Mass Starvation

The History and Future of Famine

Alex de Waal

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English

Polity Press
24 November 2017

History; Famine

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.

By: Alex de Waal
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9781509524679
ISBN 10: 1509524673
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 24 November 2017
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

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

Alex de Waal is Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and a Research Professor at The Fletcher School, Tuft's University.

Reviews for Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine

This is the most important book on famine to appear for some time. Alex de Waal's ideas on famine crimes and atrocities are particularly relevant and we must take heed of his warnings that the decline in famine deaths in the last few decades could be reversed. Peter Atkins, Durham University