• Search
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Media
  • About
  • Search Close
  • Cart
  • Search Search
  • Close Close
Back
— Making Public in a Privatized World — £ $ £ $
Share: Share article on Facebook Tweet article on Twitter Pin article on Pinterest Email to a friend

Please enable JavaScript to be able to buy books.

Free Shipping:
UK > £20 | EU > £50 | US & CA > US$25

Making Public in a Privatized World

The Struggle for Essential Services

Edited by David A. McDonald

A diverse and innovative collection that explores the radical and innovative ways in which public services in the global south are being remade from below.
  • Overview
  • Author Bio
  • Table of Contents
  • Reviews
  • Details

Description

How do we provide effective public services in a deeply neoliberal world? In the wake of the widespread failure of privatisation efforts, societies in the global south are increasingly seeking progressive ways of recreating the public sector. With contributors ranging from cutting-edge scholars to activists working in health, water, and energy provision, and with case studies covering a broad spectrum of localities and actors, Making Public in a Privatized World uncovers the radically different ways in which public services are being reshaped from the grassroots up.

From communities holding the state accountable for public health in rural Guatemala, to waste pickers in India and decentralized solar electricity initiatives in Africa, the essays in this collection offer probing insights into the complex ways in which people are building genuine alternatives to privatization, while also illustrating the challenges which communities face in creating public services which are not subordinated to the logic of the market, or to the monolithic state entities of the past.

Author Bio

David A. McDonald is professor of global development studies at Queen’s University, Canada. He is founder and co-director of the Municipal Services Project, a research initiative that explores progressive and innovative public service delivery models throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. He holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Toronto and is the editor of Rethinking Corporatization and Public Services in the Global South (Zed Books, 2014), amongst numerous other works.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Introduction: The Wonderful Worlds of Making Public - David A. McDonald
  • Part I: Engaging Communities and Workers
    • 2. Work of the Ants: Labour and Community Reinventing Public Water in Colombia - Madeleine Bélanger Dumontier, Susan Spronk and Adrian Murray
    • 3. Old Trash, New Ideas: Public Waste Management and Informal Reclaimers - Melanie Samson
    • 4. Ships Passing in the Dark? Reigniting Labour-Community Alliances for Public Services in South Africa - Dale T. McKinley
    • 5. Public Health for Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala: Monitoring from the Bottom Up - Walter Flores
  • Part II: Recognising Quasi-Public Actors
    • 6. Electrified Publics and Informal Settlements in Urban India - Bipasha Baruah
    • 7. Principles and Pitfalls: Searching for Public in 'Community-Led Total Sanitation' - Mary Galvin
    • 8. Public Faith: Christian and Muslim Health Services in Uganda - Yoswa M. Dambisya, Mulalo Manenzhe and Allie B. Kibwika-Muyinda
  • Part III: Promoting Equity and Democratic Control
    • 9. Gender Equity, Citizenship and Public Water in Bangladesh - Farhana Sultana, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Sarah Miraglia
    • 10. Struggling for Public, Reclaiming Citizenship: Everyday Practices of Access to Water in Medellín, Colombia - Marcela López
    • 11. Public Renewable Energy in Africa: The Potential for Democratic Electrification - Sandra van Niekerk
  • Part IV: Financing Public Services
    • 12. (Re)Making Public Banks: The Case of Turkey - Thomas Marois and Ali Rıza Güngen
    • 13. Pragmatic Publics in the Heartland of Capitalism: Local Services in the United States - Mildred E. Warner
    • 14. Post-Neoliberalism in Bolivia? Water Sector Reforms Under Evo Morales - Susan Spronk
    • 15. Conclusion: Building a Global Pro-Public Movement - David A. McDonald

Reviews

'An excellent and timely book that is a welcome contribution to the growing debate about alternatives to neoliberalism and privatization in critical public services.'
Andrew Cumbers, University of Glasgow

‘A remarkable collection of work and an urgently needed intervention into struggles over public services. It deserves to be read by those depressed by the rolling tide of privatization and by those struggling to find better ways of serving publics.’
John Clarke, The Open University

‘This superb collection explores convincingly why public services should indeed be delivered by the public and not by private companies. The contributions offer an extraordinarily insightful foray into the contours of and possibilities for inclusive and democratic public service delivery, both within and outside of the state.’
Erik Swyngedouw, University of Manchester

Details

Publication Date: 15 February 2016
280 pages

Product ISBNs: Paperback: 9781783604821
Hardback: 9781783604838
eBook ePub: 9781783604852
eBook Kindle: 9781783604869

Zed Scholar

To request free review copies or inspection copies of this title or to learn more about our academic publishing, visit Zed Scholar.

Related Books

Rethinking Corporatization and Public Services in the Global South

Edited by David A. McDonald A critical exploration of the trend towards 'corporatizing' public services in the global South.

Reclaiming Public Ownership

Making Space for Economic Democracy

Andrew Cumbers As the environmental limits and socially destructive tendencies of the current profit-driven economic model become daily more self-evident, Cumbers argues that a reconstituted public ownership is central to the creation of a more just and sustainable society.

Governance for Development in Africa

Solving Collective Action Problems

David Booth and Diana Cammack Featuring fresh empirical research, Booth and McCormick's accessible but highly original book offers both an overview of issues surrounding governance for development on the continent, whilst also offering a bold new alternative.

Related Content

Pervious Next

    Account

    • Login

    Social Media

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    ZED

    • About Zed
    • Zed Scholar
    • Contact
    • Vacancies
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • FAQs
    • Newsletter

    For Authors

    • Publishing with Zed
    • For contracted authors

    For the trade

    • Rights and permissions
    • Sales representation and distribution

    Catalogues

    • S/S 2020
    • A/W 2019
    • S/S 2019
    • A/W 2018
    • S/S 2018
    • A/W 2017
    • S/S 2017
    • A/W 2016

    Subjects

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Anthropology
    • Biography and Memoir
    • Business
    • Cities and Architecture
    • Culture and Media
    • Current Affairs
    • Development
    • Economics
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Fiction
    • Gender, Sexualities and Queer Identities
    • Health and Medicine
    • History
    • Human Rights
    • Politics and International Relations
    • Philosophy
    • Race and Indigenous Politics
    • Sociology

    Books

      Other

        View all results
        Close

        • Forgot password?
        Close
        • Remove promo codePromo code: applied
        Subtotal
        Free Shipping:
        UK > £20 | EU > £50 | US & CA > US$25
        Continue Shopping
        Checkout Checkout
        Facebook Twitter Email
        Connect with Zed: Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Visit our YouTube page Follow us on Instagram Close