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Africa's Legacies of Urbanization: Unfolding Saga of. Continent. Stefan Goodwin. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006. 514 pp.

Crafting Gender: Women and Folk Art in Latin America and the Caribbean. Eli Barta, ed. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003. 244 pp. Clothing the Pacific. Chloë Colchester. Oxford: Berg, 2003. 215 pp. Wedding Dress across Cultures. Helen Bradley Foster and Donald Clay Johnson, eds. Oxford: Berg, 2003. 227 pp.

This volume offers valuable anthropological insight into urban Africa, covering a range of cities across a continent that has become one of the fastest urbanizing geographic areas of the globe.

Consideration is given to the structures, social formations, and rhythms that constitute the definition of an African city, town, or urban space, and to current concepts for thinking about African cities in the twenty-first century. The contributors examine topics including notions of belonging, the effects of globalization, colonialism, and transnationalism on African urban life, the cultural dimensions of infrastructure and public resources, mobility, labor issues, spatial organization, language, and popular culture trends, among other themes.

The book reflects on how the ethnography of urban Africa fits within anthropology and urban studies, and on new theoretical concepts and methodologies that can be created through anthropological fieldwork in African cities. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students from anthropology, African studies and urban studies, as well as sociology and geography.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- A Note on Terminology -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1 The Cultural Life of Large Urban Spaces -- Chapter 2 Urban Parks: History and Social Context -- Chapter 3 Prospect Park: Diversity at Risk -- Chapter 4 The Ellis Island Bridge Proposal: Cultural Values, Park Access, and Economics -- Chapter 5 Jacob Riis Park: Conflicts in the Use of a Historical Landscape -- Chapter 6 Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park: Parks and Symbolic Cultural Expression -- Chapter 7 Independence National Historical Park: Recapturing Erased Histories -- Chapter 8 Anthropological Methods for Assessing Cultural Values -- Chapter 9 Conclusion: Lessons on Culture and Diversity -- References Cited -- Index

Introduction: sustainable development and Sub-Saharan Africa /Jennifer De Maio, Suzanne Scheld and Mintesnot Woldeamanuel --Part I: History and regional context for sustainability discourse in Sub-Saharan Africa --The history of sustainable development and the emerging African voice /Suzanne Scheld and Mintesnot Woldeamanuel --Ethical dilemmas in international relief & development work /Blaine D. Pope --War, environmental crisis, and "mining terrorism" in the Congo : prolegomenon for an African philosophy of sustainability /Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha --Good governance and sustainable development challenges and opportunities in Zimbabwe /Chipo Dendere --Part II. Climate action and institutional partnership --In the hot seat: the impact of vulnerability to climate change on environmental attitudes among Africans /Jennifer De Maio and Kristy Michaud --Financing sustainable development? How international tax reform is failing Africa /Brian Dill and Heba Khalil --Part III. Sustainable cities and communities --Bridging the health divide: the case of Holy Innocents Children Hospital Mbarara, Uganda /Florence Kyomugisha --Sustainable path to African urban development: the case of the transportation sector /Mintesnot Woldeamanuel --Expectations of public space: attachments, environmental responsibility, and urban sustainability in Dakar, Senegal /Suzanne Scheld --Conclusion: theoretical paradigms and continuing challenges /Jennifer L. De Maio, Suzanne Scheld and Mintesnot Woldeamanuel.

Conflict frequently occurs between community members and environmental/public health officials when an unusual number of cancer cases is reported. This conflict may result from different ways in which laypeople and experts interpret facts to judge whether there is an environmental cause of the cancer cases, but little is known about this issue. Volunteer laypeople (N= 551) and epidemiologists (N= 105) read a hypothetical scenario about cases of cancer on one neighborhood block. Participants judged whether each of the 23 facts about the situation made it "much more likely" to "much less likely" that something in town was causing the cancer cases (7‐point scale). The facts were designed to be "alarming,""reassuring," or "neutral" (i.e., according to epidemiological principles, should increase, decrease, or have no impact on the likelihood of an environmental cause). The laypeople were alarmed by most of the facts (mean response significantly greater than the scale midpoint), including all of the neutral facts and over half of the reassuring facts. The experts were more balanced: they were alarmed by none of the neutral or reassuring facts. Their responses showed significantly less alarm than the laypeople's responses (p < 0.0001 for all comparisons). This study reveals that laypeople are not reassured by information that substantially lowers the chance of an environmental cause for cancer cases. Lay responses differ significantly and systematically from experts who are far less alarmed by relevant facts. These findings may help explain the conflicts between the two groups in situations where concern about cases of cancer arises in a community.