The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa

Côte d'Ivoire, 1880–1995

Thomas J. Bassett (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), David Anderson, Carolyn Brown , Christopher Clapham

$68.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Cambridge University Press
30 March 2006

Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment & Planning

Series: African Studies

The literature of Africa is dominated by accounts of crisis and gloom. But Thomas Bassett, a distinguished American geographer well known in the field of development, tells an unusual story of the growth of the cotton economy of West Africa. One of the few long-running success stories in African development, change was brought about by tens of thousands of small-scale peasant farmers. While the introduction of new strains of cotton in French West Africa was in part a result of agronomic research by French scientists, supported by an unusually efficient marketing structure, this is not a case of triumphant top-down 'planification'. Employing the case of Côte d'Ivoire, Professor Bassett shows agricultural intensification to result from the cumulative effect of decades of incremental changes in farming techniques and social organization. A significant contribution to the literature, the book demonstrates the need to consider the local and temporal dimensions of agricultural innovations. It brings into question many key assumptions that have influenced development policies during the twentieth century.

By: Thomas J. Bassett (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Series edited by: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown, Christopher Clapham, Michael Gomez
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 101
Dimensions: Height: 230mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 407g
ISBN: 9780521788830
ISBN 10: 0521788838
Series: African Studies
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 30 March 2006
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Thomas J. Bassett is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is co-author of Land in African Agrarian Systems (1993) and Maps of Africa to 1900 (2000), and has been engaged in long-term field work in Côte d'Ivoire since 1981.

Reviews for The Peasant Cotton Revolution in West Africa: Côte d'Ivoire, 1880–1995

'The principal merit of Bassett is to have been able to reconstruct a history of the agriculture and the development of the Ivory Coast and of West Africa drawing from the interaction of the main actors in cotton production and the cotton market.' Journal of Development Studies '... the case Bassett develops is compelling ...'. African Studies Review 'This is a good book that deserves to be widely read ... highly informative book ...'. Development and Change