ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a number of the ways the interplay of local, regional, and global economic structures and processes shape the lives of the people and nations of southern Africa. Official development assistance translates into one of the most powerful tools of economic globalization because it requires that local governments respond to the policy recommendations of international financial institutions (IFIs). The international Monetary Funds and World Bank Group, two IFIs that profoundly influence the world's economy, enthusiastically and dogmatically promote the ideology of neoclassical liberalism in a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development. Before examining national governments' policies and their changes across time, the chapter provides a basic economic profile for each country, followed by a discussion of global links through production, finance, and trade. It investigates some indicators of quality of life for the people of southern Africa and by examining the role of women in development.
