Chinese Migrants and Africa's Development New Imperialists or Agents of Change?

by Lampert, Ben; Mohan, Giles; Chang, Daphne; Tan-Mullins, May

• ISBN13: 9781780329178
• ISBN10: 1780329172
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-07-03
• Publisher: ZED BOOKS

Summary

For some China's growing involvement in Africa promises an end to Africa's dependent aid relationships as the Chinese bring expertise, technology and a stronger business focus, but for others it is no more than a new form of imperialism. Most debate focuses on grand aid and investment projects, but what of the thousands of Chinese migrants who set up businesses across Africa?

This book is the first to systematically study the impacts of this migration. It focuses not just on the Chinese migrants but also on the perceptions of, and linkages to, their African 'hosts'. By studying this 'everyday' interaction a much richer picture emerges of whether this is 'South-South' cooperation, or a more complex relationship that can both compromise and encourage African development. It also queries the Eurocentric bias of development theory which overwhelmingly assumes meaningful concepts and hegemony reside in the west.

Author Biography

Giles Mohan is Professor of International Development at the UK's Open University. He is a human geographer who studies African governance and the transnational connections to and from Africa, especially migrants. His recent work focuses on China's engagement with Africa and has been funded by a series of grants from the Economic and Social Research Council. Giles has published extensively in geography, development studies and African studies journals and has consulted for a range of BBC documentaries on issues of international development.

Ben Lampert is a Research Fellow in the Development Policy and Practice Group at The Open University. His background is in human geography and his research is concerned with the role of migrants and diaspora communities in development in Africa. His most recent work has been on Chinese migrants in Ghana and Nigeria.

May Tan-Mullins is a human geographer. She is at the Nottingham Ningbo University having previously worked at the National University of Singapore and Durham. Her research concerns environmental security and political ecology of marine resources. Her most recent research project concerns developmental debates and politics of Chinese engagement with African development and environmental and food security issues in China.

Daphne Chang is a staff tutor and a Faculty Associate of the Development Policy and Practice Group at the Open University. She is a social anthropologist. Her PhD research investigated the intermarriage of the Maasai and the Kikuyu in Kenya. Her recent work focuses on the lives and work of Chinese women migrants in Africa and the gender roles/relationships in Chinese family businesses in Africa.

Table of Contents

Introduction - The Chinese in Africa: Migration and Development Beyond the West
1. China's Opening Up - Internationalization, Liberalization and Emigration
2. Africa as Opportunity - Chinese Interests, Motives and Aspirations
3. Chinese Socio-economic Life in Africa - Networks and Realities
4. Politicising Race, Class and Ethnicity - Controversy and Conflict
5. Everyday Sino-African Interactions - Towards Conviviality, Cooperation and Mutual Benefit
6. African Attitudes, Responses and Drivers - the Importance of Local Agency
Conclusion - South-South Migration and the Future of Development