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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.
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
Part I: Perspectives on Famine and Starvation
Chapter 1: An Unacknowledged Achievement
Chapter 2: Famines as Atrocities
Chapter 3: Malthus’s Zombie
Chapter 4: A Short History of Modern Famines
Part II: How Famines Were Almost Eliminated
Chapter 5: Demography, Economics, Public Health
Chapter 6: Politics, War, Genocide
Chapter 7: The Humanitarian International
Chapter 8: Ethiopia: No Longer the Land of Famine
Part III: The Persistence and Return of Famines
Chapter 9: The Famine that isn’t Coming
Chapter 10: The New Atrocity Famines
Chapter 11: Mass Starvation in the Future
Notes
References
Index
Description
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.
