Understanding the Development and Security Discourses in Southern Africa: Constructive or Destructive Dialectic?

by Lisa Thompson

28 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Professor Lisa Thompson is the Director of the African Centre for Citizenship and Democracy at the School of Government where she leads research projects on democracy and development in the global South. Thompson specialises in research that examines socio-economic issues pertaining to rights in the South. Southern Africa remains a particular focus, although recent research has tended to examine developmental trends at local level within South Africa and the national and global impacts of these policies. Forms of engagement between society and the state around development and democracy are a central aspect of this research: the ways in which ordinary people engage with the state and mobilize themselves in governance structures at grassroots is a key area of focus. The impact of gendered framings of democracy and development is also a continuous focus of this work.