Kenneth Little

There are beastly forces in Belize. Forces that are actively involved in making paradise impossible. On the Nervous Edge of an Impossible Paradise is a collection of seven stories about local lives in the fictional village of Wallaceville. Lives turn rogue in the face of runaway forces that take the form and figure of a Belize beast-time, which can appear as a comic mishap, social ruin, tragic excess, or wild guesses. Inciting the affective politics of life in the region, this fable of emergence evokes the unnerving uncertainties of life in the tourist state of Belize.

There are beastly forces in Belize. Forces that are actively involved in making paradise impossible. On the Nervous Edge of an Impossible Paradise is a collection of seven stories about local lives in the fictional village of Wallaceville. Lives turn rogue in the face of runaway forces that take the form and figure of a Belize beast-time, which can appear as a comic mishap, social ruin, tragic excess, or wild guesses. Inciting the affective politics of life in the region, this fable of emergence evokes the unnerving uncertainties of life in the tourist state of Belize.

Urbanization is probably the most important process taking place in African countries. This book provides a lucid and informative study of the significance of urbanization for social change in sub-Saharan Africa, which has vital implications for all developing regions. Originally published in 1974.

The social, political and economic impact of the decline of the old colonial powers in Africa, India and the Middle East are still key areas of scholarly research and debate. Based on careful social observation and empirical research, these titles explore the tension between agriculture and industry in developing economies, and trace the complex political process of independence. Aimed at administrators and academics, these studies are central to Development Studies, and also present the work of renowned anthropologists such as Raymond Firth.

Urbanization is probably the most important process taking place in African countries. This book provides a lucid and informative study of the significance of urbanization for social change in sub-Saharan Africa, which has vital implications for all developing regions. Originally published in 1974.

The social, political and economic impact of the decline of the old colonial powers in Africa, India and the Middle East are still key areas of scholarly research and debate. Based on careful social observation and empirical research, these titles explore the tension between agriculture and industry in developing economies, and trace the complex political process of independence. Aimed at administrators and academics, these studies are central to Development Studies, and also present the work of renowned anthropologists such as Raymond Firth.

This 1973 book analyses the changing position of women in an urban context in sub-Saharan Africa. In spite of the fact that women, at the time of publication, were often important leaders of opinion and in these countries the proportion of women in professional work was at least as large as in Britain, few researchers and even fewer television and newspaper reporters paid them sufficient attention. As the new role of women in Africa was peculiarly a phenomenon of the city, Professor Little's book uses the concept of urbanization in order to analyse the radical changes taking place. He shows how certain women's movements were growing out of the African woman's desire for a new relationship with the man. This leads him to consider the part played by women in the political arena, and women's position not only in monogamous marriage, but also in extra-marital and sexual relationships.

Originally published in 1971, this book considers the part played by voluntary associations in the growth of towns in West Africa, a factor of central importance to the student of African sociology. No previous book had been devoted to this subject and it was therefore a pioneering work. The book is founded on the Frazer Lecture which Professor Little gave at the University of Cambridge in 1963. Professor Little divides voluntary associations into tribal unions and syncretist cults, groups concerned with mutual benefit and with recreation, and associations based upon the common interest in the Christian Religion or in Western cultural or social pursuits. He then shows how these volunteer societies frequently combine Western aims with traditional African customs. The book indicates some of the important trends in a changing West Africa. It examines the general mechanism of social change in developing areas.