Political Economy of Resource, Human Security and Environmental Conflicts in Africa

Political Economy of Resource, Human Security and Environmental Conflicts in Africa
Author: Kelechi Johnmary Ani
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811620369

This book shows the push and pull effects between resources, human security and conflicts in Africa. It recognizes the need for resources in Africa to be processed into finished goods in order to influence global market and redefine the pattern of trade relations with powerful countries of Asia, America and Europe in shaping the destiny and future of African countries. The achievement of this laudable objective is plagued by the security challenges which are directly or indirectly linked to resource-related conflicts rocking most of the resource endowed countries in the continent, thereby threatening global peace and security. To deal with this menace in the continent, it requires global co-operation and support of foreign governments, international organizations, international non-government organizations, governments of host countries and its citizens. The book presents the cases and experiences of countries that are endowed with resource, as well as have experienced different forms of human insecurity and have witnessed environmental conflicts in its analysis, which make the discourse interesting and quite educating.

Protecting Human Security in Africa

Protecting Human Security in Africa
Author: Ademola Abass
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2010-09-23
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199578982

This text explores the gravest threats to human security in Africa. Written by leading experts on its various themes, it combines legal and policy perspectives on the issues, making it an indispensable book for those seeking to learn more about the real challenges facing Africans and African organizations.

Access to Justice and Human Security

Access to Justice and Human Security
Author: Sindiso Mnisi Weeks
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2017-11-22
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1351669567

For most people in rural South Africa, traditional justice mechanisms provide the only feasible means of accessing any form of justice. These mechanisms are popularly associated with restorative justice, reconciliation and harmony in rural communities. Yet, this ethnographic study grounded in the political economy of rural South Africa reveals how historical conditions and contemporary pressures have strained these mechanisms’ ability to deliver the high normative ideals with which they are notionally linked. In places such as Msinga access to justice is made especially precarious by the reality that human insecurity – a composite of physical, social and material insecurity – is high for both ordinary people and the authorities who staff local justice forums; cooperation is low between traditional justice mechanisms and the criminal and social justice mechanisms the state is meant to provide; and competition from purportedly more effective ‘twilight institutions’, like vigilante associations, is rife. Further contradictions are presented by profoundly gendered social relations premised on delicate social trust that is closely monitored by one’s community and enforced through self-help measures like witchcraft accusations in a context in which violence is, culturally and practically, a highly plausible strategy for dispute management. These contextual considerations compel us to ask what justice we can reasonably speak of access to in such an insecure context and what solutions are viable under such volatile human conditions? The book concludes with a vision for access to justice in rural South Africa that takes seriously ordinary people’s circumstances and traditional authorities’ lived experiences as documented in this detailed study. The author proposes a cooperative governance model that would maximise the resources and capacity of both traditional and state justice apparatus for delivering the legal and social justice – namely, peace and protection from violence as well as mitigation of poverty and destitution – that rural people genuinely need.

Human Security

Human Security
Author: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2007-02-12
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1134134231

Pt. 1. Concepts : it works in ethics, does it work in theory? -- pt. 2. Implications.

Climate Change, Human Security and Violent Conflict

Climate Change, Human Security and Violent Conflict
Author: Jürgen Scheffran
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 869
Release: 2012-05-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642286267

Severe droughts, damaging floods and mass migration: Climate change is becoming a focal point for security and conflict research and a challenge for the world’s governance structures. But how severe are the security risks and conflict potentials of climate change? Could global warming trigger a sequence of events leading to economic decline, social unrest and political instability? What are the causal relationships between resource scarcity and violent conflict? This book brings together international experts to explore these questions using in-depth case studies from around the world. Furthermore, the authors discuss strategies, institutions and cooperative approaches to stabilize the climate-society interaction.

The Political Economy of Xenophobia in Africa

The Political Economy of Xenophobia in Africa
Author: Adeoye O. Akinola
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2017-11-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319648977

This book analyzes the phenomenon of xenophobia across African countries. With its roots in colonialism, which coercively created modern states through border delineation and the artificial merging and dividing of communities, xenophobia continues to be a barrier to post-colonial sustainable peace and security and socio-economic and political development in Africa. This volume critically assesses how xenophobia has impacted the three elements of political economy: state, economy and society. Beginning with historical and theoretical analysis to put xenophobia in context, the book moves on to country-specific case studies discussing the nature of xenophobia in Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana and Zimbabwe. The chapters furthermore explore both violent and non-violent manifestations of xenophobia, and analyze how state responses to xenophobia affects African states, economies, and societies, especially in those cases where xenophobia has widespread institutional support. Providing a theoretical understanding of xenophobia and proffering sustainable solutions to the proliferation of xenophobia in the continent, this book is of use to researchers and students interested in political science, African politics, peace studies, security, and development economics, as well as policy-makers working to eradicate xenophobia in Africa.

New Perspectives on Human Security

New Perspectives on Human Security
Author: Malcolm McIntosh
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351278789

This book is testimony to the emergent nature of human security as an idea, as a useful construct and as an operational strategy. The aim is to showcase new directions that may enrich the human security agenda. Some human security discourse is still rooted in the traditional language of the aid-agency/UN development/economic growth models, often hostile to the corporate and business sector, and sometimes negligent of sustainability and climate change issues. Another limited and outmoded approach is an exaggerated focus on Western interventions, especially military ones, as a "solution" to problems in poor or conflict-prone areas. "Human Security" was introduced as a construct by the UNDP in 1994. The inherent combination of law-enforcement and people-centred humanitarianism has strived to provide an umbrella to both protect people from threats while empowering them to control their destinies. But with accelerating economic globalization and information flows there is a need to revisit the concept. A new paradigm of Sustainable Human Security is required. This book argues that proponents of a human security approach should welcome efforts to remove the barriers between enterprise, corporations, aid and development agencies, government agencies, citizen groups and the UN; and work towards multi-stakeholder approaches and solutions for vulnerable populations. Such an approach is clearly vital in responding to the imperatives of concerted action on issues such as climate change, HIV, terrorism, organised crime and poverty. The agenda may have changed, but it remains true that almost all human tragedies are avoidable. This book examines a number of global problems through the lens of human security and the needs of the individual: global governance; health; the environment and the exploitation of natural resources; peace and reconciliation; the responsibility to protect; and economic development and prosperity. In the latter case, the role of business in the human security pantheon is promulgated. There are many reasons why businesses may want to engage with the needs of vulnerable populations – not least the fact that companies cannot function without secure trading environments. In addition, there are growing demands for corporate responsibility and citizenship from markets, customers, shareholders, employees and, critically, communities. This book throws new light on the human security agenda. It will be essential reading for anyone involved in the debates on human security as well as for practitioners and scholars in international affairs, global governance, peace studies, climate change and the environment, healthcare, responsibility to protect and corporate responsibility.

Human Development Report 1994

Human Development Report 1994
Author: United Nations Development Programme
Publisher: Human Development Report
Total Pages: 146
Release: 1994
Genre: Community development
ISBN: 0195091701

Expounds a new concept of human security- one that focuses on the security of people in their homes, in their jobs, in their communities and in their environment.

Human Security and Non-Citizens

Human Security and Non-Citizens
Author: Alice Edwards
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2010-01-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139484591

The past decades have seen enormous changes in our perceptions of 'security', the causes of insecurity and the measures adopted to address them. Threats of terrorism and the impacts of globalisation and mass migration have shaped our identities, politics and world views. This volume of essays analyses these shifts in thinking and, in particular, critically engages with the concept of 'human security' from legal, international relations and human rights perspectives. Contributors consider the special circumstances of non-citizens, such as refugees, migrants, and displaced and stateless persons, and assess whether, conceptually and practically, 'human security' helps to address the multiple challenges they face.