Hanging by a Thread

<div> <p>The textile industry was one of the first manufacturing activities to become organized globally as mechanized production in Europe used cotton from the various colonies. Africa the least developed of the world's major regions is now increasingly engaged in the production of this crop for the global market and debates about the pros and cons of this trend have intensified.<br> <br> <i>Hanging by a Thread: Cotton Globalization and Poverty in Africa</i> illuminates the connections between Africa and the global economy. The editors offer a compelling set of linked studies that detail one aspect of the globalization process in Africa the cotton commodity chain.<br> <br> From global policy debates to impacts on the natural environment to the economic and social implications of this process <i>Hanging by a Thread</i> explores cotton production in the postcolonial period from different disciplinary perspectives and in a range of national contexts. This approach makes the globalization process palpable by detailing how changes at the macroeconomic level play out on the ground in the world's poorest region. <i>Hanging by a Thread</i> offers new insights on the region in a global context and provides a critical perspective on current and future development policy for Africa.<br> <br> Contributors: Thomas J. Bassett Jim Bingen Duncan Boughton Brian M. Dowd Marnus Gouse Leslie C. Gray Dolores Koenig Scott M. Lacy William G. Moseley Colin Poulton Bhavani Shankar Corinne Siaens Colin Thirtle David Tschirley and Quentin Wodon.</p> </div>