Monday, May 5, 2014

New Africa Book of the Day - 5 May 2014

Displacement Economies in Africa edited by Amanda Hammar

Release Date: May 8, 2014
Publisher: Zed Books [Kindle Edition]


Large-scale displacement - whether caused by war, state-related political or development projects, different forms of political violence, structural crisis, or even natural disasters - evokes many stereotypes about those forcibly displaced or emplaced. At the same time there is a problematic lack of attention paid to those who benefit economically from, manage or in various unexpected ways are affected by processes of displacement. In this highly original volume, based on empirical case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa, the authors provide fresh insights into the unexpected changes, complex agency and persistent dynamism entailed in displacement processes. In doing so, the book explores the diversity of actors, strategies and practices that reshape the world in the face (and chronic aftermath) of dramatic moments of violent dislocation and/or enclosure.

An important contribution to a topic of growing scholarly and policy interest.
Amanda Hammar is author of Zimbabwe and Norway (1996) and co-editor (with Brian Raftopoulos and Stig Jensen) of Zimbabwe's Unfinished Business (2000). She is professor of African studies at Copenhagen University.