ThirdWorlds – serie

The concept of hybridity highlights complex processes of interaction and transformation between different institutional and social forms, and normative systems. It has been used in numerous ways to generate important analytical and methodological insights into peacebuilding and development. Its most recent application in the social sciences has also attracted powerful critiques that have highlighted its limitations and challenged its continuing usage.This book examines whether the value of hybridity as a concept can continue to be harnessed, and how its shortcomings might be mitigated or overcome. It does so in an interdisciplinary way, as hybridity has been used as a benchmark across multiple disciplines and areas of practical engagement over the past decade – including peacebuilding, state-building, justice reform, security, development studies, anthropology, and economics. This book encourages a dialogue about the uses and critiques of hybridity from a variety of perspectives and vantage points, including deeply ethnographic works, high-level theory, and applied policy work. The authors conclude that there is continued value in the concept of hybridity, but argue that this value can only be realised if the concept is engaged with in a reflexive and critical way.This book was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.

Research on global norm diffusion and institutional transfer has often neglected the agency of the governed. This collection argues that limited statehood – the lack of state capacities in most parts of the global South – provides opportunities for the governed to raise their voices and be listened to. Thus, people on the receiving end of development cooperation, state building, or security interventions can significantly shape global dynamics of normative and institutional change. Drawing on the emerging body of literature on the agency of the governed, this book assesses the current dynamics of transfer and diffusion studies at the interstice of political science and social anthropology. By focusing on the agency of the governed, the authors integrate a broad spectrum of issues and debates, from the proliferation of global norms to state and security building to international policy cooperation.This book will be of interest to students and researchers of global politics and international relations, particularly those focusing on the global South. It was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.

There is a woeful neglect of the current United Nations in the academic and policy literatures, and so it is unsurprising that an examination of that multilateral structure before 1945 shows an even more egregious absence of analytical attention. Such ignorance conveniently ignores the forgotten genius of 1942–1945, namely in the wide substantive and geographic relevance of multilateralism during the World War II and in the foundations for the contemporary world order. The wartime and immediate post-war United Nations was not simply dictated by the US State Department, Whitehall, and the foreign ministries of the West—even a generation before decolonisation had proceeded apace and two-thirds of UN member states moved into the limelight as erstwhile colonies. These essays interrogate the extent to which anti-colonialists and other nationalists resisting imperial rule embraced the promise of a rule-based world order as a normatively and operationally valuable projection in 1945. They critically review the worlds of 1945 and 2015, of then and now, to determine the role of continuity and change, of the continuing bases for compromise and for the clashes between the Global South and North. This book was previously published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

This book examines the extent to which a space has opened up in recent years for the so-called "rising powers" of the global South to offer an alternative to contemporary global economic and political governance through emergent forms of South-South cooperation. In contrast to the Third Worldism of the past, the contemporary rising powers share in common the fact that their recent growth owes much to their extensive and increasingly international engagement, rather than partial withdrawal from the global economy. However, they are nonetheless openly critical of the perceived bias towards the global North in the dominant institutions of global governance, and seek to alter the global status quo to enhance the influence of the global South. Contributions to this volume address the question of whether such engagement, particularly on a "South-South" basis, can be categorised as a "win-win" relationship, or whether we are already seeing the emergence of new forms of competitive rivalry and neo-dependency in action. What kind of theoretical approaches and conceptual tools do we need to best answer such questions? To what extent do new groupings such as BRICS suggest a real alternative to the dominance of the West and of the neoliberal economic globalization paradigm? What possible alternatives exist within contemporary forms of South-South cooperation? This book was originally published as a special edition of Third World Quarterly.

A fundamentally contested concept, food sovereignty (FS) has – as a political project and campaign, an alternative, a social movement and an analytical framework – barged into global discourses, both political and academic, over the past two decades. This collection identifies a number of key questions regarding FS. What does (re)localisation mean? How does the notion of FS connect with similar and/or overlapping ideas historically? How does it address questions of both market and non-market forces in a dominantly capitalist world? How does FS deal with such differentiating social contradictions? How does the movement deal with larger issues of nation-state, where a largely urbanised world of non-food producing consumers harbours interests distinct from those of farmers? How does FS address the current trends of crop booms, as well as other alternatives that do not sit comfortably within the basic tenets of FS, such as corporate-captured fair trade? How does FS grapple with the land question and move beyond the narrow ‘rural/agricultural’ framework? Such questions call for a new era of research into FS, a movement and theme that in recent years has inspired and mobilised tens of thousands of activists and academics around the world: young and old, men and women, rural and urban. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Contemporary practices of international peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction are often unsatisfactory. There is now a growing awareness of the significance of local governments and local communitites as an intergrated part of peacebuilding in order to improve quality and enhance precision of interventions. In spite of this, ‘the local’ is rarely a key factor in peacebuilding, hence ‘everyday peace’ is hardly achieved. The aim of this volume is threefold: firstly it illuminates the substantial reasons for working with a more localised approach in politically volatile contexts. Secondly it consolidates a growing debate on the significance of the local in these contexts. Thirdly, it problematizes the often too swiftly used concept, ‘the local’, and critically discuss to what extent it is at all feasible to integrate this into macro-oriented and securitized contexts. This is a unique volume, tackling the ‘local turn’ of peacebuilding in a comprehensive and critical way. This book was published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

The idea and practice of the ‘green economy’ is gaining momentum, coinciding with financial instability and continued economic woe in the Global North, but generally more positive economic circumstances in the Global South. ‘Green economic initiatives’ in the Global South are multiplying, and include carbon payments, ecotourism, community-based wildlife management, sustainability certification initiatives, and offsets by mining companies exploiting new resources. These initiatives are reallocating resources, redefining inequalities and redistributing the fortune and misfortune of participants of the green economy and those excluded from it. They have also led to resistance – locally, nationally, and transnationally – and to demands for alternatives to market-driven instruments and solutions, which are generally gaining strength and coherence. The articles included in this volume bring together a multi-disciplinary team of scholars from North and South to provide nuanced analyses of green economy experiences in the Global South – analysing the opportunities they provide, but also the redistributions they entail and the kinds of resistances they face. The ultimate aim of the collection is to provide a critical, but balanced, overview of the emerging green economy in the Global South and point the way to possible adjustments, alternatives or radical resistance, depending on different situations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Transnational organizations and practitioners who use sport for international development often position sport as a unique option for tackling development challenges. While sport can be a tool for social change, the authors in this collection bring a critical eye to this assumption and offer new perspectives on the use of sport for development and peace (SDP) in local and global contexts. The book seeks to generate new dialogues and explore linkages for development and SDP researchers through considerations of sport’s potential to challenge and/or perpetuate key global issues and problems. These analyses consider the SDP work done ‘on the ground’ and interrogate the historical, social and political circumstances of these practices. The authors explore how best to examine, theorize, critique and potentially improve local SDP initiatives.This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of both Development Studies and Sport. It was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.

The outbreak of Ebola virus disease that gripped Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone through much of 2014 and 2015 was undoubtedly a health emergency, yet it was also a global political event. This book examines the international politics of the Ebola outbreak in all of its dimensions, critically assessing the global response, examining what the outbreak can tell us about contemporary global health governance, and examining the inequalities and injustices that were laid bare. In doing so, the book shows how some of the concepts, debates and findings from the growing field of global health research in International Relations can help both in furthering understanding of the Ebola crisis and also in improving policy responses to future infectious disease outbreaks. This book was originally published as a special edition of Third World Quarterly.

How have Chinese views on globalization developed over time? How is China managing the new normal of slower growth? Is China creating an alternative modernity? Is China a status quo power or a reform power? Can China manage its growing international role in international institutions and in the New Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, along with infrastructure projects in the region such as One Belt One Road and the Maritime Silk Road? Can China achieve balanced interactions with ASEAN and with developing countries in the region and worldwide? How is governance in China evolving in relation to social movements, protests, labour struggles and migrant workers? Do Chinese policies in relation to religious diversity contribute to social harmony or to friction? This timely volume by Chinese and international scholars offers diverse perspectives on these questions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

The contributions to this volume eschew the long-held approach of either dismissing human rights as politically compromised or glorifying them as a priori progressive in enabling resistance. Drawing on plural social theoretic and philosophical literatures – and a multiplicity of empirical domains – they illuminate the multi-layered and intricate relationship of human rights and power. They highlight human rights’ incitement of new subjects and modes of political action, marked by an often unnoticed duality and indeterminacy. Epistemologically distancing themselves from purely deductive, theory-driven approaches, the contributors explore these linkages through historically specific rights struggles. This, in turn, substantiates the commitment to avoid reifying the ‘Third World’ as merely the terrain of ‘fieldwork’, proposing it, instead, as a legitimate and necessary site of theorising. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

This comprehensive volume explores debt dynamics and the intensification of debt crises across the globe, bringing together several recent but underexplored debt crises from different regional and socioeconomic contexts. Using detailed case studies, the authors recast the perils of debt-based growth in the context of regional/global imbalances; not to advocate ‘one-size-fits-all’ reforms, but to point to the need for accommodating diversity. They examine how current economic developments put developing and developed countries under new strain. They also interrogate the opportunities and challenges generated for developing countries by the new development finance landscape and newly (re)emerged geopolitical tensions. The book also explores the inability of existing dominant structures and thinking to effectively manage the multiple facets of the ongoing global debt crisis, pointing to responses that exacerbate rather than address unsustainable debt dynamics. The authors illustrate the adverse effects of ad hoc crisis management mechanisms which are not fit for purpose, and indicate the negative consequences that existing policies may have for democracy. They then put forward a framework for alternative thinking as well as concrete ideas on what needs to be done, in response. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars and professionals in the field of global debt studies. It was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.

This comprehensive volume reviews recent scholarship regarding the role of the state in economic development. With a wide range of case studies of both successful and failed state-led development, the authors push the analysis of the developmental state beyond its original limitations and into the 21st century.New policies, institutional configurations, and state-market relations are emerging outside of East Asia, as new developmental states move beyond the historical experience of East Asian development. The authors argue for the continued relevance of the ‘developmental state’ and for understanding globalization and structural transformation through the lens of this approach. They further this concept by applying it to analyses of China, Latin America, and Africa, as well as to new frontiers of state-led development in Japan and the East Asian developmental states. This book expands the scope of research on state-led development to encompass new theoretical and methodological innovations and new topics such as governance, institution building, industrial policy, and the role of extractive industries. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Third World Quarterly.

Security studies and international relations have conventionally relegated gendered analysis to the margins of academic concern, most commonly through the ‘women in’ or ‘women and’ politics and IR discourse. This comprehensive volume contributes to debates which seek to move feminist scholarship away from the reification of the war/peace and security/economy divides. By foregrounding the empirical reality of the breakdown of these traditional divisions, the authors pay particular attention to frameworks which query their very existence. In doing so, the collection as a whole troubles the ubiquitous concept and practices of ‘(in)security’ and their effects on differentially positioned subjects. By gendering (in)securities in ‘states of exception’ and other paradigms of government related to it, especially in postcolonial and neocolonial contexts, the book provides an approach that allows us to study the complex and interrelated security logics, which constitute the messy realities of different – and particularly vulnerable – subjects’ lives. In other words, it suggests that these frameworks are ripe for feminist interventions and analysis of the logics and production of (in)securities as well as of resistance and hybridisation.This book was originally published as an online special issue of the journal Third World Thematics.

Even when armed conflicts formally end, the transition to peace is not clear-cut. This comprehensive volume explores the mounting evidence which suggests that it is rather ‘unlikely to see a clean break from violence to consent, from theft to production, from repression to democracy, or from impunity to accountability’. The authors analyse the complex endeavour of transitioning out of war, studying how it is often interrelated with other transformations such as changes in the political regime (democratisation) and in the economy (opening of markets to globalisation). They explore how, in the same way as wars and conflicts reflect the societies they befall, post-war orders may replicate and perpetuate some of the drivers of war-related violence, such as high levels of instability, institutional fragility, corruption, and inequality. This book thus suggests that, even in the absence of a formal relapse into war and the re-mobilisation of former insurgents, many transitional contexts are marked by the steady and ongoing reconfiguration of criminal and illegal groups and practices.This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of political science and peace studies. It was originally published as an online special issue of Third World Thematics.

This volume contributes new insights to the scientific debate on post-Socialist urbanities. Based on ethnographic research in cities of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Russia, its contributions scrutinise the social production of diverse public, parochial and private spaces in conjunction with patterns of everyday encounter, identification, consumption and narration. The analyses extend from the transnational entanglements between a Dushanbe bazaar and hyper-modern Dubai to the micro-level hierarchies in a flat-sharing community in Astana. They explore competing notions of urban belonging and aesthetics in Yerevan, local perception of Central Asian Muslims in Kazan and Saint Petersburg, and more, providing a rich tapestry of academic study. Taken together, the case studies address cities as gateways to ‘new worlds’ (both local and global), discuss ambitions of states at taming urban landscapes, and illustrate current trends of economic, religious and other lifestyles in urban Central Asia and beyond. This book was originally published as a special issue of Central Asian Survey.

This book argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to understanding inequality within and between countries. It does so via a transdisciplinary approach that draws on case studies from Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Contributors illustrate and explain the diversity of forms of class relations, and the ways in which they interplay with other social relations of dominance and subordination, such as gender and ethnicity as part of a wider project to revitalise class analysis in the study of development problems and experiences.Class is conceived as arising out of exploitative social relations of production, but is formulated through and expressed by multiple determinations. By illuminating the diversity of social formations, this book illustrates the depth and complexity present in Marx’s method.This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Disputes and dispossession of property rights in the mining sector are causes of injustice, violence, and forced resettlement around the world. This comprehensive volume examines mining, particularly what is often called ‘Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining’, from a perspective of governance and rights. It focuses on rights to land, natural resources, and other forms of material ‘property’. Many projects, policies, and laws targeting artisanal and small-scale mining are embedded in problematic conceptual and institutional frameworks that implicitly stigmatise and discipline artisanal and small-scale miners. This collection takes a critical look at notions of property to destabilise some of these frameworks. The chapters in this book are notable for their recognition of the agency of artisanal miners and ‘local communities’ within the uneven hierarchies in which they are embedded, and their acknowledgement of the difficulties of state regulation of such a complex set of issues. The authors use a variety of theoretical tools, engaging with political economy, political ecology, classical economic theory, and socio-cultural concepts derived from ethnographic methods. This book includes insightful case studies from Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mongolia, South Africa, and Zambia, and is an important resource for academics, development practitioners, and policy-makers. It was originally published online as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

The subject of local government and post-conflict reconstruction sits at the intersection of several interrelated research areas, notably conflict/peacebuilding, governance, and political economy. This volume addresses a gap in the academic literature: whilst decentralisation is frequently included in peace agreements, the actual scope and role of local government is far less frequently discussed. This gap remains despite a considerable literature on local government in developing countries more generally, particularly with regard to decentralisation; but also, despite a considerable and growing literature on post-conflict reconstruction.This volume provides a mixture of case study, cross-case studies, practitioner reflection, and conceptual material on the function of local government in the context of decentralisation in post-conflict countries, from both academics and policy-makers. This collection of in-depth single- and multi-country case study analysis is complemented by practitioner reflections and framed within the 2030 Agenda building on the New Urban Agenda, and particularly the Sustainable Development Goal 16 to ‘promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.’The chapters in this book were originally published in the online journal Third World Thematics.

Fragile states pose major development and security challenges. Considerable international resources are therefore devoted to state-building and institutional strengthening in fragile states, with generally mixed results. This volume explores how unpacking the concept of fragility and studying its dimensions and forms can help to build policy-relevant understandings of how states become more resilient and the role of aid therein. It highlights the particular challenges for donors in dealing with ‘chronically’ (as opposed to ‘temporarily’) fragile states and those with weak legitimacy, as well as how unpacking fragility can provide traction on how to take ‘local context’ into account. Three chapters present new analysis from innovative initiatives to study fragility and fragile state transitions in cross-national perspective. Four chapters offer new focused analysis of selected countries, drawing on comparative methods and spotlighting the role of aid versus historical, institutional and other factors. It has become a truism that one-size-fits-all policies do not work in development, whether in fragile or non-fragile states. This is should not be confused with a broader rejection of ‘off-the-rack’ policy models that can then be further adjusted in particular situations. Systematic thinking about varieties of fragility helps us to develop this range, drawing lessons – appropriately – from past experience. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly, and is available online as an Open Access monograph at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351630337.

Violence and the Third World in International Relations is intended as a contribution to the decolonization of international relations, and especially of international security studies, much of which is dominated by a self-sustaining Eurocentrism. Rather than focusing on the motivations of violence, this volume is concerned with the devastating and debilitating consequences of war against the Third World. Contributors delve into the violent structuring of Third World societies during colonialism, the Cold War, and globalization. A wide range of topics are systematically examined, including, but not restricted to, the role of racism in the construction of the international system; evangelical universalism and colonial conquest in Africa; American civilizational security as Grand Strategy in Asia; the colonial roots of guerrilla war in India; the widespread suffering and death inflicted on Iraqis through sanctions; violence against indigenous peoples in Colombia related to ‘war capitalism’; the complicated legacies of genocide in Cambodia; the Saudi-led, (US and UK backed) war against Yemen; the relationalities between violence in the US and the Third World during Obama’s presidency; the structural location of gang violence in Central America in the aftermath of foreign intervention; and a broader understanding of security and insecurity in the Caribbean.Violence and the Third World in International Relations will be of particular interest to scholars of postcolonial and decolonial international relations, international security studies, and race and international relations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Studying the State explores the results of governments in the Global South, particularly in Latin America, turning to the state as a vehicle for mobilizing people, resources and political change. The book evaluates the results of this return to the state by looking at recent historical events to analyse the outcomes, processes, successes and failures of these projects. It also explores the role of China in affecting the margins of manoeuvrability of states, especially Latin American states. Finally, the book considers various perspectives on the theory of the state, contributing to theoretical approaches in the social sciences but in a way that is always grounded in their utility for addressing real-world problems. Contributing to theoretical understandings of the state through grounded case studies, Studying the State will be of great interest to scholars of Latin America, the Global South and neoliberalism and the state. This book was originally published as a special issue in Third World Thematics.

Beyond the Gatekeeper State explores the dynamic changes occurring within and between African states, and the international system since the turn of the century.Frederick Cooper’s model of ‘gatekeeper states’ – shaped as much by their international links as by their domestic practices – provides the basis for the contributors’ thinking about international relations in Africa and the wider international system. The chapters explore the political implications of Africa’s new relations with the old super-powers, former colonial powers, and the emerging powers from the South. These new relationships reflect and affect changing technology, infrastructure, and resource flows within and between African states. Drawing on both rich empirical cases and theoretical approaches, the book interrogates the implications of these changes on how we think about states and state systems.Exploring the impact of changing technology, finance, and resources on African politics, Beyond the Gatekeeper State will be of great interest to scholars of African Politics and International Relations (IR), as well as African Studies, IR, and the politics of the Global South more broadly. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions looks at the growing involvement of affected persons in global politics, such as young climate activists, indigenous movements, and persons affected by HIV/AIDS. Since the early 2000s, international organisations within various policy areas have increasingly recognised and involved affected persons’ organisations. This has promised to address long-standing legitimacy and democracy deficits of international policy making and norm setting. Yet, the powerful do not easily cede the terrain: Some major states, classic NGOs, and intergovernmental organisations seek to curtail the influence of the newcomers. The authors within this collection study these contestations from an interdisciplinary political science and international law perspective. Based on evidence from a broad range of policy areas, we address some of the crucial questions: What does it mean to be affected? How can affected groups meaningfully participate in international negotiations? Whose voices do still remain excluded? Ultimately, the authors chart whether the rising involvement of the 'most affected' will re-shape global politics and social struggles on the ground.Taking a dual political science and international law perspective, Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions will be of great interest to scholars of civil society in global governance, international law, and international institutions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

Rising Powers in International Conflict Management locates rising powers in the international conflict management tableau and decrypts their main motives and limitations in the enactment of their peacebuilding role. The book sheds light on commonalities and divergences in a selected group of rising powers’ (namely Brazil, India, China, and Turkey) understanding and applications of conflict management and explains the priorities in their conflict management strategies from conceptual/theoretical and empirical aspects. The case studies point to the evolving nature of conflict management policies of rising powers as a result of their changing priorities in foreign and security policy and the shifts observed in the international order since the end of the Cold War. The country-specific perspectives provided in this study have also proven right the potentialities of rising powers in managing conflicts, as well as their past and ongoing challenges in envisaging crises in both their own regions and extra-regional territories. Improving the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of rising powers as conflict management actors and peacebuilders at regional and international levels, Rising Powers in International Conflict Management will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, conflict studies, and peacebuilding. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Converging Social Justice Issues and Movements argues that multiple contemporary converging crises have significantly altered the context for and object of political contestations around agrarian, climate, environmental and food justice issues.This shift affects alliances, collaboration and conflict among and between state and social forces, as well as within and between social movements. The actual implications and mechanisms by which these changes are happening are, to a large extent, empirical questions that need careful investigation. The majority of the discussions in this volume are dedicated to the issue of responses to the crises both by capitalist forces and those adversely affected by the crises, and the implications of these for academic research and political activist work. Interdisciplinary in nature, Converging Social Justice Issues and Movements will be of great use to scholars of agrarian politics, as well as climate and environmental justice studies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in Third World Quarterly.

Citizen Aid and Everyday Humanitarianism brings together, under the umbrella terms of citizen aid and grassroots humanitarianism, interdisciplinary research on small-scale, privately-funded forms of aid that operate on the margins of the official development sector. The last decade has seen a steady rise of such activities in the Global South and North, such as in response to the influx of refugees into Europe. The chapters in this volume cover a variety of locations in Asia, Africa and Europe, presenting empirically grounded cases of citizen aid. They range from educational development projects, to post-disaster emergency relief. Importantly, while some activities are initiated by Northern citizens, others are based on South–South assistance, such as Bangladeshi nationals supporting Rohingya refugees, and peer support in the Philippines in the aftermath of typhoon Hayan. Together, the contributions consider citizen aid vis-à-vis more institutionalised forms of aid, review methodological approaches and their challenges and query the political dimensions of these initiatives. Key themes are historical perspectives on ‘demotic humanitarianism’, questions of legitimacy and professionalisation, founders’ motivations, the role of personal connections, and the importance of digital media for brokerage and fundraising. Being mindful of the power imbalances inherent in citizen aid and everyday humanitarianism, they suggest that both deserve more systematic attention.Citizen Aid and Everyday Humanitarianism will be of great interest to scholars and professionals working in international development, humanitarianism, international aid and anthropology. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

The Spatiality of Violence in Post-war Cities analyses violence in post-war cities from different perspectives and in different parts of the world, with a shared attention to space and how it affects violent dynamics. The world is urbanising rapidly and cities are increasingly held as the most important arenas for sustainable development. Cities emerging from war are no exception, but across the globe, many post-war cities are ravaged by residual or renewed violence, which threatens progress towards peace and stability. This volume addresses why such violence happens, where and how it manifests, and how it can be prevented. It includes contributions that are informed by both post-war logics and urban particularities, that take intra-city dynamics into account, and that adopt a spatial analysis of the city. They focus on cases around the world, including Medellín (Colombia), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Mitrovica (Kosovo). The volume makes a threefold contribution to the research agenda on violence in post-war cities. First, the contributions nuance our understanding of the causes and forms of the uneven spatial distribution of violence, insecurities, and trauma within and across post-war cities. Second, the collection demonstrates how urban planning and the built environment shape and generate different forms of violence in post-war cities. Third, the contributions explore the challenges, opportunities, and potential unintended consequences of conflict resolution in violent urban settings.Providing novel insights into the causes and dynamics of violence in post-war cities, and challenges and opportunities for violence reduction, The Spatiality of Violence in Post-war Cities will be of great interest to scholars of peace, violence, conflict and its resolution, urban studies, built environment and planning.The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

Beyond the Gatekeeper State explores the dynamic changes occurring within and between African states, and the international system since the turn of the century.Frederick Cooper’s model of ‘gatekeeper states’ – shaped as much by their international links as by their domestic practices – provides the basis for the contributors’ thinking about international relations in Africa and the wider international system. The chapters explore the political implications of Africa’s new relations with the old super-powers, former colonial powers, and the emerging powers from the South. These new relationships reflect and affect changing technology, infrastructure, and resource flows within and between African states. Drawing on both rich empirical cases and theoretical approaches, the book interrogates the implications of these changes on how we think about states and state systems.Exploring the impact of changing technology, finance, and resources on African politics, Beyond the Gatekeeper State will be of great interest to scholars of African Politics and International Relations (IR), as well as African Studies, IR, and the politics of the Global South more broadly. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.