Nathan Andrews

McMaster University, Political Science, Faculty Member

Queen's University at Kingston, Political Studies, Post-Doc

University of Northern British Columbia, Global Studies, Faculty Member

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I am an Associate Professor of International Relations (IR) at McMaster University. Prior to January 2022 when I joined McMaster's Department of Political Science, I worked in the Department of Global and International Studies at UNBC where I received the University Excellence Award in Research in May 2019. My ongoing research resonate with the international political economy/ecology of natural resource extraction and development though I am also interested in foreign aid, non-western & critical IR perspectives, research methods, as well as the scholarship of teaching and the learning where I particularly examine the politics of knowledge production and epistemic imperialism in higher education. I occasionally take up part-time consulting opportunities that fit with my interests. My career objective is to influence change in society and add valuable insights to debates in my area of research/practice.

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Books by Nathan Andrews

The Transnational Land Rush in Africa: A Decade After the Spike

by Logan Cochrane and Nathan Andrews

Palgrave Macmillan, 2021

Investors from around the world have been acquiring land in Africa, this rush for land is unprece... more Investors from around the world have been acquiring land in Africa, this rush for land is unprecedented in scale. Many advocates call this land grabbing, taking land away from citizens without due process or compensation. International actors and some governments have been advocating for transparency within these large-scale land acquisitions. Following the commodity price spike of 2007/08, the acquisition of land by investors rapidly increased, with tens of millions of hectares of land being leased or purchased. However, in the immediate years data was sparse and many claims turned out to be inaccurate. In the decade that has passed, governments in Africa have also defined and refined their laws, policies and regulatory processes. This volume provides up-to-date information on what has happened in the African ‘land rush’, providing national case studies for countries that were heavily impacted. In addition to the specific questions of land and investment, this book sheds light on the broader international political economy of development in different African countries. The volume also acts as a critical resource for students, researchers, advocates and policy makers as it provides detailed, long-term assessments of a broad range of national contexts.

Oil and Development in Ghana: Beyond the Resource Curse

by Nathan Andrews and Pius Siakwah

Routledge, 2021

This book gives a comprehensive overview of Ghana’s hydrocarbon economy using actor network and a... more This book gives a comprehensive overview of Ghana’s hydrocarbon economy using actor network and assemblage theories to contest the methodological nationalism of mainstream accounts of the resource curse in resource-rich countries. Drawing upon recent field research focused on Ghana’s oil and gas sector and utilizing the theoretical framework of actor network theory, we contend that there is an assemblage of political, economic, social and environmental networks, processes, actions, actors, and structures of power that coalesce to determine the extent to which the country’s hydrocarbon resources could be regarded as a "curse" or "blessing." This framing facilitates a better understanding of the variety (and duality) of local and global forces and power structures at play in Ghana’s growing hydrocarbon industry.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Canada’s Role in Africa’s Extractive Sectors

University of Toronto Press, 2020

Africa’s natural resource sectors are experiencing unprecedented levels of foreign investment and... more Africa’s natural resource sectors are experiencing unprecedented levels of foreign investment and production. Hailed as a means of reducing poverty and reliance on foreign aid, the role of foreign corporations in Africa’s extractive sector is not well understood and important questions remain about the impact of such activities on people and on the environment. With reference to global governance initiatives aimed at promoting ethical business practices, this volume offers a timely examination of Canada-Africa relations and natural resource governance. Few Canadians realize how significant a role their country plays in investing in Africa’s natural resource sector. The editors and contributors consider the interplay between public opinion, corporate social responsibility, and debates about the extraction and trade of Africa’s natural resources.

Gold Mining and the Discourses of Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana

Palgrave Macmillan, 2019

This book critically examines the practice and meanings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) ... more This book critically examines the practice and meanings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how the movement has facilitated a positive and somewhat unquestioned image of the global corporation. Drawing on extensive fieldwork material collected in Ghanaian communities located around the project sites of Newmont Mining Corporation and Kinross Gold Corporation, the monograph employs critical discourse analysis to accentuate how mining corporations use CSR as a discursive alibi to gain legitimacy and dominance over the social order, while determining their own spheres of responsibility and accountability. Hiding behind such notions as ‘social licence to operate’ and ‘best practice,’ corporations are enacted as entities that are morally conscious and socially responsible. Yet, this enactment is contested in host communities, as explored in chapters that examine corporate citizenship, gendered perspectives, and how global CSR norms institutionalize unaccountability.

**Please contact me directly ([email protected]) for free e-book, if you cannot afford to buy one :-)

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Retrospect: Africa’s Development Beyond 2015

This volume examines the impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Africa’s developmen... more This volume examines the impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Africa’s development post-2015. It assesses the current state of the MDGs in Africa by outlining the successes, gaps and failures of the state goals, including lessons learned. A unique feature of the book is the exposition on post-MDG’s agenda for Africa’s development. Chapters on poverty, south-south partnership, aid, gender, empowerment, health as well as governance and development explore what feasible alternative lie ahead for Africa beyond the expiry date of the MDGs.

Africa Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Exploring the Multi-dimensional Discourses on 'Development'

What Foreign Aid Can and Can't Do in Africa: Understanding the Context of Aid and Socio-Economic Development in Ghana

For over five decades, huge sums of money and other forms of assistance have littered the contine... more For over five decades, huge sums of money and other forms of assistance have littered the continent of Africa. With so much "goodwill" but so little positive results to show forth, many people around the world have been questioning aid effectiveness.This book is a short analysis of the impact foreign aid (and other forms of foreign intervention) has had and its future in Africa, with particular reference to Ghana. The book also re-introduces to readers the culture-development argument from a Ghanaian point of view since development encompasses every aspect of the people it targets. Nathan Andrews offers an account of Ghana's experience under the Structural Adjustment Program and the impact of foreign assistance received during this regime. The book aims at the general public who are interested in the socio-economic aspects of Africa, particularly students seeking to understand the context of Ghana's development. It is brief, precise and straight to the point; and it could also be of benefit to both policy makers and development practitioners both in Ghana and abroad who might be thinking of finding alternative explanations to why foreign aid has failed so far in most places.

Papers by Nathan Andrews

Transforming global critical minerals governance: is a green new international economic order possible

by Nathan Andrews and Jing Vivian Zhan

Third World Quarterly, 2026

As states scramble, albeit at different speeds and with different degrees of conviction, to move ... more As states scramble, albeit at different speeds and with different degrees of conviction, to move to greener energy sources, the demand for critical minerals will inevitably increase over the coming decades. How critical minerals are governed is a crucial question at multiple levels. Here, we focus on the global level. We first consider the lessons from a previous global transformative initiative, namely the New International Economic Order (NIEO). We analyse inter-and intra-North-South dynamics and the appeal of resource nationalism. The NIEO still serves as an aspiration of relevance for the contemporary period despite its ultimate demise. However, we underscore the fact that the possibilities for collective action by the Global South to transform the global governance of critical minerals now are limited by two significant challenges. Firstly, many current international frameworks remain dominated by the countries of the Global North. Secondly, Global South states, exemplified by China, arguably the most important state in critical mineral extraction and supply, have often pursued nationalistic resource policies. We examine what these challenges mean for the potential of a Green New International Economic Order (GNIEO) or broader South-South collaboration to promote transformative global governance of critical minerals for just development.

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1 An Evolving Agenda on Natural Resource–Based Development in Africa

University of Toronto Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

format_quoteFocus on land and human security in Central African regions reveals deepening geopolitical dynamics amid resource exploitation.format_quote

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The Global Land Rush and Agricultural Investment in Ghana: Existing Knowledge, Gaps, and Future Directions

Land

The large-scale acquisition of land by investors intensified following the 2007/2008 triple crise... more The large-scale acquisition of land by investors intensified following the 2007/2008 triple crises of food, energy, and finance. In the years that followed, tens of millions of hectares of land were leased or sold for agricultural investment. This phenomenon has resulted in a growing body of scholarship that seeks to explain trends, institutional regimes, impacts, and the variety of actors involved, among other subtopics, such as impacts on food security and livelihoods. Focusing on the case study of Ghana, this paper presents a review that uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to critically assess the state of large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural development in Ghana. Our objective in this review is to provide an overview of what we know about such acquisitions in Ghana while pointing to gaps and directions for future research. Contrary to the perception of large-scale land acquisitions being undertaken by foreign investors, the review shows there is a significan...

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How global norms matter: norm diffusion and the tangled web of localization in Ghana’s extractive industry

Globalizations

Oil, Fish, and Livelihoods: Narratives of Hydrocarbon Benefits and Gendered Relations in Ghana

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021

The political assemblage

Oil and Development in Ghana, 2020

The prospects and pitfalls of oil-engendered development

The paradox of development troubles in resource-endowed countries

“Dutch Disease” and the economic assemblage

A "New" Developmental State in Africa? Evaluating Recent State Interventions Vis-a-Vis Resource Extraction in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda

in the extractive resource sector undertaken by three African countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Rwan... more in the extractive resource sector undertaken by three African countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda) to understand how they fit into the “developmental state” framework originally used to explain the miraculous economic development East Asia experienced after World War II. We focus on interventions aimed primarily at enhancing the capacity of a state’s nationals to participate in extractive resource development.

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The “lost child”

Oil, fisheries and coastal communities: A review of impacts on the environment, livelihoods, space and governance

Energy Research & Social Science, 2021

A quarter of global oil production comes from offshore fields and about 60% of internationally-tr... more A quarter of global oil production comes from offshore fields and about 60% of internationally-traded oil travels by tankers. The relationship between oil, fisheries, and coastal communities is documented primarily through case studies in individual jurisdictions and via the impacts of oil spills. Yet, the implications of oil development for fisheries and coastal communities are much broader. This study provides an extensive review of the effects of oil development in relation to four interconnected themes: 1) the environment, including marine habitats and fish; 2) small-scale fisheries and coastal community livelihoods; 3) coastal and ocean spaces, including disputes over territory and infrastructure; and 4) ocean and coastal governance processes. We map spatial overlaps between the oil sector and small-scale fisheries and point to the frequent displacement of fishers from fishing grounds due to increasing coastal traffic and infrastructure, and the catastrophic effects of oil spills on fisheries and coastal economies. Though the oil sector generally has negative impacts on fisheries livelihoods and coastal communities, these effects and their mechanisms vary across locations, ecosystems, species, and specific activities and groups. Overall, this narrative review provides a comprehensive account of the scholarship to date and points to key themes for future research, including intersections between offshore oil and gender, cross-sectoral governance, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 14. Underpinning all of these challenges and potential solutions is a clear need for stronger integration of social and natural science knowledge, perspectives, and tools.

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Oil, power and social differentiation: A political ecology of hydrocarbon extraction in Ghana

Journal of Political Ecology, 2021

While there is scholarship focused on the nexus between resource extraction and development, furt... more While there is scholarship focused on the nexus between resource extraction and development, further examination is needed of how the harms and benefits of extraction are differentiated among different stakeholders based on factors such as their access to power, authority over decision-making, social status,and gender. This article combines theoretical insights from assemblage thinking and political ecology to unpack the intertwined range of actors, networks, and structures of power that inform the differentiated benefits and harms of hydrocarbon extraction in Ghana. The study shows that power serves as a crucial ingredient in understanding relations among social groups, including purported beneficiaries of extractive activities, and other actors that constitute the networked hydrocarbon industry. The different levels (i.e. global, national, sub-national,local) at which the socio-ecological 'goods' and 'bads' of hydrocarbon extraction become manifest are relational. ...

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