Beginning in the 1980s, sub-Saharan Africa witnessed a veritable explosion of NGOs and CSOs engaged in efforts to develop the subcontinent. Often praised for their commitment, flexibility, close contact with grassroots movements and marginalized groups, these organizations have become the darlings of donors and the UN system. During the same period, however, rural Africa has sunk deeper into    More >

Unlike previous books on the cocaine trade, which examine the problem through Western eyes, Snowfields looks at the drug business through the eyes of the main players in Bolivia, where the white powder is made. In this compelling account, Clare Hargreaves draws from scores of interviews with drug barons who rule over vast empires, dirt-poor coca farms, addicts, traffickers, the military,    More >

The shift in executive power from the European Union's member states to Brussels raises profound questions for Europe's social democratic parties as they seek to remain relevant within an integrated "Euro-polity." This book analyzes the response to this challenge: an entirely new organizational form of party politics emerging at the European level. Ladrech shows how social    More >

While previous analyses of public-sector reform efforts in Latin America have focused largely on strategies to redefine the role of the state in the economy, there is a growing realization that social reform—addressing such issues as poverty, inequality, and unemployment—is a condition on which economic and political stability rest. This volume provides a wide-ranging analysis of    More >

Today's headlines are rife with reports of hate crimes, domestic terrorism, drug abuse, police malfeasance, and many other profound social problems. Equally, there are discussions, often contentious, about how best to respond to the issues raised. Stacy Burns and Mark Peyrot explore government efforts to address social problems in the context of the criminal justice system.       More >

What are the social dimensions of sustainable development? Why are they important? Can agreement be reached on what constitutes progress? How can progress most effectively be brought about? Neil Thin argues that sustainable development is possible only if we systematically link social progress—social justice, solidarity, participation, and security—with other dimensions of development.    More >

Bronwen Lichtenstein draws on cases around the world to illustrate how sexual epidemics continue to be shaped by powerful forces of race, gender, and the lingering consequences of history. Illuminating the continuity of ideas and dynamics that affect both individual behavior and public health responses, Lichtenstein reveals a vicious interplay between the stigmas of social status and the    More >

This scholarly reflection on state-based research commemorates the 90th anniversary of the National Bureau for Education and Social Research—South Africa's first public social research organization—and the 50th anniversary of its successor, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). The contributors delve into the rich archives of the HSRC in all its iterations and, notably,    More >

South Africa in Southern Africa critically examines the dynamics of political change and conflict in South Africa in both the domestic and international arenas. The assumption that guides the book is that, in order to understand the process of change that is currently unfolding in South Africa, one must understand not only the patterns of race, class, clientelism, and culture inside the country,    More >

At the start of the twentieth century, newly urbanized South Africans struggled with mainstream missionary education and its associated oppression, segregation, displacement, and not least, disillusionment. They shared far-reaching educational aspirations in the rapidly growing, cosmopolitan Johannesburg in the aftermath of the 1899–1902 war. Vusumuzi Kumalo's insightful narrative    More >