A World of Difference: Encountering and Contesting Development in a Changing World

By Helga Leitner and Eric Sheppard

Popular for showing students how to critically analyze approaches to development across the global South, the third edition of this text reflects over 15 years of conceptual advances, as well as economic, political, and environmental changes worldwide. Taking a geographical approach, the authors contrast Northern and Southern theories of development and examine how global change is shaped by shifting uneven relations connecting places and by local-global interrelations. Featuring rich examples and illustrations, chapters delve into the intersecting historical, geographical, economic, political, cultural, and biophysical dynamics shaping contemporary North-South global disparities. The text gives particular attention to agency across the global South--how people and institutions facing depredations associated with Northern development norms enact alternatives that center economic and social justice. Engaging sidebars, maps, and figures support learning. The companion website includes prior edition chapters on global climate, global biogeography, and Pokot agroecology.

New to This Edition

Restructured to clarify how colonialism and slavery have shaped the postcolonial South's development challenges.New and expanded topics: transnational migration, global population dynamics, global agriculture, mineral extraction, financialization, southern megacities, global heating, rising ethnonationalism, logistics, new development agents, the China model, and more.New chapter on alternative Southern development imaginaries and practices.Numerous new and updated sidebars, maps, and graphics, including 14 full-color plates depicting the book's major themes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1462566162
• ISBN13: 9781462566167
• Release Date: March 2027
• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 10.0"