Across Africa, growing economic inequality, instability and urbanization have led to the rapid spread of private security providers. While these PSPs have already had a significant impact on African societies, their impact has so far received little in the way of comprehensive analysis.

Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary approaches, and encompassing anthropology, sociology and political science, Private Security in Africa offers unique insight into the lives and experiences of security providers and those affected by them, as well as into the fragile state context which has allowed them to thrive. Featuring original empirical research and case studies ranging from private policing in South Africa to the recruitment of Sierra Leoneans for private security work in Iraq, the book considers the full implications of PSPs for security and the state, not only for Africa but for the world as a whole.

After ten years of civil war young people throng Sierra Leone’s capital. Brian James and Mats Utas talk about how to survive.

Since the 1970s there has been a gradual change in the approach of the donors to technical solutions for the provision of water and sanitation in the Third World. This study examines some concrete projects from that perspective.

In whose interest is it to produce children? What is the linkage between reproductive relations and the position of women in society? Is it possible to have a universal theory to deal with the women's question in any historical situation?

These and other issues are examined in the study written by Ulla Vuorela who has done extensive fieldwork in a Tanzanian village. Her courageous theory and its pertinent application in a village study open the reader's eyes to new insights into the women's question in the wider context of development issues. In this book, traditions are linked with essential problems of our time, with the overall economic crisis and its effect on women and men and the problems of human reproduction.

In 1971 the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies and the East and Central African Office of the International Co-operative Alliance organized a seminar entitled "Efficiency in the Performance of Co-operatives" and it was held at the Co-operative College, Langata, Kenya. The papers in this volume are introductory papers sent to the participants before the seminar, as well as statements made by members of various organizations participating. Although the approaches seem different, there is one similarity to the co-operatives; all of the authors are trying in one way or another to answer the question: "What is co-operative efficiency?"

The relationship between the camel and the Somali people has traditionally been reflected in Somalia's oral literary forms: Poems, proverbs, work songs, metaphores and tales of wisdom. The author has gathered countless references to camels from these Somali traditions.

In recent years, there has been a surge of “Northern” policy documents concerned with increasing the positive effects of international migration in countries of origin. This article contrasts some basic assumptions in policies on migration, return and development with an anthropological study of Cape Verdean returnees, and it reveals some important disparities between the returnees’ experiences and the ideas underpinning policy documents. The article analyses the role returnees’ savings and skills play in local change in Cape Verde, and in particular it looks into entrepreneurial activities. This is related to a discussion of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to make it possible for return migrants to contribute to positive social change. In conclusion, the article shows that structural conditions have a fundamental impact on individual migrants’ abilities to support development, a perspective often left out of contemporary policies.

This article juxtaposes theoretical notions concerning the relationship between migrant remittances and socio-economic inequality with an anthropological case study of remittances in Cape Verde. Contemporary theorizing involves, firstly, the idea that remittances do not benefit the poorest; secondly, the conclusion that the impact of remittances changes over time; thirdly, the notion that family structure influences the distribution of remittances; and fourthly the proposition that remittances have a stronger impact on social stratification when linked to the return of a migrant. The primary aim of the article is to use these theoretical notions as entry-points for analysing how remittances interplay with patterns of inequality in Cape Verde. A second aim is to examine the explanatory power of the theories through applying them to this specific case. The article demonstrates that remittances in some cases benefit the poorest in Cape Verde and that this has to do with the long history of migration, which means that nearly everyone, irrespective of class, has a close relative abroad. It also shows that Cape Verdeans generally receive quite small amounts of money, which implies that they are seldom able to improve their economic situation in a more substantial way.In conclusion, the article contends that in order to fully appreciate the complex relationshipbetween remittances and socio-economic inequality it is necessary to take into account theimportance of other sources of income. Moreover, it argues that the contemporary restrictiveimmigration regimes in receiving countries have a fundamental impact on the socio-economic distribution of remittances. In studies of the relationship between remittances and inequality, this is an aspect that has been left out. Instead, theorizing tends to focus on factors that are internal to the countries of origin, and on the migrants’ links to these countries.

Many African migrants residing abroad nurture a hope to one day return, at least temporarily, to their home country. In the wake of economic crises in the developed world, alongside rapid economic growth in parts of Africa, the impetus to 'return' is likely to increase. Such returnees are often portrayed as agents of development, bringing with them capital, knowledge and skills as well as connections and experience gained abroad. Yet, the reality is altogether more complex.

In this much-needed volume, based on extensive original fieldwork, the authors reveal that there is all too often a gaping divide between abstract policy assumptions and migrants' actual practices. In contrast to the prevailing optimism of policies on migration and development, Africa's Return Migrants demonstrates that the capital obtained abroad is not always advantageous and that it can even hamper successful entrepreneurship and other forms of economic, political and social engagement.

The Ngorongoro Highlands and the serengeti Plains in nothern Tanzania are renowed for their abundant wildlife and scenic beauty. Ngorongoro is also the home of some 15,000 semi-nomadic Maasai pastorialists. Together with their herds of domestic stock they have for generations coexisted peacefully with the wildlife in the area.

This book is an account of the pastoral community in Ngorongoro. Against the backdrop of national development policies and the history of wildlife conservation in the area, the book describes resource utilization and living conditions among the Ngorongoro Maasai.