Towards a New Map of Africa (review)

Towards a New Map of Africa is composed of contributions by two dozen authors who offer their thoughts on political, environmental, and economic changes on the continent since the publication of Timberlake's 1985 Earthscan book, Africa in Crisis. It does not delve into cartographic aspects of the continent as such, but encourages visualizing Africa differently and working collectively to create a "new map of Africa" (35). The mental map provided to readers is, despite efforts to point to positive changes in the region, one that is rather bleak. Structural Adjustment Programs have produced maladjusted economies no more diversified than they were during the colonial period. The continent is awash with small arms, foreign investment remains low, AIDS and poverty are rampant, and occasional positive developments are anomalies. Even though some longstanding conflicts have ended, violent hostilities doubled in Africa in the 1990s. South Africa has majority rule, but there is genocide in Darfur, and the trafficking of as many as a hundred thousand African children annually continues. Some smallholders are benefiting from fair trade initiatives, and microcredit schemes are becoming more common, but Africa is now overtaking Latin America as the world region with the most inequitable income distribution. The African Union was formed, there is a movement toward greater regional cooperation, and many of the great despots from Africa's first generation of leaders are no longer in power; nevertheless the movement toward greater democracy and human rights has not been unidirectional. While there are more community conservation programs, threats to wildlife tourism can be expected to increase. Educational attainment remains relatively low continentwide. Africa has the fastest growing population but only 9 percent of the world's fresh water—and that is distributed highly unevenly. Agricultural production is low and food insecurity widespread. Overall, the "continent's economic position and opportunities have worsened in relative terms" since 1985 (6).

Following the informative, richly referenced introductory chapter, the book contains five chapters addressing human ecology (land- and water-based livelihoods, urban life, HIV/AIDS, and food security), seven on institutional change (the global context, legal frameworks, decentralization politics, the case of Botswana, identity and governance, regional economic and political institutions and institutions for conflict resolution), and a concluding chapter which is an agenda for action. Cautious optimism marks most of the contributions. When authors point to the indigenous knowledge, ingenuity, inventiveness, or energy of farmers, fishers, traders, migrants, and others, they are quick to add that such qualities should not be romanticized and that people's daily lives are filled with genuine struggles. There is a degree of unevenness to the topics covered; several chapters focus heavily on one region, country, or even city, while others address the continent as a whole.

The book opens with two continent-level maps, an 1892 map of colonial boundaries and a 2005 political map, but there is little reference to them. Additional maps, especially those with physiographic features, would have been welcome to help readers understand the many problems and issues the continent is facing and the opportunities lying ahead. The section laying out an agenda for action would have benefited the most from maps, especially to accompany the discussion of goals at the subregional level. However, the authors admit that the broad action agenda is meant to serve merely as a starting point.

Overall, Towards a New Map of Africa resembles an information-rich, thinly illustrated textbook appropriate for an upper-division interdisciplinary course on Africa or development. It has the benefit of being a collaborative effort with diverse voices, including those of several women and authors from the continent.