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This paper critically considers the circular economy in the Kenyan fashion industry context, addressing structural and geographical hierarchies and inequalities in the conceptualisation of the circular economy and its associated practices in fashion. From the perspective of fashion designers, it highlights specific geopolitical and geo-economic tensions between local cultural foundations of 'circular' fashion and the impact of global market forces. Focusing on dynamics relating to second-hand clothing imports and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) for garment manufacturing, we present findings from qualitative research with Kenyan fashion designers (2019–2023) demonstrating how they both inhibit circular economy development in fashion and provide opportunities for innovations through creative adaptation practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the links between socioeconomic concerns and one of the most significant conflicts in the world, the Boko Haram-led insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria. In doing so it centers group dynamics for analysis of how women and youth constituencies intersect with vulnerability to violent extremism. It offers sophisticated quantitative analysis of new and original gender- and age-disaggregated survey data, with over 80% female respondents. The paper finds that while poverty can influence vulnerability to violent extremism, women and youth constituencies interact in particular ways with structural factors and certain youth constituencies exhibit lower propensities to violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The mine action sector has struggled to demonstrate the socioeconomic benefits of mine clearance. Previous academic studies have made important contributions but have been limited in offering in-depth discussions of causal pathways. This paper seeks to fill that gap. It proposes a new framework, the Mine Clearance and Peacebuilding Synergies (MPS) framework that combines the Humanitarian Mine Action Peacebuilding Palette, the Mine Action- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and theoretical considerations from the Infrastructure as Peacebuilding framework to interrogate this interaction. Using Somaliland's post-conflict reconstruction as a case study, we analyze qualitative and quantitative data to map both the direct and indirect benefits of mine clearance in relation to infrastructure development. We find that mine clearance can influence both economic and physical reconstruction through its impact on dominant economic sectors as well as critical strategic infrastructure, including ports and roads, and demonstrate the synergies therein with an array of SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-conflict reconstruction (PCR) has come away from a dynamic reading of the role of the state within contemporary reflections on peacebuilding. This article introduces the framework of developmental PCR that draws on the developmental state paradigm to offer a lens for understanding the role of the state and its complex interlinkages with other milieus such as the market in PCR. Developmental PCR is premised on three tenets: interdependence between economic development and security; the importance of state–market interdependencies within industrial development, as reconstruction; and how characterisations of statehood interact with reconstruction. The deployment of developmental PCR in the case study of the Nigerian Civil War illuminates certain realities such as the significance of economic nationalism to security, complex interdependencies across the state and market that underpinned key elements of industrial policy during reconstruction, and the nuances in the characterisation of the Nigerian state as strong on account of military regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews existing literature and approaches to the current study of fashion and economic development to rethink the interconnection between creative producers and global production and trade networks in relation to sustainable local development. Focusing on the work of independent fashion designers on the African continent, we first consider their positioning as cultural (micro) entrepreneurs and drivers of economic development. Next, we discuss the wider relationship with the global markets and value chains which impact their work and local context. We conclude with a call for further interdisciplinary research that takes fashion designers as a key point from which to engage critically with global value chains beyond prioritising the lead firm in the global North, so as to position African fashion designers as micro‐entrepreneurs with potential for value creation and as leading smaller local or national markets with concomitant international reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to debates on the relationship between peacebuilding and statebuilding with its analysis of post-independence Sierra Leone. It considers the extent to which peacebuilding has returned Sierra Leonean society to post-independence statebuilding conversations and how the issues that have emanated from such conversations have interacted with settlement and post-settlement arrangements. This paper analyses original data from focus group discussions and interviews in fieldwork from January 2016. It finds that the situation in Sierra Leone heralded opportunities for peacebuilding processes to engage concerns that have been linked with historical statebuilding conversations. Yet formal statebuilding processes, which were particularly focused on liberal institution building in the post-conflict context, were not sufficiently attentive to their antecedents. Nonetheless there are suggestions of some engagement with extant statebuilding conversations particularly in relation to how ethnicity continues to colour the statebuilding project, the significance of intergroup dynamics across intergenerational exchanges and gender and the challenges of socio-economic exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging economies have recently faced commodity price declines that reinforce the instability of natural resources as a basis for socio-economic transformation. This has re-energised arguments for industrialisation as necessary for such transitions. Drawing upon classical development economics theory, this paper offers a deployment of an enhanced developmental state paradigm (DSP) that highlights the roles of agriculture and mineral resources in the pursuit of industrial progress. This application of the DSP has its basis in narratives on Asian developmental states, with a focus on mineral resource endowment. Employed with reference to Africa’s key emerging economy and net petroleum exporter, Nigeria, the DSP shows how the state, influenced by significant milieus, has enabled linkages between oil and agriculture that can drive industrial transformation. The paper finds that linkages between oil and agriculture are well established; however, economic, social and political influences on the state have engendered agriculture’s limited onward contribution to structural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria presents an important case for examining the interaction between economic emergence and (in)security on account of the Boko Haram-led insurgency. This paper interrogates long-standing theoretical assumptions about the economic consequences of violent conflict in such a complex space. It analyses the cost of North-East Nigeria’s conflict on development by considering its impact on the economy at the national and subnational levels. Generalised assumptions about the ways through which conflict affects development appear to hold in some regards but not in others. Evidence suggests some disruption in fiscal adjustments at the macro level, trade and investment as well as agricultural production and commerce within the North-East but less so with regard to economic growth and foreign direct investment flows at the national level. The paper finds evidence of a dichotomy in terms of the impact of the conflict on the national and subnational economy. There is a high degree of containment of the repercussions of the conflict at the subnational level. However, there remains a degree of interconnectedness across these strata that are influenced by both domestic and international political economy dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews the current discourse on state fragility and examines the definitional basis for this label. It puts forward a model for defining state fragility that is based on the state's capacity, which is its capability to protect itself, deliver services and manage economic risks and the state's resilience, which has to do with the management of social relations and political risks. This model also takes into account both middle-income and low-income countries. The nature and extent of state fragility here is a function of the relationship between state capacity and resilience. The relationship between state fragility and development and security outcomes is addressed with reference to the impact of initial conditions. The paper concludes by examining the resulting aid allocation on the basis of the existing state fragility discourse and puts forward an alternative aid allocation structure based on the proposed model for state fragility, and finds significant differences to the existing arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]