The Railpolitik: Leadership and Agency in Sino-African Infrastructure Development

— —

Yuan Wang (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Duke Kunshan University)

The Railpolitik

Leadership and Agency in Sino-African Infrastructure Development

Yuan Wang (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Duke Kunshan University)

$212

Hardback

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

Oxford University Press
07 February 2024

Comparative politics; Central government; International relations

Series: Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations

The growing presence of China in Africa has drawn increasing scholarly and public attention. With Beijing's announcement of the 'going global' policy in the early 2000s and further institutionalization through the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, Chinese policy banks and state-owned companies have cooperated with African countries to finance and complete multiple infrastructure projects. These projects, despite their 'Chinese-ness,' demonstrate starkly different development trajectories in different countries. Why do some Chinese-financed and constructed projects develop better than others? And what explains the variation in the effectiveness of different African states with regard to public goods delivery? The Railpolitik: Leadership and Agency in Sino-African Infrastructure Development uses three case studies of Chinese-financed and constructed rail projects to explore the broader phenomenon of the fast-progressing relations between China and Africa and to offer insights into African domestic politics. Relying primarily on over 250 in-depth interviews and unpublished documents collected during extensive fieldwork from 2014-2019 in Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, and China, Yuan Wang traces the trajectories of the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in Ethiopia, and the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela in Angola, and finds that African political championship is the central factor that determines the outcomes of this type of project. Contrary to the conventional understanding that centralized political institutions such as those in the developmental states are more conducive to rulers' commitment to developmental projects, the book finds that political championship can be generated from leaders' perceived threats of competitive elections in democratic states such as Kenya. These Chinese-financed and constructed projects coincided with African rulers' strategies for political survival, and are therefore instrumentalized politically to demonstrate rulers' performance legitimacy and to fuel their patronage machine. Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations is a series for scholars and students working on African politics and International Relations and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on contemporary developments in African political science, political economy, and International Relations, such as electoral politics, democratization, decentralization, the political impact of natural resources, the dynamics and consequences of conflict, and the nature of the continent's engagement with the East and West. Comparative and mixed methods work is particularly encouraged. Case studies are welcomed but should demonstrate the broader theoretical and empirical implications of the study and its wider relevance to contemporary debates. The series focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, although proposals that explain how the region engages with North Africa and other parts of the world are of interest.

Series Editors: Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy and International Development, University of Birmingham; Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Professor of the International Politics of Africa, University of Oxford; Peace Medie, Senior Lecturer, School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies, University of Bristol.

By: Yuan Wang (Assistant Professor of International Relations Assistant Professor of International Relations Duke Kunshan University)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780198873037
ISBN 10: 0198873034
Series: Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 07 February 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1: The Railpolitik: Agency of African leaders in Sino-African relations 2: A Kenyan railway? A Kenyatta railway? 3: Revolutionary democracy, developmental state, and capitalism 4: The struggle to reconstruct: A railway of neglect 5: Big brother and small boy? African executive extraversion under Sino-African power asymmetry Conclusion Appendix 1. Hypothesis testing and data collection Appendix 2. Doing fieldwork in Africa Appendix 3. List of interview questions Appendix 4. List of interviewees Bibliography Index

Yuan Wang is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Duke Kunshan University. Her research explores African state effectiveness and China's global economic and political engagement. She obtained her DPhil in Politics at the University of Oxford and holds Master's degrees from Oxford and Harvard Kennedy School. She was the 2021-22 fellow at the Columbia-Harvard 'China and the World' Program and Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. She has also worked at the United Nations Development Program in China and the Sino-Africa Centre of Excellence Foundation in Kenya.