Political Economy and the African Environment

Convener: Dr. Madia Thomson (Philadelphia, USA); e-mail: madiat2000@yahoo.com

Environmental crises are a recurrent theme in African history. How and when they occur can vary greatly over space and time, with drought appearing in places once subjected to flood. The extent of the damage caused – or lack thereof – depended not only on the climate, but often on the actions of individuals and government. With this as its purpose, this panel examines the political economy of environmental crises in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Africa. It considers the nature of the crises -agricultural, epidemiological, etc- and the role of both collective and individual action in relief and recovery.