Kayira publishes book on Malawian history
A scholar from the Department of History, Dr Gift Wasambo Kayira, has recently published a book that showcases a particular chapter of Malawi’s history. The book, entitled The State and the Legacies of British Colonial Development in Malawi: Confronting Poverty, 1939-1983 advances the argument that the intentions of officials and agencies charged with delivering economic development programs in Malawi were never as ill-informed or wicked as some theorists have contended. Through a meticulous search of the archive on rural and industrial development projects, Kayira presents a development history that displays the shortfalls of existing works on development inadequately grounded in historical study.
In the book, Kayira writes about development interventions that partially worked or did not work in the past and why they produced the results they did from the late 1930s when the British were in power to the early 1980s when postcolonial Malawi accepted the first Structural Adjustment Loans. It will serve as a guide against replicating, albeit in different guises, policies that failed in the past, hoping they would produce a miracle for contemporary Malawi and Africa.
According to Kayira, the book is aimed at a broad audience. “Although mainly focusing on Malawi, this book targets scholars interested in the history of development and poverty in other countries as well. It also has a broader application to the academy and will, without doubt, appeal to economic historians, development economists, political scientists, students and scholars in development and those trained diplomatic studies. Scholars studying the British Empire in the 20th century will also find it fulfilling.” The book has been published by Lexington Books. Apart from the publisher’s website, the book can also be ordered from major online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It is available in hardcover and e-book formats.
