Emphases: The Elusive Quest For Sustained Development The Green Revolution Africa's Failed Green Revolution Africa's New Green Revolution Genetically Modified (GM) Crops African Millennium Villages sidebar Rural Livelihoods: A Challenge to the Primacy of Small Farms? Pro-Poor Tourism Best Practices from Rural South Africa: Making African Game Parks Work for the Local Poor sidebar Gender in Rural Africa Girls in Rural Africa: Invisible Members of Society Conclusion Chapter 6 Africa's Mobile Phone Revolution: Informal Economy, Creativity and Informal Spaces Introduction The Last Forty Years of Informal Economy Evolution and Sophistication in Africa Major Informal Economy Debates The African Informal Economy on the Ground International Informal Economy Entanglements: E-Waste in Africa sidebar The Diversity of Informal Workers, Soweto Township, South Africa sidebar Dynamism, Creativity and Informality Mobile Phones: The New Talking Drums of Everyday Africa Ushahidi: Built in Africa for the World Designing Sustainable Prototypes for Africa's Informals Community-Led Enumerations and Mapping: Counting Lives and Building Community in Kibera, Kenya sidebar Slum Tourism and Shack Chic: Are They Good Ideas? sidebar Conclusions Chapter 7 Migration Introduction African Athletes and Global Sports Recruitment sidebar Colonial Policies and Migration Circular Migration Burkina Faso: Circular Migration in Time and Space sidebar Forced Migrants: Refugees and IDPs The Johannesburg Hub: How Many Foreigners Are Present? sidebar Migrant Remittances to Africa The Hawala System of Transfer in the Horn of Africa sidebar Transnational Houses sidebar Human Trafficking and Smuggling Migrant Journeys in Pursuit of the South African Dream sidebar Out of Africa: US and European Movements Conclusions Chapter 8 Water Introduction Africa's Water Water and Sanitation: Colonialism to the Present Indigenous Knowledge of Water sidebar Water Grabbing sidebar Water and Poverty Transboundary Water Issues Virtual Water Water Footprint of Cut Flowers in Kenya: What Is the True Cost? sidebar Conclusions Chapter 9 Health Introduction Technology Bright Spots in Health Arenas sidebar Africa's Disease Burden Africa's Health Data Lacuna Sickness and Health: The Colonial Legacies of Inherited Health Systems The Nexus of International Health Policy and National Health Policies, 1980-Present HIV/AIDS: An Extraordinary African Struggle AIDS in Uganda: An Unfinished Success Story sidebar Global Health Funding Priorities, Emphases, and Omissions: Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and Mental Health Mental Health in Africa sidebar Urban Health Traditional Medicine and Healers sidebar Conclusions Chapter 10 Land and Food Introduction Why Has Africa Become a Net Food Importing Region? Contemporary Agriculture in Africa: The Great African Land Grab ? South Africans' Next Great Trek into Africa sidebar Benefits and Risks of Land Investments Geographies of the FDI in African Agricultural Lands The Fairtrade Debate sidebar Ethical Wildflower Trade and Sustainability: Flower Valley, South Africa Arguments For and Against Large-Scale FDI in African Agricultural Land Urban Agriculture Cape Town: The Paradox of Urban Food Insecurity in a Food-Secure Country sidebar Conclusions Chapter 11 Climate Change Introduction Environmental Changes on Mount Kilimanjaro Climate Impacts on Africa The Human Impacts of Climate Change African Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda Is the Conflict in Darfur the World's First Climate Change War? sidebar Global Climate Stalemate and Funding Intransigence: African Voices Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies in the African Sahel sidebar Conclusions Chapter 12 China and Africa Introduction China Returns to Africa Chinese Migration to Africa Chinese Entrepreneurs in Africa's Informal Economies The African Diaspora in China: African Entrepreneurs in the Dragon's Den China's Infrastructure Investments to Africa: Building Bridges? China's Stadium Diplomacy sidebar A Pathway to Economic Development: China's Special Economic Zone in Lekki, Nigeria sidebar China and Zambia Relations sidebar Conclusions Chapter 13 African Futures Introduction Washington's Engagement with Africa Africa's Terrorism Threats Post-MDGs: Which Alternatives? Durable Strengths that Africa Can Draw On sidebar New Urban Futures Eko-Atlantic (Nigeria) sidebar Urban Sustainability Sseesamirembe, Uganda: Sustainable Utopias Going Awry in a Global World sidebar Evidence of an Unsustainable World Post-MDGs: The Sustainable Development Agenda Rethinking Urbanism Livable Urbanism Conclusion

Reviews

'Africa Rising' is the watchword of the moment for the continent. Richard Grant's excellent new text explodes all of the old cliches about the African crisis and digs deep into contemporary realities: the urban transformation, the mobile phone revolution, the new scramble for resources, the growing presence of Chinese, Brazilian, Indian and South African capital, the contours of the land grab, new patterns of continental and global labor mobility, and not least the deepening challenges of water scarcity and global climate change. In short, Grant offers a new reframing and a new set of representations of Africa without obscuring the political and economic failures that continue to afflict parts of sub Saharan Africa. An exemplary undergraduate textbook. --Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley Richard Grant is onto something important by developing a text that emphasizes the contemporary and future eras more than most books do. It is a new approach, and this is an era where new approaches are needed to engage students. There is still classic geography here, but set within the context of a vibrant, ever-changing continent that is ripe for a do-over for textbooks in the discipline. --Garth A. Myers, Trinity College I highly recommend this book to my colleagues teaching any course on Africa. The topics are well laid out and the flow among the themes is clear. --Raymond Asomani-Boateng, Minnesota State University, Mankato

"""'Africa Rising' is the watchword of the moment for the continent. Richard Grant's excellent new text explodes all of the old clichés about the African crisis and digs deep into contemporary realities: the urban transformation, the mobile phone revolution, the new scramble for resources, the growing presence of Chinese, Brazilian, Indian and South African capital, the contours of the land grab, new patterns of continental and global labor mobility, and not least the deepening challenges of water scarcity and global climate change. In short, Grant offers a new reframing and a new set of representations of Africa without obscuring the political and economic failures that continue to afflict parts of sub Saharan Africa. An exemplary undergraduate textbook.""--Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley ""Richard Grant is onto something important by developing a text that emphasizes the contemporary and future eras more than most books do. It is a new approach, and this is an era where new approaches are needed to engage students. There is still classic geography here, but set within the context of a vibrant, ever-changing continent that is ripe for a do-over for textbooks in the discipline.""--Garth A. Myers, Trinity College ""I highly recommend this book to my colleagues teaching any course on Africa. The topics are well laid out and the flow among the themes is clear.""--Raymond Asomani-Boateng, Minnesota State University, Mankato"

Author Information

Richard Grant is Professor of Geography and Regional Studies at the University of Miami. He is also Adjunct Senior Research Scientist to the Earth Institute's Millennium Cities Initiative at Columbia University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg.

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