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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Development studies
The Brazilian Amazon is the largest area of tropical rainforest in Latin America. Brazil is that continent's most rapidly developing country. The Amazon is at the heart of the conflict between conservation and development, between people and power, and between heritage and modernisation. In the name of development, the powerful are colonizing the forest. The greatest new threat comes from the massive hydro-electric schemes which are being pushed ahead with little regard to efficacy, the rights of the people, or the survival of the forest. Dam the Rivers, Damn the People is about two of the most affected areas, Balbina in Amazonas and the Xingu River in Para. Barbara Cummings describes the plans which the state attempted to keep secret, the extent to which these projects will destroy the forest, the consequent dispossession of the people of the forest and, above all, their growing resistance. She shows how the outcome of their fight affects us all. Originally published in 1990
We have only one earth, and how we choose to live in it matters. This highly readable and challenging text sets out some important topical issues that tells us we are not making a very good job of it. From the tropical rainforests to the teeming cities of the developing world and the energy hungry nations of Europe and North America, One World for One Earth shows that many of today's environmental problems can only be understood in terms of both the physical and the social processes involved. At present we are in a vicious circle. Uneven development creates problems of affluence in some areas and problems of poverty in others In both, the environment suffers. Independent local action has a crucial part to play, but to be really effective, sustainable development needs a new context which can only be put in place by international government co-operation. This book, by going beyond the conventional accounts of environmental problems, provides a basis for action. Originally published in 1991
The numbers of Africans living in absolute poverty continues to increase. Through bolder and more innovative approaches, the poor can be helped, at very reasonable cost, to break out of poverty. We use the experience from one of the poorest countries on the continent, Malawi, to illustrate both the challenges that poverty creates, and the opportunities for change that exist. We develop a model easily replicable at modest cost to lift people quickly out of poverty, with sustainable benefits.
The principle of policy coherence has been the object of a contentious debate in the European Union's external relations, though discussions have been mainly limited to its foreign policy and its ability to speak with one voice in the international arena. Despite being institutionalised in the Treaty of Maastricht, policy coherence for development (PCD), which implies taking into account the needs and interests of developing countries in non-aid policies, failed to make headway in the European Union, remaining the unheeded concern of some NGOs and a small group of Member States. A change of direction occurred in the early 2000s when the European Commission, taking advantage of a number of favourable conditions and using an astute strategy, managed to set an ambitious agenda for the European Union. This volume analyses the linkages between aid and various non-aid policies, namely trade, agriculture, fisheries, security, migration, and the social dimension of globalisation. Its aim is to shed new light on the EU's policy-making process, by looking at the nexus between various policy sub-systems, and on the role that the EU wants to play in the international arena, by looking at the impact of its policies on international development. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.
For more than a century, the Olympics have been the modern world's most significant sporting event. Indeed, they deserve much credit for globalizing sport beyond the boundaries of the Anglo-American universe, where it originated, into broader global realms. By the 1930s, the Olympics had become a global mega-event that occupied the attention of the media, the interest of the public and the energies of nation-states. Since then, projected by television, funded by global capital and fattened by the desires of nations to garner international prestige, the Olympics have grown to gargantuan dimensions. In the course of its epic history, the Olympics have left numerous legacies, from unforgettable feats to monumental stadiums, from shining triumphs to searing tragedies, from the dazzling debuts on the world's stage of new cities and nations to notorious campaigns of national propaganda. The Olympics represent an essential component of modern global history. The Olympic movement itself has, since the 1990s, recognized and sought to shape its numerous legacies with mixed success as this book makes clear. It offers ground-breaking analyses of the power of Olympic legacies, positive and negative, and surveys the subject from Athens in 1896 to Beijing in 2008, and indeed beyond. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.
This volume focuses on the recent lessons of experience with reform and innovation in higher education that are most relevant to the challenges of developing countries. These lessons are explored in a series of twelve papers which analyze experience and issues in four priority areas. The first examines the relationship between higher education and development in a global environment in which economic growth is expected to be driven increasingly by scientific and technological innovation. To meet this development challenge effectively, systems of higher education will need to have a solid financial basis, and the second priority area is the examination of the options for reform in higher education financing. Yet, as essential as financial reforms, are reforms in management and government. This implies changes in the relationship between the Government and institutions of higher education. The third part examines these evolving relationships and implies that the mechanisms and indicators will need to be developed to more effectively monitor the performance of institutions of higher education. The final section reviews recent trends in this area and the book concludes with a case study of the effects of the implementation of a comprehensive reform in Chile including many of the reform policies advocated, and a proposal of the central options for policy reform and innovation in higher education.
This book evaluates Bangladesh's impressive economic and social progress, more often referred to as a 'development surprise'. In doing so, the book examines the gap in existing explanations of Bangladesh's development and then offers an empirically informed analysis of a range of distinctive factors, policies, and actions that have individually and collectively contributed to the progress of Bangladesh. In an inclusive way, the book covers the developmental role, relation, and impact of poverty reduction, access to finance, progress in education and social empowerment, reduction in the climatic vulnerability, and evolving sectoral growth activities in the agriculture, garments, and light industries. It also takes into account the important role of the government and NGOs in the development process, identifies bottlenecks and challenges to Bangladesh's future development path and suggests measures to overcome them. By providing an inclusive narrative to theorize Bangladesh's development, which is still missing in the public discourse, this book posits that Bangladesh per se can offer a development model to other developing countries.
This text examines two major themes: the strain placed on local economic cultures and economic networks in the Southern hemisphere and Eastern Europe by global deregulation; and the success rates of both novel, locally-rooted and more traditional economic structures in their attempts to adapt to deregulation. Contributions from a variety of authors combine a "flexible specialization in clusters" approach with original empirical data. An introduction and concluding chapter by the editors brings out the common issues and conclusions.
This is the first English-language survey of Pakistan's socio-economic evolution. Mohammad Qadeer gives an essential overview of social and cultural transformation in Pakistan since independence, which is crucial to understanding Pakistan's likely future direction. Pakistan examines how tradition and family life continue to contribute long term stability, and explores the areas where very rapid changes are taking place: large population increase, urbanization, economic development, and the nature of civil society and the state. It offers an insightful view into Pakistan, exploring the wide range of ethnic groups, the countryside, religion and community, and popular culture and national identity. It concludes by discussing the likely future social development in Pakistan, captivating students and academics interested in Pakistan and multiculturalism. Qadeer's impressive work is a comprehensive examination of social and cultural forces in Pakistani society, and is an important resource for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Pakistan.
This book analyzes various important aspects of methodology and
substance regarding economic, social, and political policy in Asia
directed toward achieving more effective, efficient, and equitable
societal institutions. The chapters are authored by experts from
within Asia and also from Asia research institutes elsewhere. The
book combines practical policy significance with insightful causal
and prescriptive generalizations. The emphasis is on the role of
governmental decision-making and the important (but secondary) role
of the marketplace, social groups, and engineering.
The stereotype of Africa as a predominantly 'natural' space ignores the existence of vibrant and cosmopolitan urban environments on the continent. Far from merely embodying backwardness and lack, African cities are sites of complex and diverse cultural productions which participate in modernity and its dynamics of global flows and exchanges. This volume merges the concerns of urban, literary and cultural studies by focusing on the flows and exchanges of texts and textual elements. By analysing how texts such as popular and canonical fiction, popular music, self-help pamphlets, graffiti, films, journalistic writing, rumours and urban legends engage with the problems of citizenship, self-organisation and survival, the collection shows that despite all the problems of Africa, its cities continue to engender forward-looking creativity and hope. The texts collected here belong to several different genres themselves, and they are authored by both distinguished and younger scholars, based in and outside of Africa. The volume explores the textualities emerging from the cities of Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Above all, it calls for an end to disabling hierarchical categorisations of both texts and cities. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing.
Development was founded on the belief that religion was not important to development processes. The contributors call this assumption into question & explore the practical impacts of religion by looking at the developmental consequences of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa, & contrasting Pentecostal & secular models of change.
Avoid jargon and expressions e.g. unique, ground-breaking, stellar, accessible, cutting edge Include information which isn't obvious from the book description above Mention if a book is especially topical or is likely to appeal in particular geographical areas Remember that artwork and contributors could be important selling points
In a strategy deliberately counter to many earlier texts which focus on social aspects of death and dying this book will not examine death through the social prism of US or British culture alone. Drawing only on material from a single society gives readers the misleading impression of a universal experience. As a text in the sociology of death and dying this volume examines culture-specific images and experiences of death in three major western societies - Australia, Britain and the USA.
This book analyses the performance and potential of India's oilseed sector, identifies the major constraints facing the industry and suggests options for increasing the country's oilseed production and productivity, taking into account the changing policy environment, increasing demand, slow growth in domestic production and rising imports. India as the world's largest producer of oilseeds, accounts for about 7-8 per cent of global vegetable oil production. However, the growth in domestic production has not kept pace with the growth in demand. Low yields and high production and market risks due to lack of irrigation facilities and effective risk management have been responsible for widening the demand-supply gap over the years, and the country now imports more than half of its oilseed for domestic consumption. The Technology Mission on Oilseeds (TMO), launched in the mid-1980s, helped achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil production through the spread of technology and the provision of market support. However, increasing demand for edible oils necessitated imports in large quantities, leading to a substantial drain on foreign exchange. Given the competing demands on agricultural land from various crops and enterprises, the production of oilseeds can be increased only if productivity is improved significantly and farmers receive remunerative prices and have assured market access. However, farmers face various constraints in oilseed production; several biotic, abiotic, technological, institutional and socio-economic constraints inhibit exploitation of the full yield potential of crops, which need to be addressed. The book explores these issues using data collected from about 2,000 oilseed growers: 490 soybean farmers, 316 rapeseed-mustard growers, 470 groundnut farmers, 250 sesamum farmers and 470 sunflower growers from selected Indian states. It would be of immense use for scholars and policy makers alike who are working in this field.
This text contains papers addressing the major problems and possible reforms in the international monetary and financial system from the perspective of developing countries. Among the issues addressed are global macroeconomic management, international liquidity, volatile private capital flows, structural adjustment, governance in the IMF and World Bank, the role of the regional development banks, and the potential for developing country co-operation.
Despite an avalanche of literature over the last 30 years there has been relatively little written on the role played by strategic planning in the transfer of technology, particularly from developed to less developed countries. Technology transfer, which involves the acquisition of inventive activity by secondary users, is conceded vital to socio-economic growth, but usually it is looked at internationally from a micro perspective. Unlike other books, Madu's volume looks at technology transfer holistically. It examines the advantages of technology transfer and its limitations by viewing recipient nations as systems, in which social, economic, behavioral, and political influences converge to help shape technological decisions. Only when a systems perspective like this is adopted and technology seen as a strategic variable can technology transfer be understood and successfully implemented, says Madu. Madu thus identifies the failures of technology transfer as the result of malfunctions in three components of the system: technology, structure, and behavior. He analyzes these malfunctions, offers ways to repair them, and considers technology from the viewpoints of both transferrer and receiver, whose missions, goals, and objectives are often not only disparate but sometimes in conflict. He then offers what he calls prescriptive frameworks and guidelines to help implement transfer, and to see it as a variable that must be integrated into national development planning. Throughout, Madu makes it clear that the objective of technology transfer is the maximizing of social welfare. Using this overarching premise he is able to evaluate both the benefits and the social costs associated with technology transfer and to develop his prescriptive, integrative models. Intended for specialists in international finance and development and international business management, Madu's book will be of special value to teachers of graduate courses in socio-economic development, public policy, and economics, and to policymakers throughout government.
According to recent estimates, around 6,000 people - mostly children under five - die every day from diseases caused by inappropriate water and sanitation (WS) services. Much of the academic and political debate surrounding this issue has focused on private sector participation. By shifting the attention towards the influence of governance, Krause examines the political and sectoral institutions that are essential for the provision of WS services. Utilizing data from sixty-nine developing countries, Matthias Krause demonstrates that the level of democracy has a statistically significant positive impact on access to WS services and that low-quality governance of sub-national governments compromises the internal efficiency of providers and the widespread access to services. This book makes a critical contribution to the water and sanitation research and will help academics and policy-makers to rethink the way in which they deal with water issues.
Targeting regional economic development (TRED) has a long and rich tradition among academic economists and in the world of economic development practitioners. This book builds on a series of workshops and papers organized by The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) at the Pennsylvania State University and the Rural Policy Research Centre (RUPRI) at the University of Missouri. Through the coordinated efforts of NERCRD and RUPRI, a network of university based researchers and Extension education specialists was developed and provides the foundation of this new edited volume. For the first time in a single book, Goetz, Deller and Harris present an innovative approach through a collection of chapters discussing industry targeting and the relevance of TRED as an important analytical tool for practical targeting purposes. The papers present issues surrounding community economic development, clusters in industry and rural communities and the role of agglomeration economies. The book provides the reader with insights into not only the theoretical foundations of targeting as well as empirical methods, but also approaches for using the community-level analysis to affect policy directions.
This book examines the processes of economic and political reform in Tunisia, placing the current policies of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali within their historical context. Emma Murphy develops a theoretical understanding of the relationship between economic liberalization and political change in the Arab world, developing the concept of the disarticulation of the corporatist state and concluding that, despite efforts at democratization, an authoritarian political system is a more likely successor in the era of economic transformation.
As the growth of the world's population requires the continued search for residential space, the urbanization of natural lands is an inevitable process, but that process does not have to be one that is accomplished without regard for environmental quality. This book presents the unique perspective of naturbanization, the urbanization of protected and highly valued natural spaces that are geographically removed from current urban centers. It discusses the search and selection of new residential spaces, economic planning and policy in such areas, environmentally sensitive construction, and public investment in infrastructure to make the areas more accessible and habitable. Specifically, the book analyzes naturbanization as it is occurring in National Parks located along the European Union borders. Recent declarations have made the parks more accessible to development and consequently they are serving as models for ways to reach workable solutions and encourage the sort of economic development that will satisfy both developers and environmentalists
Scholars have become increasingly concerned about the impact of neo-liberalism on the field of development. Governments around the world have for some time been exposed to the forces of globalization and macro-economic reform, reflecting the power and influence of the world's principal international economic institutions and a broader commitment to the principles of neo-classical economics and free trade. Concerns have also been raised that neo-classical theory now dominates the ways in which scholars frame and ask their questions in the field of development. This book is about the ways in which ideologies shape the construction of knowledge for development. A central theme concerns the impact of neo-liberalism on contemporary development theory and research. The book's main objectives are twofold. One is to understand the ways in which neo-liberalism has framed and defined the 'meta-theoretical' aims and assumptions of what is deemed relevant, important and appropriate to the study of development. A second is to explore the theoretical and ideological terms on which an alternative to neo-classical theory may be theorized, idealized and pursued. By tracing the impact of Marxism, postmodernism and liberalism on the study of development, Arresting Development contends that development has become increasingly fragmented in terms of the theories and methodologies it uses to understand and explain complex and contextually-specific processes of economic development and social change. Outside of neo-classical economics (and related fields of rational choice), the notion that social science can or should aim to develop general and predictive theories about development has become mired in a philosophical and political orientation that questions the ability of scholars to make universal or comparative statements about the nature of history, cultural diversity and progress. To advance the debate, a case is made that development needs to re-capture what the American sociologist Peter Evans once called the 'comparative institutional method.' At the heart of this approach is an inductive methodology that searches for commonalities and connections to broader historical trends and problems while at the same time incorporating divergent and potentially competing views about the nature of history, culture and development. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Development, Social and Political Studies and it will also be beneficial to professionals interested in the challenge of constructing "knowledge for development."
Foundations of Social Entrepreneurship presents definitions of social entrepreneurship, explains its benefits and challenges, describes the components of an ecosystem of support, and presents practical tools to approach social entrepreneurial projects. It is designed to be easily approachable by anyone without prior in-depth knowledge of the subject. The book is divided into two parts; the first provides readers with theoretical foundations to understand the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship, its different interpretations, the context in which it developed, and its socio-economic function. The second part of the book covers what it takes to create and manage a social entrepreneurial initiative. Pedagogical features are incorporated throughout to aid learning. They include summary tables, international case studies of social entrepreneurs from both developed and emerging economies, as well as suggested exercises and examples of how the tools presented are used in practice. Truly global in its scope, with a strong emphasis on combining theory with practice, this text should be core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Social Entrepreneurship, Enterprise, and Responsible Business. Online resources include links to resources, chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides and instructor's manual.
This interdisciplinary study applies human rights theory to the problems of rural poverty in the Third World. Considering the interdependence of minimal food and health security with minimal assurance of basic freedoms, political scientist Alan G. Smith traces the linkage to the need of the food-insecure to seek "clientelistic dependencies" on better-off neighbors--relationships that often operate to restrict freedom of choice. In contrast to conventional rural development aid, which can introduce new client dependency if pursued alone, Smith stresses the need to find other forms of aid that would provide the option of assured minimal survival while avoiding the constraints imposed by dependency. Arguing for bolstering bottom-up human rights momentum, he suggests the transfer of appropriate tools into the hands of the target group. Recipients would make use of them to enhance autonomous food-crop production, thereby making client dependency a matter of choice rather than necessity. Smith illustrates the Third World predicament of food insecurity leading to infringement of rights by drawing together empirical evidence from Bangladesh, Botswana, and Tanzania. He further argues that respect for human rights involves a duty on the part of advantaged nations to address the Third World predicament with practical measures fully consistent with human rights, and for each of these three country cases, Smith recommends direct locally specific minimalist aid. His model, its practical illustration, and recommendations should be valuable to academics and students in the fields of rural sociology, anthropology, and political science--especially those focusing on human rights, poverty, and Third Worlddevelopment--as well as bureaucrats and consultants in the development aid field.
This volume engages in an in-depth discussion of Nigerian politics. Written by an expert group of Nigerian researchers, the chapters provide an overarching, Afrocentric view of politics in Nigeria, from pre-colonial history to the current federal system. The book begins with a series of historical chapters analyzing the development of Nigeria from its traditional political institutions through the First Republic. After establishing the necessary historical context, the next few chapters shift the focus to specific political institutions and phenomena, including the National Assembly, local government and governance, party politics, and federalism. The remaining chapters discuss issues that continue to affect Nigerian politics: the debt crisis, oil politics in the Niger Delta, military intervention and civil-military relations, as well as nationalism and inter-group relations. Providing an overview of Nigerian politics that encompasses history, economics, and public administration, this volume will be useful to students and researchers interested in African politics, African studies, democracy, development, history, and legislative studies. |
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