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This paper explores the changing role and place of handicrafts in contemporary rural development processes. Building on fieldwork conducted in four settlements in northern Thailand and Vietnam, we discuss how a traditional sector is being reshaped under the forces of globalisa- tion and what this means for the character of rural livelihoods. This empirical analysis permits us to reflect on wider a
Shrinking public sectors and limited opportunities for gaining formal wage employment in the private sector have resulted in entrepreneurship being promoted as a means of generating youth employment. This discourse is being widely promoted within sub-Saharan Africa despite little being known about how best to support youth employment and entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on two of the main trad
It is now widely accepted that the vast majority of inhabitants of cities in developing countries have to be involved in the construction of their houses if they are to become home-owners. During the construction process, most households will make payments for land, construction materials and skilled labour. This chapter analyses the different ways in which households finance these payments and fo
Interest in comparative urbanism has increased in recent years. Scholarly discussions, however, have tended to focus on theorizing comparative urbanism rather than engaging in comparative research, with little attention paid to the lives of urban residents. This article engages in these discussions, entering from the perspective of a geographer who conducts comparative urban research. The focus is
The use of the home as a workplace has persisted throughout the world, challenging established notions of economic progress and resulting in home-based work being seen as an integral and lasting part of the capitalist organisation of production. Many different types of work are conducted in the home, including production, retail, and service activities. Home-based workers are a heterogeneous group
Studies of mining and urbanisation have been primarily conducted independently of one another, with limited consideration of the inter-linkages between the two. This analysis seeks to fill this gap by exploring the links between mining and urbanisation in a Ghanaian context. Ghana is an interesting case as it is both endowed with significant mineral wealth and is highly urbanised, with a long hist
Multi-beam ptychography (MBP) offers a scalable solution to improve the throughput of state-of-the-art ptychography by increasing the number of coherent beams that illuminate the sample simultaneously. However, increasing the number of beams in ptychography makes ptychographical reconstructions more challenging and less robust. It has been demonstrated that MBP reconstructions can be made more rob
In housing markets in sub-Saharan Africa, construction is predominantly undertaken by individuals rather than by the state or private companies. Due to lack of housing finance, the construction process takes many years hence owners often engage live-in caretakers to protect their property. Based on fieldwork conducted in peri-urban Accra, this paper explores why the demand for caretakers arises, w
It has long been recognised that many low-income households in cities in the global South use their home not only as a means of shelter but also as a source of income. There is a tendency, however, to consider home-based enterprises as providing insignificant and temporary forms of work. Evidence collected over a period of 10 years from home-based enterprise operators in Accra shows that, although
This paper explores the changing nature of social institutions and organizations for resource management on Ontong Java and their central role in maintaining livelihoods. Using detailed field data for three time periods, 1970-72, 1986 and 2006-07, and drawing on earlier secondary data, a longitudinal analysis of changes in governance and livelihoods is undertaken. Increased exploitation of marine
This paper discusses the housing situation of urban dwellers in Hanoi in the transition period from state housing provision to privatisation and market-driven housing. Based on field studies in a residential area of Hanoi with Soviet-style apartment blocks, the paper shows how new housing policies are contributing to strengthening inequality as 'winners' and 'losers' emerge. The entrepreneurial, t
It has increasingly been recognised that rural and urban areas are inextricably interlinked. This book adopts a fresh approach to the issue of rural-urban dynamics through a study of the changing nature of livelihoods, mobility and markets in ten study sites across four countries of Africa and Asia. Building on detailed fieldwork conducted in Ghana, Tanzania, Vietnam and Thailand, the authors expl
In Africa, young people are engaging with a globalised world of flows and movements but are coming of age in environments characterised by uncertainty, economic hardship and unemployment. Drawing upon research conducted in Madina, a suburb of Accra, a social navigation perspective is adopted to explore young people's everyday mobility and their aspirations for future mobility. By drawing attention
