This book is about being disabled and being poor and the social, cultural and political processes that link these two aspects of living in what has been characterised as a "vicious circle" (Yeo & Moore 2003). It is also about the strengths that people show when living with disability and being poor. How they try to overcome their problems and making the best out of what little they have. This book will appeal to academics, postgraduates and policymakers in disability studies, development studies, poverty and social exclusion

This book analyses the past and ongoing decline of Zimbabwe under the rule of ZANU-PF, with a primary focus on the period 1997 to the present. In contrast to much existing literature on post-independence Zimbabwe which has focused on the political dimensions of Zimbabwe’s fragility, this research highlights the economic aspects of Zimbabwe’s regression flowing from prolonged mismanagement of the economy which has served to consolidate the rule of the country’s political and economic elite. The Zimbabwean experience offers unique insights into the economic mensions of regime preservation. This book situates the Zimbabwe experience within the context of wider debates within the field of development studies, and the international community’s response to such situations.

Zimbabwe has moved from a condition of restricted expression to one of many contradictory expressions. Politics has lost none of its compromises and conflicts, but it has been amplified by an explosion of voices. For the first time, a genuine debate is possible among many actors, insiders and outsiders, and the question marks over Zimbabwe and its future are no longer in terms of a narrow choice between one party and another, one outlook or another. Compromise government has meant complexity of debate. This does not preclude disillusionment within debate, but it does include vigour and imagination in debate. This book includes essays from renowned scholars, governmental and diplomatic figures, and prioritises contributions by Zimbabweans themselves. The essays provide a blend of academic and practitioner observation and judgement which no other volume has done. This book was published as a special issue of The Round Table.

This book is a pioneering study of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, a Zimbabwean nationalist whose crucial role in the country’s anti-colonial struggle has largely gone unrecognized. These essays trace his early influence on Zimbabwean nationalism in the late 1950s and his leadership in the armed liberation movement and postcolonial national-building processes, as well as his denigration by the winners of the 1980 elections, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. The Nkomo that emerges is complex and contested, the embodiment of Zimbabwe’s tortured trajectory from colony to independent postcolonial state. This is an essential corrective to the standard history of twentieth-century Zimbabwe, and an invaluable resource for scholars of African nationalist liberation movements and nation-building.

Despite a long history of regional integration and a multiplicity of regional organizations in southern Africa, the effect of regional integration on economic growth and poverty reduction remains debatable or elusive. This causes many to doubt whether regional integration is in actual fact an effective poverty-reduction strategy. Accordingly, the focus of this book is to explore and analyze whether specific Southern African Development Community (SADC) trade integration policies, especially the trade liberalization regime, have produced economic growth and reduced poverty in the region. While it is generally agreed that economic growth is the panacea to poverty reduction, there is little evidence as to whether regional integration in Africa is associated with economic growth in the countries concerned and subsequently leads to poverty reduction. The book makes recommendations on how the SADC FTAs can contribute to poverty reduction and socioeconomic development, and goes on to suggest policy proposals on how to enhance the contribution of the FTAs to poverty eradication and economic development. It also identifies specific activities to be undertaken to enable supply-side and productive competitiveness interventions to support the FTAs and contribute to economic development. The potential constraints and negative impacts of the FTAs are investigated and highlighted, and possible solutions are recommended and motivated.