The Crisis and Challenge of African Development - (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies: Contempo) by Harvey Glickman (Hardcover)

About the Book

The collective message of this compendium is caution: don't put excessive pressure on African institutions. Sayre Schatz, Ravi Gulhati and Satya Yalamanchili, and Raymond Hopkins, in particular, argue that laissez-faire won't work in Africa; that reforms must be carefully sequenced; and that evidence on the relationship between food subsidies and declining agricultural productivity is scanty. Foreign Affairs

This collection of essays was assembled to address the problems of Africa from a variety of perspectives. The contributors have attempted to ask some basic but up-to-now unaddressed questions and to reframe many of the issues. The overall approach is intentionally interdisciplinary. Although recognizing that Africa's economic decline has resulted from poorly designed policy, the contributors also attempt to place that policy in its historical and cultural context. Similarly, they establish a comparative perspective for Africa's economic performance, and point to outside forces that have been overlooked. Finally, the contributors investigate some key issues in agricultural policy, such as decentralization, the role of women, and food subsidies.

Book Synopsis

The collective message of this compendium is caution: don't put excessive pressure on African institutions. Sayre Schatz, Ravi Gulhati and Satya Yalamanchili, and Raymond Hopkins, in particular, argue that laissez-faire won't work in Africa; that reforms must be carefully sequenced; and that evidence on the relationship between food subsidies and declining agricultural productivity is scanty. Foreign Affairs

This collection of essays was assembled to address the problems of Africa from a variety of perspectives. The contributors have attempted to ask some basic but up-to-now unaddressed questions and to reframe many of the issues. The overall approach is intentionally interdisciplinary. Although recognizing that Africa's economic decline has resulted from poorly designed policy, the contributors also attempt to place that policy in its historical and cultural context. Similarly, they establish a comparative perspective for Africa's economic performance, and point to outside forces that have been overlooked. Finally, the contributors investigate some key issues in agricultural policy, such as decentralization, the role of women, and food subsidies.

Review Quotes

?This collection tries to address the problems of Africa from a variety of perspectives. The authors establish a comparative perspective for Africa's economic performance, and point to outside forces that have been overlooked. They also investigate the issues of agricultural policy, decentralization, the role of women, and food subsidies.?-Abstracts of Development Studies

"This collection tries to address the problems of Africa from a variety of perspectives. The authors establish a comparative perspective for Africa's economic performance, and point to outside forces that have been overlooked. They also investigate the issues of agricultural policy, decentralization, the role of women, and food subsidies."-Abstracts of Development Studies

About the Author

HARVEY GLICKMAN is Professor of Political Science at Haverford College, Pennsylvania.