Norad

*000      am
*00118026
*008110527         gb      r         0 eng
*020  $a978-1-84904-109-6
*096  $aAF/Gab E
*10010$aEllis, Stephen
*24510$aSeason of rains$bAfrica in the world$cStephen Ellis
*260  $aLondon$bHurst$c2011
*300  $a215 s.
*500  $aReview'The notion, still popular in the west, that Africa is a lost continent, somehow cut adrift from global moorings, is given short shrift in this provocative assessment, which manages to combine a deep understanding of the way in which history informs the present with an appreciation of the enormous change that globalisation is bringing.' --The Economist'An outstanding, original and provocative work. - The breadth of Season of Rains is extremely impressive. - its greatest strength is the way it manages to convey a sense of both continuity and change. - to achieve this in what is a short book is a considerable achievement.' --Dr Daniel Branch, University of Warwick[Ellis] succeeds brilliantly in showing that the need to find a new way of understanding African politics is neither a merely academic question, nor a reason for the rest of the world to disengage with Africa. For while African states since the ending of empire may not be exemplars of sovereign virtue and while some may remain seemingly bottomless pits for the rich world s largesse, they are, nonetheless, integral parts of the planet s social, political, economic, and natural environment. What happens in Africa matters for everyone, not just Africans. . .The author engages the subject from a decidedly African perspective, based on a deep knowledge and commitment to the continent and its people.' --Adam Ashforth, University of Michigan Product DescriptionMost of what is written about Africa is framed in terms that have been out of date for years. Too often, it is seen as heading for either disaster or salvation; the realities are more subtle, more complicated than this binary opposition suggests. The continent has over the last century experienced the fastest population growth in the entire history of our planet. This brings pressures environmental and human, but it also changes the logic of Africa's economics. It suggests reasons for hope. Thanks to mobile phones, African retail markets are now becoming integrated; in South Africa, Nigeria and elsewhere, banking is penetrating society; foreign direct investment is higher than ever before. And Africa has 80 per cent of the world's empty agricultural land, which foreigners covet. Yet there is no reason to believe that Africa is heading for political stability. Its so-called 'failed states' are actually here to stay. After two centuries when Europeans and Americans thought of Africa as a continent struggling to catch up, it has arrived. It has developed, but in ways no one foresaw. Season of Rains explains how one billion Africans are changing their continent and changing the world. Stephen Ellis dissects how the postcolonial legacy has been overcome, how Africans are seizing the commercial and political initiative, and why this matters. Africans are reorienting-literally-as they connect to the East. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese, seeking minerals, oil and more, have settled in Africa; conversely the Chinese city of Guangzhou is home to as many as 100,000 Africans. In a series of short, pungently written chapters, Ellis surveys the continent today, offering the reader an indispensable guide to how money, power, religion and indigenous development will shape Africa's coming generations.ns.
*650  $aEconomic development
*650  $aPopulation growth
*650  $aForeign direct investment
*650  $aAfrica
*650  $aCapital inflow
*850  $aNorad
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