Edited by Sam Hickey, Professor of Politics and Development, Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester, UK, Tom Lavers, Lecturer, Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester, UK, Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, Senior Non-Resident Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER), Finland, and Jeremy Seekings, Professor of Political Studies and Sociology and Director, Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Sam Hickey is Professor of Politics and Development in the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, and Research Director of the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre. His work on the politics of development has been published in African Affairs, Journal of Development Studies, and World Development. He has edited eight collections, most recently The Politics of Inclusive Development (OUP, 2015, with Kunal Sen and Badru Bukenya), The Politics of Negotiating Gender Equity in the Global South (2019, Routledge, with Sohela Nazneen and Eleni Sifaki) and The Politics of Education in Developing Countries (OUP, 2019, with Naomi Hossain).

Tom Lavers is a Lecturer in Politics and Development at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester and a researcher in Manchester's Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) Research Centre. His research focuses on comparative political economy of development, in particular on the themes of land, agrarian transformation, and social policy. He has previously published in leading journals including African Affairs, Development and Change, Journal of Agrarian Change, and the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Jeremy Seekings is Professor of Political Studies and Sociology and Director of the Centre for Social Science Research at the University of Cape Town, and Visiting Professor in Political Science at Yale University. His most recent books include Inclusive Dualism: Labour-Intensive Development, Decent Work, and Surplus Labour in Southern Africa (Oxford University Press, 2019, co-authored with Nicoli Nattrass). His current research focuses on the politics of welfare reforms historically and in contemporary Africa, and on party politics and voting behaviour in Southern Africa.

Miguel Niño-Zarazúa is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) where he has led the research programme on fiscal policy and social protection in developing countries. He has published extensively in leading academic journals such as World Development, Journal of Development Studies, and Review of Income and Wealth, and edited six journal special issues, the most recent ones in Population and Development Review and The European Journal of Political Economy. His current research is in the microeconomics and political economy of welfare-benefit systems and antipoverty programmes in developing countries. He is Associate Editor and Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of International Development.

Badru Bukenya, Makerere University Kampala
Maria Granvik Saminathen, Stockholm University
Sam Hamer, University of Cape Town
Kate Pruce, University of Manchester
Marianne S. Ulriksen, University of Southern Denmark

"Based on outstanding multi-country research programmes at Cape Town, Manchester and UNU-WIDER, the contributions collected in this volume skilfully lay bare the politics of social assistance in sub-Saharan Africa, and the research toolbox required to do so. The volume makes a huge contribution to our understanding of emerging welfare institutions in the region and will be indispensable reading for researchers and policy makers worldwide." - Armando Barrientos, Professor Emeritus in Poverty and Social Justice, University of Manchester

"The recent creation or expansion of programmes of social protection all across East and Southern Africa raises intriguing and important issues for scholars of the region's politics. This book, with its admirable combination of empirical substance and analytic clarity, is a landmark contribution to this new field. It will be a key point of reference for our discussions and debates for many years to come." - James Ferguson, Stanford University

"Economists devote a large share of their time to analyse the technical aspects of tax and social policies, and not enough time to analyse the political context in which these policies are to be adopted, often with less-than-desirable results. This excellent book helps to redress that imbalance. Through various case studies in Eastern and Southern Africa, it shows why an understanding of the political and institutional context in which policies are to be applied is as important for development results as are the technicalities of the policies themselves." - Santiago Levy, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

"Social protection research has been preoccupied with operational questions. How to improve programme design? How to build efficient systems? Do cash transfers work? Today researchers ask more fundamental questions. Where did social protection come from? How did cash transfers spread through Africa so rapidly? Which institutions promoted social protection, and why? This engaging book provides fascinating insights and answers to these important questions, drawing on in-depth analysis of social protection policy processes in eight African countries. An indispensable read for everyone interested in social policy." - Stephen Devereux, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, and University of the Western Cape, Cape Town

"The expansion of social protection systems requires a fundamental reconsideration of our understanding of social development. This book takes on this challenge, providing rich theoretical and empirical analyses of the political, ideational, economic and transnational forces shaping these important policy shifts. It will become a significant landmark in the study of social welfare policy and will greatly influence the next generation of research on social welfare and inclusive development in the Global South." - Sarah M. Brooks, Ohio State University