On 24 October 1964, the Republic of Zambia was formed, replacing the territory which had formerly been known as Northern Rhodesia. Fifty years on, Andrew Sardanis provides a sympathetic but critical insider's account of Zambia, from independence to the present. He paints a stark picture of Northern Rhodesia at decolonisation and the problems of the incoming government, presented with an immense uphill task of rebuilding the infrastructure of government and administration - civil service, law, local government and economic development. As a friend and colleague of many of the most prominent names in post-independence Zambia - from the presidencies of founding leader Kenneth Kaunda to the incumbent Michael Sata - Sardanis uses his unique eyewitness experience to provide an inside view of a country in transition.

Once lauded as the wave of the African future, Zambia's economic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s was fueled by the export of copper and other primary materials. Since the mid-1970s, however, the urban economy has rapidly deteriorated, leaving workers scrambling to get by. Expectations of Modernity explores the social and cultural responses to this prolonged period of sharp economic decline. Focusing on the experiences of mineworkers in the Copperbelt region, James Ferguson traces the failure of standard narratives of urbanization and social change to make sense of the Copperbelt's recent history. He instead develops alternative analytic tools appropriate for an "ethnography of decline." Ferguson shows how the Zambian copper workers understand their own experience of social, cultural, and economic "advance" and "decline." Ferguson's ethnographic study transports us into their lives—the dynamics of their relations with family and friends, as well as copper companies and government agencies. Theoretically sophisticated and vividly written, Expectations of Modernity will appeal not only to those interested in Africa today, but to anyone contemplating the illusory successes of today's globalizing economy.

Zambia stands out in Africa as one of the continent's most peaceful countries. In its early years as an independent state, Zambia became a regional bulwark against colonial domination and South African apartheid. This book explores Zambia's culture, through various topics, focusing on how "traditional" and "modern" interact, and sometimes collide.

Against the background of China's rapidly growing, and sometimes highly controversial, activities in Africa, this book is among the first of its kind to systematically document Sino-African interactions at the everyday level. Based on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork at two contrasting sites in Lusaka, Zambia—a Chinese state-sponsored educational farm and a private Chinese family farm—Di Wu focuses on daily interactions among Chinese migrants and their Zambian hosts. Daily communicative events, e.g. banquets, market negotiations, work-place disputes, and various social encounters across a range of settings are used to trace the essential role that emotion/affect plays in forming and reproducing social relations and group identities among Chinese migrants. Wu suggests that affective encounters in everyday situations—as well as failed attempts to generate affect—should not be overlooked in order to fully appreciate Sino-African interactions. Deeply researched and with rich ethnographic detail, this book will be relevant to scholars of anthropology, international development, and others interested in Sino-African relations.

When a draught leaves all the animals hungry, one by one they try to discover the name of the magical tree that will give them its fruit if asked by name—but only one animal will succeed. This illustrated chapter book retelling of folktale from Zambia is available individually and as part of the Stories from around the World: 4 Tales of Persistence & Grit set.

Zambia, a once prosperous African country, now has 73 per cent of its people below the poverty line and by the early 1990s, the country was included on the list of the least developed countries. Despite significant aid volumes and structural reforms, the country is getting deeper and deeper into poverty. What is the missing link between aid and positive change? Is the problem mainly that the volume of aid is not sufficient and, as is often heard, more of it would make a difference? Has the sluggish social and economic progress in Zambia been appropriately diagnosed and correct remedies and strategies prescribed? This book attempts to address these and related questions.