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Mass starvation: the history and future of famine

De Waal, Alex (2018) Mass starvation: the history and future of famine. Polity Press, Cambridge, UK. ISBN 9781509524662

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Abstract

The world almost conquered famine. Until the 1980s, this scourge killed ten million people every decade, but by early 2000s mass starvation had all but disappeared. Today, famines are resurgent, driven by war, blockade, hostility to humanitarian principles and a volatile global economy. In Mass Starvation, world-renowned expert on humanitarian crisis and response Alex de Waal provides an authoritative history of modern famines: their causes, dimensions and why they ended. He analyses starvation as a crime, and breaks new ground in examining forced starvation as an instrument of genocide and war. Refuting the enduring but erroneous view that attributes famine to overpopulation and natural disaster, he shows how political decision or political failing is an essential element in every famine, while the spread of democracy and human rights, and the ending of wars, were major factors in the near-ending of this devastating phenomenon. Hard-hitting and deeply informed, Mass Starvation explains why man-made famine and the political decisions that could end it for good must once again become a top priority for the international community.

Item Type: Book
Official URL: http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509524...
Additional Information: © 2018 The Author
Divisions: International Development
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited: 04 Dec 2019 18:51
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 22:31
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102771

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