Africa's Shadow Rise: China and the Mirage of African Economic Development (Politics and Development in Contemporary Africa)

About the Author\nPádraig Carmody lectures in development geography at Trinity College Dublin, from which he holds both a BA in geography and history and an MSc in geography. He completed his PhD in geography at the University of Minnesota in 1998. Subsequently he taught at the University of Vermont, Dublin City University and St Patrick's College, Drumcondra. He also worked as a policy and research analyst for the Combat Poverty Agency in 2002/3. His research centres on the political economy of globalization in Africa.\nPeter Kragelund is head of the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University. His work has been published, inter alia, in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Development and Change, Development Policy Review, European Journal of Development Research, Extractive Industries and Society, Journal of Modern African Studies, Resources Policy, and Review of African Political Economy.\nRicardo Reboredo is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests include globalization, development, and Sino-African relations. His current work focuses on the effects of large-scale, Chinese-funded projects on development in southern Africa. He has published in a variety of journals including Urban Forum and African Geographical Review.\nFor years economists have spoken of 'Africa rising', and despite the global financial crisis, Africa continues to host some of the fastest growing economies in the world.\nAfrica's Shadow Rise however argues that the continent's apparent economic 'rise' is essentially a mirage, driven by developments elsewhere - most particularly the expansion in China's economy. While many African countries have experienced high rates of growth, much of this growth may prove to be unsustainable, and has contributed to environmental destruction and worsening inequality across the continent. Similarly, new economic relationships have produced new forms of dependency, as African nations increasingly find themselves tied to the fortunes of China and other emerging powers.\nDrawing on in-depth fieldwork in southern Africa, Africa's Shadow Rise reveals how the shifting balance of global power is transforming Africa's economy and politics, and what this means for the future of development efforts in the region.