ARTICLE REVIEW :THE ROLE OF URBAN MARKETING IN LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT A POLITICAL ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

The aggressive marketing of cities to attract private finance and capital is one important aspect of municipal neoliberalism. Urban marketing, as it is called, is said to be the the surest way to deliver urban economic development. Using a political-economic framework, this paper provides an alternative analysis of urban marketing, and highlights other avenues for addressing the urban question.Political Economy, Cities, Markets, Economic Development

TRANSFORMING THIRD WORLD CITIES THROUGH GOOD URBAN GOVERNANCE: FRESH EVIDENCE

Many Ghanaians believe that introducing multi-party elections at the metropolitan, municipal and district levels would ensure the election of competent people to manage the urban or local economy. This belief is premised on the assumption that electorates are informed and would vote for competent politicians. Using the 2008 elections in Ghana, it is argued that only a minority of electorates vote on issues; the majority vote along tribal and party lines; and based on how “humble” a politician is or simply based on monetocracy. This means that introducing elections into the local government system would not necessarily lead to a transformation of the local or urban economy; greater local democracy is not the answer to the housing problem, sanitation crisis, unemployment burden and the poverty challenge. There may be the need for a new form of local democracy.Democracy, Urban, Governance, Ghana, Elections

Land and Finance : Farming as Financial Asset: Global Finance and the Making of Institutional Landscapes

Book review. Reviewed work: Farming as Financial Asset: Global Finance and the Making of Institutional Landscapes / by Ouma, S. - Newcastle Upon Tyne : Agenda Publishing, 2020. i–x + 204 pp. (Paperback). ISBN: 978-1-78821-187-1.Non peer reviewe

Politično-ekonomski temelji novega zahodnoafriškega naftnega mesta Sekondi-Takoradi

V članku se z institucionalno-analitično metodo ekonomske zgodovine preučujejo izvor, rast in razvoj novega zahodnoafriškega naftnega mesta Sekondi-Takoradi. Posebna pozornost je namenjena vlogi pristanišč in železnic, njihovemu razvoju in sodelovanju s politično-ekonomskimi ustanovami v preteklih stotih letih. Ta pregledna zgodovinska analiza nakazuje, da je novo zahodnoafriško mesto spet tam, kjer je bilo na začetku. Podobno kot v 20. letih 20. stoletja v državnih in mednarodnih krogih danes ponovno vzbuja nacionalno, regionalno in mednarodno pozornost. Vse kaže, da je treba znova ovrednotiti sodobne zgodbe, ki trdijo, da sta razmah virov in družbeni propad v determinističnem odnosu

Mainstream Economics and Conventional Environmental Policies

Is mainstream economics only about growth, efficiency, and sustainability? Many critics contend so, but the recent state of the art in economics suggests not. Respectively drawing on reformist neoclassical economics, neoclassical microeconomics "proper," and behavioral economics, major studies show that mainstream economics provides theories of inequality and unsustainability. However, the theories of causation utilized remain largely neoclassical. Similarly, the bases for repairing the harms are grounded in neoclassical reasoning, while the mechanisms for restoration-ranging from minimalist interventions and income and substitution effects to behavioral nudges-are still mainstream. Fundamentally, they say little or nothing substantial about ecological imperialism, at the heart of which are rent theft and ecological debt, two critical cornerstones of world ecological crises. Therefore, mainstream economists certainly have, use, and apply theories of inequality and unsustainability, but mainstream economists neither have, use, nor apply transformative theories of social stratification, nor ecological imperialism generally. The overall effect of this disconnect from real-world ecological crises is not simply that conventional environmental policies are incomplete, but that mainstream economics and conventional policies deflect attention from ecological imperialism behind veils of rhetoric, prices, and behaviors.Peer reviewe

George Adu, PhD. (1977-2019): The social planner goes home

No Abstrac

Decolonizing Africa and African Development : The Twenty-First Century Pan-Africanist Challenge

Book review. Reviewed work: Decolonizing Africa and African Development : The Twenty-First Century Pan-Africanist Challenge / Anthony Victor Obeng. - Bern : Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, 2017. ISBN 978-3-0343-0758-1.Non peer reviewe

Feature essay: stratification economics and the black radical tradition

Property, Institutions and Social Stratification in Africa is the first book-length analysis of stratification economics in Africa, a new sub-field of economics that offers alternative political-economic explanations for inequality, not just in terms of income but also regarding group-based wealth and power. In this essay, author Dr Franklin Obeng-Odoom discusses his book’s contribution to the field and contextualises stratification economics within the Black Radical Tradition

Oil Cities in Africa : Beyond Just Transition

Nations and NGOs are promoting the idea of a transition from a petroleum-based civilization to one fueled by renewable energy. But there are many questions about how to proceed. The solution usually proposed is to develop "clean energy" as the underlying basis of a transition. Analysts tend to be concerned with climate change and land use change, with a focus on technical developments. Socio-ecological issues receive scant attention, especially if they relate to oil cities. This article starts from the perspective that progress in saving the planet from destruction can only be achieved by taking seriously past and present injustices and taking measures to rectify them. I use the situation in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to illustrate this proposition. I focus on three interrelated concepts: rent theft, social costs, and just transition. The central problem is rent theft because it is at the root of the "crime of poverty" and the social costs of plundering the land for energy sources. Until they address problems arising from historical injustice, campaigns for a just transition that promote clean energy in a bioeconomy will merely reproduce the central problem. Thus, reparations and land equity must be an integral part of any solution.Peer reviewe

Urban housing analysis and theories of value

Housing is a major focus in urban and regional studies, but an overemphasis on empiricism inhibits its analytical study. Previous attempts to resolve this tension have proposed the use of research themes, but this strategy makes marginalised approaches even more invisible. Using disciplines as taxonomies takes us no further because, even within disciplines, approaches differ widely. To address the problem, in this paper, I propose to ground the 'housing question' on theories of value. Doing so helps to clarify and to strengthen the analytical foundations of how we theorise housing and evaluate the problems and prospects of housing policy.Peer reviewe