Hanging by a Thread

William G. Moseley is associate professor of geography at Macalester College. He is the author of Taking Sides: Clashing Views on African Issues and coeditor of The Introductory Reader in Human Geography: Contemporary Debates.Leslie C. Gray is an associate professor of environmental studies at Santa Clara University. She has published articles on environment and development in journals such as World Development, Africa, African Studies Review, Development and Change, Geoforum, and Geographical Journal.

"Moseley and Gray have assembled a uniquely comprehensive picture of the way cotton connects poor farmers, wealthy consumers, activist organizations, industrial giants, and agronomic laboratories. Contributors use commodity chain analysis, national case histories, community scale studies, household production research, and examples of both successes and failures to point to ongoing changes among people, soil, crops, and companies in the global economy. This is more than a book for specialists on Africa; it provides a kaleidoscopic window into the pressing complexities of environment and development." "Drawing on data from several African countries and localities, the editors should be lauded for the way in which they tie this information into a coherent volume…. I would warmly recommend this book to any student or scholar who is interested in commodity production and livelihoods that are dependent on commodity production." (The Professional Geographer) "This book illuminates key points of power, contention, and uncertainty in African cotton and commodity chains…. (T)hese essays are designed to promote debate, and will be particularly useful for teaching." (International Journal of African Historical Studies) "Because it documents extensively the benefits and drawbacks of cotton for rural areas across Africa, this book will be of great value to students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds who have an interest in cotton, small-holders, and rural livelihoods." (African Studies Review) "This collection illuminates the connection between Africa and the global economy in a compelling set of linked studies that detail a crucially important aspect of the globalization process in Africa, the cotton commodity chain." (APADE, Indiana University) "Hanging by a Thread makes a significant contribution to the literature on cotton production in postcolonial Africa. The authors explore the complex and uneven social, economic, and environmental consequences of cotton in locales as different as rural Mali and KwaZulu-Natal. The interdisciplinary essays move beyond the countryside to examine national and global discourses on cotton and development and show how cotton is embedded in international circuits of power and trade. Moseley and Gray have crafted an excellent introduction which launches the study in important new directions." "This informative and insight-filled collection provides a comprehensive overview of the political economy of African cotton. It clearly demonstrates how local livelihoods depend on the fluctuations of global markets and explains why African smallholders continue to grow cotton despite falling prices. This is important reading for students and scholars of globalization."