St Cross Alumna publishes fourth book, Africonomics, with HarperCollins Publishers

Africonomics by Bronwen Everill

Bronwen Everill (2006, MSt Archaeological Science) published her fourth book Africonomics with Harper Collins Publishers. Her previous book titles include Not Made by Slaves and Abolition and Empire in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and she also co-edited The History and Practice of Humanitarian Intervention and Aid in Africa with Josiah Kaplan. 

Bronwen’s new book looks at the ways that different Western actors have been inspired to intervene in Africa's economies since the eighteenth century. It argues that generation after generation have arrived on the continent with ideas about how to fix Africa's economy, which they have thought of as a problem they have both the power and responsibility to solve. There has been a renaissance in African economic history over the past few decades and the book hopes to make those research findings accessible to a broad audience. 

Explaining where the inspiration for Africonomics came from, Bronwen explains: “I think the story of Western exploitation of Africa has been told so well, that sometimes people miss the fact that many imperial agents thought of themselves as doing good and helping to right wrongs; but by taking power and agency from the African people they were claiming to help, they inadvertently made things worse, necessitating further interventions and facilitating a spiral of growing dependency.” 

She continues: “I hope that people enjoy the stories in the book and are inspired to learn more about the research on African economic history and anthropology featured in it.” 

The book is available here.