Social Sciences
The Social Sciences at Brill
The Social Sciences at Brill are central to our mission of publishing superior scholarship that addresses the complex needs and struggles of the ever-changing political and cultural landscape of a globalized world.
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Sign upPodcast: 'In Chains' Episode 3
In the third episode of our new themed series In Chains, we speak with Dr. Alexis Aronowitz from University College Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, who is the author of the article, “Regulating business involvement in labor exploitation and human trafficking” published in Journal of Labor and Society.
Brill Publishes Two New Book Series in the Social Sciences
Brill is pleased to announce the addition of two new peer-reviewed book series to its Social Sciences publishing program: International Studies in Maritime Sociology and Studies in Political Economy of Global Labor and Work. The series will be published online and in print.
Brill adds Two New Journals to Its Social Sciences Publishing Program
Two journals, the Journal of Labor and Society (JLSO) and Protest, have been added to Brill’s expanding publishing program in the Social Sciences. Both journals will be published online and in print. Previous volumes of JLSO are already available on Brill’s website, the first issues of Protest are planned for publication in 2021.
A couple of West African countries experienced military take-overs in 2021. Presidential elections took place in some countries under conditions that did not guarantee free and fair elections and thus resulted in recriminations and dispute. The Covid-19 pandemic wrought more havoc than in the previous year due to new and highly transmissible and virulent variants of the virus that accounted for high infection rates and fatalities. The acquisition of vaccines and the vaccination of more people, coupled with border closures and impositions of travel restrictions, helped to curtail the damage. By the end of the year, there was evidence that the emergency was easing. Economies were badly affected, but nevertheless some countries’ economies rebounded, and some began to record positive growth rates. There was no let-up in jihadist and insurrectionist activities, which continued to beset some Sahelian states, aggravating displacement and creating serious problems both for those made into refugees and the states that hosted them.
West Africa faced severe challenges and demonstrated remarkable resilience at the same time during the year under review. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian–Ukrainian war, and instability emanating from the activities of jihadist groups in the Sahel region continued to undermine collective and individual efforts to secure a living. The year under review also witnessed a number of elections in the sub-region and the stagnation of corruption perceptions. Fights against corruption, drug trafficking, human rights violations, and continuous violence, conflict, and disasters used up state resources and capacity which could otherwise have been used to promote socioeconomic development. However, the economies of member states in the sub-region also showed a level of flexibility, recovery, and growth, at least in some instances. Most of these achievements and set-backs were underpinned by domestic and international political factors worthy of attention.
The West African sub-region was troubled with instability as a result of violence orchestrated by various insurgent and jihadist groups as well as military overthrow of constitutionally elected governments. These incidents imposed humanitarian and economic challenges on states within the region. Notwithstanding these identifiable challenges, several states in the region held presidential, parliamentary, and local-level elections to choose their political leaders, validating the strong conviction that democracy is the only game in town. Economies within the sub-region tumbled in some countries while others recorded marginal or even substantial growth, bolstered by either the increase in prices of natural resources in the global market or increased borrowing to offset balance-of-payments deficits. Both the au and ecowas were busy in the year under review, addressing the military coups and instability in the Sahel region. A significant fallout from this crisis was the abandonment of France by its formal colonies and the welcoming of Russia as the new economic and security partner.