Description
Is China a rogue donor, as some media pundits suggest? Or is China helping the developing world pave a pathway out of poverty, as the Chinese claim? In the last few years, China's aid program has leapt out of the shadows. Media reports about huge aid packages, support for pariah regimes, regiments of Chinese labor, and the ruthless exploitation of workers and natural resources in some of the poorest countries in the world sparked fierce debates. These debates, however, took place with very few hard facts. China's tradition of secrecy about its aid fueled rumors and speculation, making it difficult to gauge the risks and opportunities provided by China's growing embrace. This well-timed book, by one of the world's leading experts, provides the first comprehensive account of China's aid and economic cooperation overseas. Deborah Brautigam tackles the myths and realities, explaining what the Chinese are doing, how they do it, how much aid they give, and how it all fits into their "going global" strategy. Drawing on three decades of experience in China and Africa, and hundreds of interviews in Africa, China, Europe and the US, Brautigam shines new light on a topic of great interest. China has ended poverty for hundreds of millions of its own citizens. Will Chinese engagement benefit Africa? Using hard data and a series of vivid stories ranging across agriculture, industry, natural resources, and governance, Brautigam's fascinating book provides an answer. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with China's rise, and what it might mean for the challenge of ending poverty in Africa.
About the Author
Deborah Brautigam is the author of Chinese Aid and African Development (1998), Aid Dependence and Governance (2000), and coeditor of Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries (2008). A long-time observer of Asia and Africa, she has lived in China, West Africa and Southern Africa, and traveled extensively across both regions as a Fulbright researcher and consultant for the World Bank, the UN, and other development agencies. She is a professor in the International Development Program at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC.
Reviews
Bucking the conventional wisdom that China's substantial increases in aid to the region are motivated by short-term commercial and strategic interests, Brautigam's lively and thoroughly documented account emphasizes that Chinese motivations are broader and more long term. * Nicolas Van de Walle, Foreign Affairs *
A timely [and] important book...fascinating. Book of the week. * Ian Birrell, The Independent *
Compelling * Rob Crilly, Irish Times *
[A] fascinating and comprehensive guide to China's growing influence in Africa... You are unlikely to find a more thorough, comprehensive and open-minded account of the subject. * Dan Glazebrook, Morning Star *
[A] richly detailed book... well-informed * Howard W. French, The National *
The Dragon's Gift, a new book by Deborah Brautigam, looks behind [the] media hype. It offers surprising insights and challenges us to take a new look at Africa's development...thoughtful and well-researched...the basis for a well-informed, interesting dialogue with Chinese actors. * The Huffington Post *
Any book claiming to tell the 'real story' sets its standards high, but this one succeeds admirably. For those interested in China-Africa relations, it enriches the field, defines new research standards and is constructively provocative. For those new to the subject, it is an essential text about a compelling, increasingly consequential relationship. * Daniel Large, The Broker *
This is an important addition to the already considerable literature on China-Africa. Policy makers and journalists should read it * Peter Wood, Asian Review of Books *
Brautigam's superb book, the fruit of decades of research and travel throughout Africa and China... this highly accessible and rigorous book may come to be viewed as a canonical text in the China-Africa development debate. * Sean Burges, International Affairs *
Brautigam successfully provides scholars of the ChinaAfrica relationship with a new analytical framework, information, and viewpoints...this highly recommended volume shows that Chinese are business-oriented developers and revolutionizes the concept that China is a hasty donor in Africa. * The China Quarterly *
The Dragons Gift will be for a long time the lodestone of informed discussion of how China and Chinese interact with Africa and Africans. * Barry Sautman, China Journal *
An incisive book...an excellent read * Suresh George, Regional Studies *
a superbly written and exquisitely researched book ... the value of the books contribution to a worthy debate is without question. * Jane Golley, Economic Record *
The Dragon's Gift is a path-breaking book, one that was urgently needed and one which deserves to be widely noticed and read. It not only provides an in-depth analysis of contemporary relations of China with Africa, located within their proper historical context, but meticulously presents, critiques and successfully challenges the array of myths, fears, and misinformation which abound in both press reports and some academic studies of China in Africa. * Roger C. Riddell, Author of Does Foreign Aid Really Work? *
If you want to know what China is really doing in Africa, this is the one book to read. The Dragon's Gift corrects the misinformation of both critics and defenders of China's role on the continent. Beijing has a long-term, well-planned strategy that goes way beyond a drive to claim minerals and oil. Yet Africans are benefiting from China's mixture of aid and investment; Western aid officials could learn from it. I was surprised by new facts on almost every page. Brautigam has given us a compelling, objective, and very readable account enlivened by her personal experiences and interviews. * Susan Shirk, Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego and Director, University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation *
Deborah Brautigam has produced a superbly written and exquisitely researched book on a hotly debated topic ... The book is particularly strong on addressing the question of what the Chinese are doing in their new wave of aid and economic cooperation across Africa. * Jane Golley, The Economic Record *
Book Information
ISBN 9780199550227
Author Deborah Brautigam
Format Hardback
Page Count 414
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 161mm * 26mm
About the Author
Deborah Brautigam is the author of Chinese Aid and African Development (1998), Aid Dependence and Governance (2000), and coeditor of Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries (2008). A long-time observer of Asia and Africa, she has lived in China, West Africa and Southern Africa, and traveled extensively across both regions as a Fulbright researcher and consultant for the World Bank, the UN, and other development agencies. She is a professor in the International Development Program at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC.
Reviews
Bucking the conventional wisdom that China's substantial increases in aid to the region are motivated by short-term commercial and strategic interests, Brautigam's lively and thoroughly documented account emphasizes that Chinese motivations are broader and more long term. * Nicolas Van de Walle, Foreign Affairs *
A timely [and] important book...fascinating. Book of the week. * Ian Birrell, The Independent *
Compelling * Rob Crilly, Irish Times *
[A] fascinating and comprehensive guide to China's growing influence in Africa... You are unlikely to find a more thorough, comprehensive and open-minded account of the subject. * Dan Glazebrook, Morning Star *
[A] richly detailed book... well-informed * Howard W. French, The National *
The Dragon's Gift, a new book by Deborah Brautigam, looks behind [the] media hype. It offers surprising insights and challenges us to take a new look at Africa's development...thoughtful and well-researched...the basis for a well-informed, interesting dialogue with Chinese actors. * The Huffington Post *
Any book claiming to tell the 'real story' sets its standards high, but this one succeeds admirably. For those interested in China-Africa relations, it enriches the field, defines new research standards and is constructively provocative. For those new to the subject, it is an essential text about a compelling, increasingly consequential relationship. * Daniel Large, The Broker *
This is an important addition to the already considerable literature on China-Africa. Policy makers and journalists should read it * Peter Wood, Asian Review of Books *
Brautigam's superb book, the fruit of decades of research and travel throughout Africa and China... this highly accessible and rigorous book may come to be viewed as a canonical text in the China-Africa development debate. * Sean Burges, International Affairs *
Brautigam successfully provides scholars of the ChinaAfrica relationship with a new analytical framework, information, and viewpoints...this highly recommended volume shows that Chinese are business-oriented developers and revolutionizes the concept that China is a hasty donor in Africa. * The China Quarterly *
The Dragons Gift will be for a long time the lodestone of informed discussion of how China and Chinese interact with Africa and Africans. * Barry Sautman, China Journal *
An incisive book...an excellent read * Suresh George, Regional Studies *
a superbly written and exquisitely researched book ... the value of the books contribution to a worthy debate is without question. * Jane Golley, Economic Record *
The Dragon's Gift is a path-breaking book, one that was urgently needed and one which deserves to be widely noticed and read. It not only provides an in-depth analysis of contemporary relations of China with Africa, located within their proper historical context, but meticulously presents, critiques and successfully challenges the array of myths, fears, and misinformation which abound in both press reports and some academic studies of China in Africa. * Roger C. Riddell, Author of Does Foreign Aid Really Work? *
If you want to know what China is really doing in Africa, this is the one book to read. The Dragon's Gift corrects the misinformation of both critics and defenders of China's role on the continent. Beijing has a long-term, well-planned strategy that goes way beyond a drive to claim minerals and oil. Yet Africans are benefiting from China's mixture of aid and investment; Western aid officials could learn from it. I was surprised by new facts on almost every page. Brautigam has given us a compelling, objective, and very readable account enlivened by her personal experiences and interviews. * Susan Shirk, Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego and Director, University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation *
Deborah Brautigam has produced a superbly written and exquisitely researched book on a hotly debated topic ... The book is particularly strong on addressing the question of what the Chinese are doing in their new wave of aid and economic cooperation across Africa. * Jane Golley, The Economic Record *
Book Information
ISBN 9780199550227
Author Deborah Brautigam
Format Hardback
Page Count 414
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 161mm * 26mm
