BRICS and Resistance in Africa: Contention, Assimilation and Co-optation

Description

Though initially considered a welcome counterweight to Western interest across Africa, the BRICS are increasingly being viewed as another example of foreign interference and exploitation. BRICS and Resistance in Africa explores the varied forms of African resistance being developed in response to the growing influence of the BRICS. Its case studies cover such instances as the opposition to China's One Belt One Road initiative in East Africa; resistance to the BRICS' oil activities in the Niger Delta; and the role of the BRICS in Zimbabwe's political transition. The contributors expose the contradictions between the group's rhetoric and its real impact, as well as the complicity of local elites in serving as proxies for the BRICS nations. By challenging and expanding the debates surrounding BRICS involvement in Africa, this collection offers new insight into resistance to globalization in the global South.

Justin van der Merwe is a Senior Researcher with the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. His other books include the co-edited collection Emerging Powers in Africa (2016). Patrick Bond is Professor of Political Economy at the Wits School of Governance, and Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has also previously taught at Johns Hopkins University, and worked at the NGOs Planact and the National Institute for Economic Policy. His previous books include Looting Africa (Zed 2006) and Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa (2014). Nicole Dodd is Chair of the School for Human and Organisational Development, Stellenbosch University. She is co-author (with Justin van der Merwe) of The Political Economy of Underdevelopment in the global South (2019).