African Understandings of Chinese Involvement

This book brings together leading African scholars to consider China’s impact on Africa’s political, economic, cultural, environmental, and social spaces.

China’s power and influence on the African continent have increased exponentially in recent decades, providing a range of political and economic goods and services. African governments have opened their markets to Chinese goods and services and, in turn, allowed China easy access to their raw materials. This book asks whether the relationship is mutually beneficial or asymmetrical, with China at risk of becoming a new imperialist. Drawing together African scholars from at home and abroad, the book examines a range of Beijing-led activities and projects, and considers their impact on states and societies on the continent, and on their growth and development. Overall, the book presents a nuanced African perspective on the immediate and long-term implications of the Sino-African relationship.

Providing an important critical evaluation of China’s programs and projects in Africa, this book will be an important resource for researchers of Africa-China relations and of global international relations more broadly.