School of Social and Political Science

Andrew Bowman

Lecturer in Africa and International Development

Staff member photo
andrew.bowman@ed.ac.uk
+44 (0)131 651 1617
2.01
Chrystal Macmillan Building
15a George Square
Edinburgh
UK
EH8 9LD

Background

Teaching

I teach postgraduates on the MSc in International Development and MSc in Africa and International Development. I am the Postgraduate Advisor for the PhD Programme in International Development.

Research interests

Political economy, Industrial policy, Agricultural development, Agro-processing, Value chains, Mining and the extractive industries, Financialisation, Energy politics, Science and technology for development, Infrastructure

I research the political economy of development, with a particular focus on industrial policy, agro-industries and the extractive industries in southern Africa.

My main research activity at the moment is as an investigator on the project Innovation and Inclusion in Agro-Processing, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, and the Economic and Social Research Foundation in Tanzania. The project seeks to investigate the factors influencing inclusion of small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises in domestic agro-processing value chains in a context of rapid food system industrialisation, with a particular focus on innovation systems and the political economy of industrial policy. Further information on the project can be found here:  https://iiap.info/

I am also involved in ongoing research on the political economy of the mining industry in South Africa, with  a particular interests in distributional politics, financialization, and functional upgrading processes within global value chains. Much of this work was previously carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Mining and Rural Transformation in Southern Africa research group at the Society, Work and Politics Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. I have additional research interests in infrastructure and state-owned enterprises in post-apartheid South Africa, and the history of science, technology and expertise in international development. I am a member of the Foundational Economy Collective, and have an interest in furthering 'foundational economy' thinking to address economic development challenges. Prior to coming to Edinburgh, I worked at the Society, Work and Development Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, and at the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change, University of Manchester. My PhD at the University of Manchester was on the history of science and technology in agricultural development in Zambia. Publications can be found here: https://edinburgh.academia.edu/AndrewBowman/

Topics interested in supervising

I am interested in supervising students on issues relating to the political economy of development, with a particular interest in topics relating to agriculture and agro-industries, mining and the extractive industries, and infrastructure.

If you are interested in being supervised by Andrew Bowman, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

Works within

By appointment

Publications by user content

Publication Research Explorer link
Mnwana S, Bowman A. Land, conflict and radical distributive claims in South Africa's rural mining frontier. Extractive Industries and Society. 2021 Jul 17. 100972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2021.100972
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Bowman A, Frederiksen T, Bryceson DF, Childs J, Gilberthorpe E, Newman S. Mining in Africa after the supercycle: New directions and geographies. Area. 2021 Apr 20. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12723
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Bowman A. Parastatals and economic transformation in South Africa: The political economy of the Eskom crisis. African Affairs. 2020 Jul 31;119(476):395-431. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa013
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Bowman A. Black economic empowerment and state-business relations in South Africa: The case of mining. Review of African Political Economy. 2019;46(160):223-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2019.1605587
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Mnwana S, Bowman A. Mine mechanisation and distributional conflict in rural South Africa. Resources Policy. 2018 Dec;59:227-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2018.07.008
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Bowman A. Financialization and the extractive industries: The case of South African platinum mining. Competition and Change. 2018 Aug 1;22(4):388-412. https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529418785611
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Bowman A, Fround J, Johal S, Williams K. Trade Associations, Narrative and Elite Power. Theory, Culture & Society. 2017 Sep 1;34(5-6):103–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276417717793
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Bowman A. Dilemmas of distribution: financialisation, boom and bust in the post-apartheid platinum industry. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand. 2016 Jul, p. 1-50. (Society, Work and Development Institute; 6).
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Bowman A, Isaacs G. The 2014 platinum strike: Narratives and numbers. Review of African Political Economy. 2016 Jan 13. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2015.1084912
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Bowman A. Sovereignty, risk and biotechnology: Zambia’s 2002 GM controversy in retrospect. Development and change. 2015 Nov;46(6):1369–1391. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12196
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Bowman A, (ed.), Erturk I, (ed.), Folkman P, (ed.), Froud J, (ed.), Haslam C, (ed.), Johal S, (ed.) et al. What a waste: Outsourcing and how it goes wrong. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015. 120 p. (Manchester Capatalism).
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Bowman A. An illusion of success: The consequences of British railprivatisation. Accounting Forum. 2015 Mar;39(1):51–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2014.10.001
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Bowman A, Erturk I, Froud J, Johal S, Law J, Leaver A et al. The End of the Experiment? From Competition and Markets to Social Licensing in the Foundational Economy. 1 ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2014. 180 p. (Manchester Capitalism).
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Jankovic V, Bowman A. After the green gold rush: the construction of climate change as a market transition. Economy and Society. 2014;43(2):233-259 . https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2013.791511
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