Books published by publisher Zebra Books

Seen from some angles, Nigeria is a remarkable success story: despite its poorly conceived colonial origins, the lingering damage of its colonial subjugation, tenacious civil war, wildly unequal economy, and the recent insurgency by Boko Haram, it has nonetheless remained one nation, growing in population and power, for more than a century now.This new look at Nigeria traces the country’s history from its pre-colonial days as the home region to a number of distinct tribal powers through its definition by Britain as a single nation in 1914, to the hopeful early days of independence after World War II and the ongoing, often tragic disappointments of its governance and economic performance in the decades since. Richard Bourne pays particular attention to the failure to ensure that the wealth from Nigeria’s abundant oil, mineral, and agricultural resources is widely shared, and he offers an incisive analysis of the damaging effects that such gross inequality has on the nation’s stability and democratic prospects.The most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of Africa’s most important and populous nation in decades, this history—rooted in more than three decades of visiting and working in the country—will instantly be the standard account of Nigeria.

This book takes a devastating look at the actions and policies of the George W. Bush administration in terms of their impact on women in the United States and abroad. Surprisingly, this is a largely ignored aspect of Bush's presidency, even though his policies have in many ways reversed or inhibited women's progress over the past three decades. While the media have focused on his opposition to abortion, Bush's less-publicized anti-feminist agenda has in fact been much more extensive. He has opposed women's interests in multiple ways, from shutting down women's offices in the government to de-funding programs that assist women, from opposing global women's rights treaties to supporting anti-feminist organizations. Contrary to his public claims that 'W stands for Women,' his policies, appointments and actions reveal a strongly patriarchal bent. This book also includes a chapter on the negative effects on women of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What is a specifically feminist perspective on science and technology? Focusing in particular on the socio-cultural implications of the latest scientific and technological developments, this book proposes a site of resistance to hegemonic discourses and practices of science and technology. Four sections cover science as a whole, the new technologies of the postmodern era, bio-medical discourses and nature. A distinguished cast of contributors explore the central feminist concerns in each arena, through the metaphors of monster, mother goddess and cyborg. They argue that feminists cannot ignore the emancipatory as well as the oppressive potentials of technology. Bringing together 'natural' and 'social' scientists, the book paves the way for a specifically feminist strategy for science, technology and health care.

By the year 2025 nearly 2 billion people will live in regions or countries with absolute water scarcity, even allowing for high levels of irrigation efficiency. In the face of this emerging global water crisis, how should the planet's water be used and managed in the 21st century? Current international water policy sees nature competing with human uses of water. Hunt takes issue with this perspective. She suggests that nature is the source of water and only by making the conservation of nature an absolute priority will we have water in the future to apply to human uses. This book looks at the complexity of the problem; it provides a wide array of ideas, information, case studies and ecological knowledge--often from remote corners of the developing world--that could provide an alternative vision for water use and management at this critical time.

The exploding global consumption of meat is implicated in momentous but greatly underappreciated problems, and industrial livestock production is the driving force behind soaring demand. Following his previous groundbreaking Zed book The Global Food Economy, Tony Weis explains clearly why the growth and industrialization of livestock production is a central part of the accelerating biophysical contradictions of industrial capitalist agriculture. The Ecological Hoofprint provides a rigorous and eye-opening way of understanding what this system means for the health of the planet, how it contributes to worsening human inequality, and how it constitutes a profound but invisible aspect of the violence of everyday life.

This reissue of Paul French's acclaimed introduction to North Korea provides an up-to-the-minute overview of the politics, economics and history of the DPRK, with added chapters dealing with recent events. A new foreword examines why North Korea has not gone away as a country or as an issue and argues that an understanding of the country is more important now than ever. A new in-depth postscript offers analysis of recent years and why Pyongyang felt compelled to test a bomb.

This book takes a devastating look at the actions and policies of the George W. Bush administration in terms of their impact on women in the United States and abroad. A largely ignored aspect of his presidency, Bush's policies and actions have in many ways reversed or inhibited women's progress over the past three decades. While the media have focused on his opposition to abortion, Bush's less-publicized anti-feminist agenda has in fact been much more extensive. From shutting down women's offices in the government to de-funding programs that assist women, from opposing global women's rights treaties to supporting anti-feminist organizations. the author argues that Bush has opposed women's interests in multiple ways.