Mark Langan – författare

The European Union has been one of the most vocal advocates of ‘sustainable development’, particularly in its dealings with developing countries. Even prior to the formulation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the EU has insisted upon the need for sustainable approaches to poverty reduction and economic growth in the Global South. When examining EU relations with African countries as part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, however, it becomes clear that the translation of Europe’s sustainability discourse into practice is highly problematic. Notably, there are concerns that the EU’s free market approach to development – embodied in its EPA trade deals – is incompatible with genuine, pro-poor forms of sustainable growth. Moreover, the EU is often seen as a hegemonic actor whose trade and aid interventions in Africa often do more to perpetuate poverty than to ameliorate it. This book casts a critical light on Africa-EU relations with regards to the EU’s sustainability pledges. It does this through looking at an array of issues – not least trade, aid, the environment, and democratic institutions. In this vein, the book poses a challenge to EU trade and development discourse in the era of the UN SDGs. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal.

Africa’s association with the European Union has long been hailed as a progressive model of North-South relations. European officials, in particular, have represented the Africa-EU ‘partnership’ as a pro-poor enterprise in which trade interests are married to development prerogatives. Applying a moral economy perspective, this book examines the tangible impact of Africa-Europe trade and development co-operation on citizens in developing countries. In so doing, it challenges liberal accounts of Europe’s normative power to enable benevolent change in the Global South and illuminates how EU discourse acts to legitimise unequal trade ties that have regressive consequences for ‘the poor’. Drawing upon the author’s own fieldwork, it assesses the difference between norms and the actual impact of EU concessions in relation to: budget support; aid for trade; private sector development (PSD); decent work. It concludes by considering the value of a moral economy approach in the assessment of free trade structures more widely.This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Africanist IPE, European studies, and more broadly international political economy, international development, and international relations.

The European Union has been one of the most vocal advocates of ‘sustainable development’, particularly in its dealings with developing countries. Even prior to the formulation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the EU has insisted upon the need for sustainable approaches to poverty reduction and economic growth in the Global South. When examining EU relations with African countries as part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, however, it becomes clear that the translation of Europe’s sustainability discourse into practice is highly problematic. Notably, there are concerns that the EU’s free market approach to development – embodied in its EPA trade deals – is incompatible with genuine, pro-poor forms of sustainable growth. Moreover, the EU is often seen as a hegemonic actor whose trade and aid interventions in Africa often do more to perpetuate poverty than to ameliorate it. This book casts a critical light on Africa-EU relations with regards to the EU’s sustainability pledges. It does this through looking at an array of issues – not least trade, aid, the environment, and democratic institutions. In this vein, the book poses a challenge to EU trade and development discourse in the era of the UN SDGs. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal.

This edited volume provides a timely and critical analysis of Africa‑EU Relations in the new Samoa Agreement phase of the long‑standing ‘Eurafrican’ relationship.Drawing on a range of critical perspectives and contributions it moves beyond Eurocentric visions of policy co‑operation on development to highlight three core themes that frame the analysis within this volume: the new scramble for Africa, Europe’s ontological security and the securitisation of development and African agency. In doing so, it assesses EU actors’ engagement with African institutions in relation to key areas of policy collaboration, including trade, development, health, migration and security. In this context, it examines whether the ‘partnership’ offers African states and regional institutions a genuine pathway to ‘development’ or whether historical power asymmetries remain entrenched – and perhaps even exacerbated – through the new Africa‑EU Agreement.This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners involved in Development Studies, EU studies, Africa‑EU Relations, African politics and International Relations and more broadly to International Political Economy and Comparative Regionalism.

Africa’s association with the European Union has long been hailed as a progressive model of North-South relations. European officials, in particular, have represented the Africa-EU ‘partnership’ as a pro-poor enterprise in which trade interests are married to development prerogatives.Applying a moral economy perspective, this book examines the tangible impact of Africa-Europe trade and development co-operation on citizens in developing countries. In so doing, it challenges liberal accounts of Europe’s normative power to enable benevolent change in the Global South and illuminates how EU discourse acts to legitimise unequal trade ties that have regressive consequences for ‘the poor’. Drawing upon the author’s own fieldwork, it assesses the difference between norms and the actual impact of EU concessions in relation to:budget supportaid for tradeprivate sector development (PSD)decent workIt concludes by considering the value of a moral economy approach in the assessment of free trade structures more widely.This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Africanist IPE, European studies, and more broadly international political economy, international development, and international relations.

This book examines the implications of Brexit for Africa-UK relations amid a ‘new scramble’ for the continent. Engaging Nkrumah on neo-colonialism and recent scholarship on global coloniality, Langan here underscores concerns that Brexit was fuelled by an imperial romanticism that now gives rise to a Global Britain project involving the perpetration of ‘Empire 2.0’ in Africa. In this context, he examines UK elites’ pursuit of Brexit trade deals and the ‘development’ consequences of premature market opening. Throughout its chapters, this work assesses strategic usages of UK aid monies in terms of economic leverage and the externalisation of migration and highlights the impact of UK development finance and corporate activities for the health and wellbeing of workers and host communities. Significantly, Langan explores the UK’s pursuit of security interests and human rights criticisms and concludes by highlighting African agency to resist the Global Britain project amid the fragility of the British state itself.

Throughout its chapters, this work assesses strategic usages of UK aid monies in terms of economic leverage and the externalisation of migration and highlights the impact of UK development finance and corporate activities for the health and wellbeing of workers and host communities.