"Liberia's official seal captures competing contexts colliding and co-mingling. It consists of a shield with an idyllic image of a passenger ship seen from the shore approaching new territory. An invisible, straight line connects the ship with an inviting palm tree jutting out of the earth. Its...

The end of slavery, famine and food aid in Tunduru -- Changing configurations of poverty in the colonial southeast and the myth of communalism -- The struggle to trade -- Independence and the rhetoric of feasibility -- Villagisation and the pursuit of market access -- The politics of development...

Introduction -- Development dilemmas -- The post-apartheid development experience -- Evolution of policy in post-apartheid South Africa -- Nation building -- Social and economic transformation : policies and prospects -- Conclusion: towards an inclusive society