This 10th thematic volume of International Development Policy presents a collection of articles exploring some of the complex development challenges associated with Africa’s recent but extremely rapid pace of urbanisation that challenges still predominant but misleading images of Africa as a rural continent. Analysing urban settings through the diverse experiences and perspectives of inhabitants and stakeholders in cities across the continent, the authors consider the evolution of international development policy responses amidst the unique historical, social, economic and political contexts of Africa’s urban development. 

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This book investigates the substantial and growing contribution which African Independent and Pentecostal Churches are making to sustainable development in all its manifold forms. Moreover, this volume seeks to elucidate how these churches reshape the very notion of sustainable development and contribute to the decolonisation of development. 

Fostering both overarching and comparative perspectives, the book includes chapters on West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, and Burkina Faso) and Southern Africa (Zimbabwe and South Africa). It aims to open up a subfield focused on African Initiated Christianity within the religion and development discourse, substantially broadening the scope of the existing literature. Written predominantly by scholars from the African continent, the chapters in this volume illuminate potentials and perspectives of African Initiated Christianity, combining theoretical contributions, essays by renowned church leaders, and case studies focusing on particular churches or regional contexts. 

While the contributions in this book focus on the African continent, the notion of development underlying the concept of the volume is deliberately wide and multidimensional, covering economic, social, ecological, political, and cultural dimensions. Therefore, the book will be useful for the community of scholars interested in religion and development as well as researchers within African studies, anthropology, development studies, political science, religious studies, sociology of religion, and theology. It will also be a key resource for development policymakers and practitioners.

Contents page:

• Ch. 1- Introduction: African Initiated Christianity and sustainable development

By Philipp Öhlmann, Wilhelm Gräb, Marie-Luise Frost

Part I - Overarching perspectives

• Ch. 2 - Spirit and empowerment: The African Initiated Church movement and development

By J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

• Ch. 3 - The challenge of environment and climate justice: 

Imperatives of an eco-theological reformation of Christianity in African contexts

By Dietrich Werner

• Ch. 4 - African Initiated Churches and development from below

Subjecting a thesis to closer scrutiny

By Ignatius Swart

• Ch. 5 - Distinguished church leader essay

Theology in African Initiated Churches – reflections from an East African perspective

By John Njeru Gichimu

Part II - Nigerian perspectives

• Ch. 6 - Distinguished church leader essay

Roles of women in African Independent and Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria

By Atinuke Abdulsalami

• Ch. 7 - ‘A starving man cannot shout halleluyah’

African Pentecostal Churches and the challenge of promoting sustainable development

By Olufunke Adeboye

• Ch. 8 - Approaches to transformation and development

The case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Nigeria

By Babatunde A. Adedibu

• Ch. 9 - The role of Pentecostalism in sustainable development in Nigeria

By Mobolaji Oyebisi Ajibade

• Ch. 10 - Aladura Churches as agents of social transformation in South-West Nigeria

By Akinwumi Akindolie

• Ch. 11 - Distinguished church leader essay

Aladura theology – the case of the Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide

By Rufus Okikiola Ositelu

Part III - Ghanaian perspectives

• Ch. 12 - Distinguished church leader essay

The Church of Pentecost and its role in Ghanaian society

By Opoku Onyinah

• Ch. 13 - An evaluation of Pentecostal Churches as agents of sustainable development in Africa

The case of the Church of Pentecost

By Emmanuel Kwesi Anim

• Ch. 14 - Pentecostalism and sustainable development

The case of Perez Chapel International

By Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, Philip Adjei-Acquah

• Ch. 15 - Distinguished church leader essay

Healing a strained relationship between African Independent Churches and western Mission-founded Churches in Ghana (1967–2017) – the role of Good News Theological Seminary, Accra, Ghana

By Thomas A. Oduro

Part IV - Perspectives from Burkina Faso

• Ch. 16 - Distinguished church leader essay

Partnerships for female education in Burkina Faso – perspectives from Evangelical Churches and FBOs

By Philippe Ouedraogo

• Ch. 17 - Centre International d’Evangélisation/Mission Intérieure Africaine’s contribution to sustainable development in Burkina Faso through transformational development

By Ini Dorcas Dah

Part V - Zimbabwean perspectives

• Ch. 18 - Investing in the future generation

New Pentecostal Charismatic Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe

By Simbarashe Gukurume

• Ch. 19 - Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity and the management of precarity in postcolonial Zimbabwe

By Josiah Taru

Part VI - South African perspectives

• Ch. 20 - Distinguished church leader essay

Cross-cultural development in South Africa – a perspective from below

By Danie C. van Zyl

• Ch. 21 - Contested development(s)? The possible contribution of the African Independent Churches in decolonising development

A South African perspective

By Nadine Bowers-Du Toit

Reviews:

 “This book is one of the profoundest, scholarly attempts towards unpacking and decolonizing sustainable development through the prism of African Christianities. While some bemoan African Initiated Christianity, as antithetical to development, the contributors to this volume provide a more nuanced, critical and interdisciplinary perspective by exploring lived, everyday expressions and experiences of AICs and Pentecostals in Africa. This book prioritizes a bottom-up definition of development, from the viewpoint of religious adepts and practitioners, and its focus on overarching and regional perspectives add rich flavor, contributing to theoretical grid-making on religion and development from below. It is a "must-read" to scholars, policy makers, and practitioners who care to grasp the complex interplay of religion and sustainable development in Africa.” --Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, United States of America

“This edited collection is an accessible and essential reading for anyone interested in unpacking issues of sustainable development in African contexts. Authors from a variety of backgrounds provide fascinating and multifaceted reflections on the way African Initiated churches’ everyday work shapes and influences applied and spiritual development.” --Barbara Bompani, Reader in Africa and International Development, Centre of African Studies, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

 “This book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on religion and development. Its exclusive focus on African initiated churches, in and outside Africa, renders it a novel collection of essays that sheds light on the unique role that these churches play in advancing development. It further demonstrates that development in Africa is no longer a colonial enterprise.” --Gerrie ter Haar, Em. Professor Religion and Development, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

 “This timely volume challenges two long-cherished stereotypes on African Initiated Christianity: it firstly deconstructs notions of socio-political irrelevance by sketching its developmental agency; secondly it challenges modernist assumptions on social change by profiling the transformative potential of primarily spirit-empowered churches with reference to multi-directional perspectives of sustainable development in Africa.” --Andreas Heuser, Professor for Extra-European Christianity, University of Basel, Switzerland

 “The impact of religion, for example in world-view formation and ethical behaviour, cannot be ignored in theories and practises regarding sustainable development. This holds especially true for a religious continent such as Africa. In this book, the important domain of religion and development is explored by a variety of world-renowned scholars, making it timely and important contribution to this nascent academic field.” --Cas Wepener, Professor of Practical Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

 “It is a remarkable collection and a resource that will be of use to generations.” --Gerald O. West, Professor Emeritus, Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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Unevenness and inequalities form a central fact of African economic experiences. This book challenges conventional wisdoms about economic performance and possible policies for economic development in African countries, using the striking variation in economic performance as a starting point.

African Economic Development: Evidence, Theory, and Policy highlights not only difference between countries, but also variation within countries. It focuses on issues relating to gender, class, and ethnic identity, such as neo-natal mortality, school dropout, and horticultural and agribusiness exports. Variations in these areas point to opportunities for changing perfomance, reducing reducing inequalities, learning from other policy experiences, and escaping the ties of structure and the legacies of a colonial past.

The book rejects teleological illusions and Eurocentric prejudice, criticizing a range of orthodox and heterodox economists for their cavalier attitude to evidence. Instead, it shows that seeing the contradictions of capitalism for what they are - fundamental and enduring - may help policy officials protect themselves against the misleading idea that development can be expected to be a smooth, linear process, or that it would be if certain impediments were removed.

Drawing on decades of research and policy experience, this book combines careful use of available evidence from a range of African countries with economic insights to make the policy case for specific types of public sector investment. 

Review:

Arguing against both ‘African pessimism’ and the naïve optimism of ‘Africa rising’, this innovative book makes the case for ‘possibilism’. This is not just another economics textbook on Africa: it is deeply interdisciplinary and draws not only on history, politics, anthropology, and soil science, but strikingly too on the world of art and literature. The authors offer an unmistakeably progressive political economy, unafraid to challenge weak arguments of radical ‘left’ economists as much as the worn-out narratives of the mainstream.

---Vishnu Padayachee, Distinguished Professor and Derek Schrier and Cecily Cameron Chair in Development Economics, School of Economics and Finance, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; also life-Fellow of the Society of Scholars, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and Washington DC.

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Africa's Lions examines the economic growth experiences of six fast-growing and/or economically dominant African countries. Expert African researchers offer unique perspectives into the challenges and issues in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa. Despite a growing body of research on African economies, very little research has focused on the relationship between economic growth and employment outcomes at the detailed country level.

This book is a successful collaboration of the Brookings Institution, the Development Policy Research Unit of the University of Cape Town, and the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU- WIDER) to help fill this gap and to stimulate further analytical work in this important area. The authors have harnessed country-level household, firm, and national accounts data, together with existing analytical country research.

The growth of the global working-age population to 2030 will be driven primarily by Africa, so the relationship between population and job growth is best understood within the context of each country’s projected demographic challenge and the associated implications for employment growth. Furthermore, a better understanding of the structure of each country’s workforce and the implications for human capital development, the vulnerably employed, and the working poor are critical to informing the future development policy agenda. In this sense, outputs from the project that led to this volume can help to inform and guide development policy across these African economies. 

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The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 exposed systemic failings at the core of economic policy making worldwide. The crisis came on top of several other crises, including skyrocketing and highly volatile world food and energy prices and climate change. This book argues that new policy approaches are needed to address such devastating global development challenges and to avoid the potentially catastrophic consequences to livelihoods worldwide that would result from present approaches. 

The contributors to the book are independent development experts, brought together by the UN to identify a development strategy capable of promoting a broad-based economic recovery and at the same time guaranteeing social equity and environmental sustainability both within countries and internationally. This new development approach seeks to promote the reforms needed to improve global governance, providing a more equitable distribution of global public goods. The contributors offer a critical evaluation of past development experiences and report on their creative search for new and well-thought out answers for the future. They suggest that economic progress, fairer societies and environmental sustainability can be compatible objectives, but only when pursued simultaneously by all. 

Contents page:

Front matter

1. Globalization at a Crossroads  

Rob Vos

2. Should Global Goal Setting Continue, and how, in the Post-2015 Era?  

Sakiko Fukuda-Parr

3. Do we Need New Development Models? the Impact of Neo-Liberal Policies  

Frances Stewart

4. Learning from the Past  

Giovanni Andrea Cornia and Milica Uvalic

5. Towards Climate-Compatible and Resilient Development 

J.B. (Hans) Opschoor

6. Aiming for Food and Nutrition Security in a Changed Global Context 

Joachim Von Braun

7. Demographic Dynamics and the International Development Strategy Beyond 2015 

Ana Luiza Cortez

8. Common Elements for Inclusive and Sustainable Development Strategies Beyond 2015 

Giovanni Andrea Cornia and Rob Vos

9. Building a Stable and Equitable Global Monetary System 

Bilge Erten and José Antonio Alonso

10. From Aid to Global Development Policy 

José Antonio Alonso

11. International Migration in the Development Agenda 

José Antonio Alonso

12. The Enabling International Environment 

Norman Girvan and Ana Luiza Cortez

Back matter

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This open access book presents contributions to decolonize development studies. It seeks to promote and sustain new forms of solidarity and conviviality that work towards achieving social justice. Recognising global poverty and inequalities as historic injustices, the book addresses how these can be challenged through teaching, research, and engagement in policy and practice, and the sorts of political barriers these might encounter. From a variety of perspectives and contexts, these chapters examine how decoloniality and solidarity can be developed, offering in-depth historical, theoretical, epistemological, and empirical analyses.

Contents page:

Front Matter

• Rethinking Development and Decolonising Development Studies

Kees Biekart, Laura Camfield, Uma Kothari, Henning Melber

• Essentialist Approaches to Global Issues: The Ontological Limitations of Development Studies

Juan Telleria

• Beyond the Sustainable Development Goals: Post-development Alternatives

Aram Ziai

• In Search of Alternatives to Development: Learning from Grounded Initiatives

Ashish Kothari

• Why Is Development Elusive? Structural Adjustments of Africa in the Longue Durée

Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni

• Cultivating Post-development: Pluriversal Transitions and Radical Spaces of Engagement

José Castro-Sotomayor, Paola Minoia

• Beyond Deconstruction and Towards Decoloniality: Pedagogy and Curriculum Design in SWANA and South Asia Studies in US Higher Education

Helena Zeweri, Tessa Farmer

• Data Collection Versus Knowledge Theft: Relational Accountability and the Research Ethics of Indigenous Knowledges

Lauren Tynan

• Assuming Power in New Forms: Learning to Feel ‘With the Other’ in Decolonial Research

M. Teresa Armijos, Luis David Acosta, Eliza S. Calder, William Gaviria, Daniela Giraldo, Jaime Pineda et al.

Reflections and Epilogues

Front Matter

• Development and Post-development in a Time of Crisis

Alfredo Saad-Filho

• South-South Cooperation and Decoloniality

Emma Mawdsley

• Decolonising Development Management: Epistemological Shifts and Practical Actions

Caitlin Scott

• What Is ‘Development’ and Can We ‘Decolonise’ It? Some Ontological and Epistemological Reflections

Lata Narayanaswamy

EADI Roundtable: Recasting Development Studies in Times of Multiple Crises

About the Editors:

Henning Melber is Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, and at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. 

Uma Kothari is Professor of Migration and Postcolonial Studies at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. 

Laura Camfield is Professor of Development Research and Evaluation and Head of the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK. 

Kees Biekart is Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University, the Netherlands. 

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Consolidating Developmental Local Government documents the dynamics of local government transformation and captures the key themes of the debates about policy options, lessons and key strategic decisions. These debates are aimed at ensuring that municipalities play a key role in creating more democratic, non-racial, equitable and sustainable communities, towns and cities.

Compiled and written by people who participated in one way or another in the experience of democratic consolidation, this text will be an indispensable resource for government officials, students, researchers, specialists, community leaders, businesses and the general reader. Critical questions are raised throughout the book about the kinds of challenges that all those involved with the future of local governance will face in the years ahead.

Contents page:

Foreword

Preface

Contributors

1. Consolidating developmental local government

I. DEVELOPMENTAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

2. Continuities and discontinuities in South African local government

3. Developmental local government : squaring the circle between policy intent and impact

4. Local governance and the politics of sustainability

5. From spheres to tiers : conceptions of local government in South Africa in the period 1994-2006

6. Rural local governance

7. Local democracy and development in comparative perspective

II. STRATEGIC PRIORITIES OF DEVELOPMENTAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

8. The emergence and endurance of an evolving human settlements imaginary

9. Reframing urban passenger transport as a strategic priority for developmental local government

10. Social development : an imperative for local government

11. The implications of HIV/AIDS for local governance and sustainable municipal service delivery

12. Institutional arrangements for local economic development implementation in South Africa

13. Key themes and trends in municipal finance in South Africa

III. TOOLS AND REGULATORY INSTRUMENTS OF DEVELOPMENTAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

14. The origins and outcomes of South Africa's integrated development plans

15. Intergovernmental delivery in municipal areas : reflections on current practice

16. Tools and trade-offs in environmental decision-making

17. Local government planning legal frameworks and regulatory tools : vital signs?

18. Urban land use regulation in the context of developmental local government

19. Municipal entities : a panacea for service delivery constraints?

20. The distribution of power : local government and electricity distribution industry reforms

IV. INSTITUTIONAL MODELS OF DEVELOPMENTAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

21. Political systems and capacity issues

22. Participatory mechanisms and community politics : building consensus and conflict

23. Beyond cooption and protest : reflections on the FEDUP Alternative

24. A case study of community participation in governance and service delivery in the City of Johannesburg

25. Democratisation with inclusion : revisiting the role of ward committees

26. Rolling back the spatial barriers to socio-economic development : Experiences from the demarcation of district and local municipalities

Index.

Reviews:

"We are confident that policymakers, researchers and practitioners alike will find Consolidating Developmental Local Government a useful, thoughtful contribution to making local government and other spheres of government work better together to overcome poverty and inequality."

    - Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli, MP, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government

"Consolidating Developmental Local Government should be required reading for scholars and practitioners everywhere who care about inclusive and poverty-oriented development and are alert to the complexities and rewards of achieving democratic local government in cosmopolitan societies and complex institutional arenas."

    - Professor Jo Beall, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics

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The concept of a democratic developmental state is part of the current development discourse advocated by international aid agencies, deliberated on by academics, and embraced by policymakers in many emerging economies in the global South. What is noticeable in this discourse is how little attention has been paid to a discussion of the essence of a democratic developmental state, and much of what passes for theory is little more than policy-speak and political rhetoric. 

This volume fills a gap in the literature on the democratic developmental state. Analyzing the different approaches to the implementation of democratic developmental states in various countries, it evaluates the extent to which these are merely replicating the central tenets of the East Asian model of the developmental state or if they are succeeding in their attempts to establish a new and more inclusive conceptualization of the state. In particular, the authors scrutinize to what degree the attempts to build a democratic developmental state may be distorted by the imperatives of neoliberalism. 

The volume broadens the understanding of the Nordic model of a democratic developmental state and shows how it represents an additional, and perhaps contending understanding of the developmental state derived from the East Asian experience.​

Contents page:

• Toward a Conceptualization of the Democratic Development State in Principle and Practice - Chris Tapscott, Tor Halvorsen and Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario

• Building the Democratic Developmental State: Lessons from East Asia - Teresita Cruz Del-Rosario

• The Carrot and Stick of Ethiopian “Democratic Developmentalism": Ideological, Legal, and Policy Frameworks - Eyob Balcha Gebremariam

• The Establishment of a Democratic Developmental Local State in South Africa: Between Rhetoric and Reality - Sharon Penderis & Chris Tapscott

• The “Developmental" and “Welfare" State in South Africa - Jeremy Seekings

• The Rise and Fall of Democratic Neo-developmentalism in Brazil - Einar Braathen

• New Social Democracy in the South? Reflections from India, Indonesia, and Scandinavia in Comparative Perspective - Olle Törnquist

• On the Sociocultural Foundations of Democratic Capitalism: Experiences from the Norwegian Case - Ole Johnny Olsen

• Democratic Development State or Competition State? Toward the New Constitution of Neoliberal Hegemony - Tor Halvorsen

• Democracy, Development, and the Disciplining of Capital - Tor Halvorsen and Chris Tapscott

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Developing countries seek economic development which is broad-based or inclusive in the sense that it raises the income of all, especially the poor. Yet this is at odds with Simon Kuznets' hypothesis that economic development tends to put upward pressure on income inequality, at least initially and in the absence of countervailing policies. The Developer's Dilemma explores this 'Kuznetsian tension' between structural transformation and income inequality.

The book asks: what are the varieties of structural transformation that have been experienced in developing countries? What inequality dynamics are associated with each variety of structural transformation? And what policies have been utilized to manage trade-offs between structural transformation, income inequality, and inclusive growth? Across nine country cases written by academics across the Global South, this book answers these questions using a comparative case study approach with a common analytical framework and a set of common datasets. The intended intellectual contribution of the book is to provide a comparative analysis of the relationship between structural transformation, income inequality, and inclusive growth; to do so empirically at a regional and national level, and to draw conclusions about the varieties of structural transformation, their inequality dynamics, and the policies that have been employed to mediate the developer's dilemma.

Contents page:

1: The developer's dilemma, 

2: The developer's dilemma: A survey of structural transformation and inequality dynamics, 

Part I. East Asia

• 3: Structural transformation and inclusive growth: Kuznets' 'developer's dilemma' in Indonesia, 

• 4: Getting rich and unequal? Structural transformation, inequality, and inclusive growth in China, 

• 5: Benign growth: Structural transformation and inclusive growth in Thailand, 

Part II. South Asia

• 6: Inclusive structural transformation in India: Past episodes and future trajectories, 

• 7: The challenges of structural transformation, inequality dynamics, and inclusive growth in Bangladesh, 

Part III. Sub-Saharan Africa

• 8: Adverse political settlements: An impediment to structural transformation and inclusive growth in Ghana,

• 9: Economic growth, rising inequality, and de-industrialization: South Africa's Kuznetsian tension, 

Part IV. Latin America

• 10: Inclusive growth without structural transformation? The case of Brazil, 

• 11: Structural transformations and the lack of inclusive growth: The case of Chile, 

Part V. Looking Ahead

• 12: Leapfrogging into the unknown: The future of structural change in the developing world, 

• 13: The developer's dilemma: Conclusions, 

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(SEE ALSO: https://da2i.ifla.org/ )

Building on the two previous editions, the 2024 DA2I report looks back on progress in delivering on universal, meaningful access to information for development over the first half of the delivery period for the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, through data and expert insights. 

The DA2I initiative is based on the conviction that access to information is an essential precondition for development. Without it, decision-making is poorer, democracy is weaker, and progress is slower towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Universal, meaningful access can only happen when there is universal connectivity, equity in societies, and the rights and skills to produce and use information. 

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While the need for effective action toward a greener and socially inclusive economy has long been evident, health promotion in the context of sustainable development has faltered. Arguing that human health is the key factor to sustainable development, Development and Sustainability promotes a fresh, transdisciplinary approach to the eradication of extreme poverty. This ground-breaking book calls for new forms of cooperation which cross the traditional boundaries between social activism and science, and which are capable of harnessing the complex knowledge that such radical change requires. The contributions bridge the gap between those working for health and those working for sustainability science and the green economy, through developing the methodological and scientific means to deal with some of the most critical issues faced by humanity in the twenty-first century. 

Contents page:

Ch. 1: Development and sustainability science: transdisciplinary knowledge for positive social change - Alberto D. Cimadamore, Fungisai P. Gwanzura Ottemöller, Gro Therese Lie and Maurice B. Mittelmark

Ch. 2: Seeking wisdom: a transdisciplinary perspective on Australian Indigenous practices and planetary management - Mark G. Edwards

Ch. 3: Policies for poverty reduction in a Transformative Green Economy - Enrique Delamonica

Ch. 4: Health promotion and sustainable Development in Kazakhstan - Altyn Aringazina

Ch. 5: Children's literacy in health and sustainability - Neil Chadborn and Jane Springett

Ch. 6: Participatory research as a tool for change in ecosystem approaches to health and social equity - Jane Springett

Ch. 7: Connecting development and sustainability: empowering people to effective international cooperation - Cristine Koehler Zanella

Ch. 8: Sustainability and transdisciplinary knowledge: experience gained and challenges ahead - Gro Therese Lie, Alberto D. Cimadamore, Maurice B. Mittelmark, and Fungisai P. Gwanzura Ottemöller

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This open access book presents the findings of the author’s 3 decades of studying China’s evolving anti-poverty strategies. It argues that much of the billions that nations spend yearly on economic aid is used inefficiently or to treat the symptoms but not the root causes of poverty. China, however, has evolved an effective sustainable alternative by providing the means for self-reliance to not only relieve economic poverty but also poverty of spirit. As a result, the success of China’s historic war on poverty has been due not only to top-down visionary leadership but also to the bottom-up initiatives of an empowered populace unswervingly united in ending poverty.

From 1993 to 2019, the author drove over 200,000 km around China and interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life as he explored the evolution of China’s anti-poverty strategies from simplistic aid and redistribution, which often engendered dependency and poverty of spirit. Over time, the philosophy shifted to empowerment by fostering self-reliance—or as Chinese put it, “blood production rather than blood transfusion.” The primary method of empowerment was to provide modern infrastructure, “Roads first, then riches,” so rural dwellers in remote Inner Mongolia or the Himalayan heights of Tibet had the same access to markets, jobs and internet for e-commerce as their urban counterparts. People who seized the opportunities and prospered first then used their newfound wealth and experience to help others.

The stories in this book include a Tibetan entrepreneur whose family was impoverished in spite of 300 years of service to the Panchen Lama, or the farm girl with 4 years of education who now has several international schools, a biotechnology company and poverty alleviation projects across China, or the photographer who walked 40,000 km through deserts to chronicle the threat of desertification. Their tales underscore how diverse people across China helped make possible China’s success in alleviating absolute poverty and why Chinese are now confident in achieving a “moderately prosperous society.”

Contents page:

1. Mogan Mountain’s Tang Hairong

2. Liu Yunguang: An Entrepreneur with a Passion for Youth

3. Jing Xuhua—A Loving Mother Triumphs at Home and in Business

4. Ye Nan Brings a Bright Future to West China

5. Yang Ying—From House Maid to Millionaire Philanthropist

6. Gerile—Making Snacks to Put Her Daughter Through College

7. Zhang Fang—Documenting Inner Mongolia’s Environmental Fight

8. Zhao Xuan, A Retired Teacher from Xi’an

9. Bu Wenjun: Inheriting Wei-Family’s Brick-Carving Craftsmanship

10. Zhang Jianlong—From Migrant Worker to Cattle King

11. Xin Baotong—Helping the Helpless to Dream Again

12. Wang Zenghao—Young Volunteer Working in Tibet

13. Dawa Wangdui: A Tibetan Serf-Turned Entrepreneur

14. Xia Jiangping—Greening the Roof of the World!

15. Wu Qiong (吴琼)—Educated to Serve Tibet

16. How Self-made Man Xu Lidao Found He Needed Society

17. Zhu Qingfu—Passionate About Photography

18. Grandma Chen Qiaodi’s 3 Generations of Change

19. Lin Ruiqi, Huawei’s Senior Vice President

20. Lucy: The Youthful Heart of Huawei

Reviews:

“It is highly recommended reading for social issues students interested in alternative anti-poverty strategies that have proven successful in the real world. … For those interested in the social issues of various nations and China in particular, The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies provides a blueprint of entrepreneurial efforts that demonstrates how prosperity may be encouraged at all levels of society.” 

(California Bookwatch, Vol. 18 (4), April, 2023)

About the author:

Dr. William Brown, at Xiamen University since 1988, is OneMBA Academic Director and Professor of Leadership and Strategy. Fujian’s first foreign PR, he has driven over 200,000 km around China exploring its development, co-written and hosted over 400 TV episodes, and consulted with cities on urban and rural development. Honors have included China’s “Friendship Award,” “Honorary Citizen of Fujian” from then-governor Xi Jinping, “Top Ten Educator 1954-2014,” and “CCTV’s Moving China 2019” award. He published Chasing the Chinese Dream [another Open Access book] with Springer in 2021. 

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This book addresses poverty, one of the important issues confronting Africa, from a multi-disciplinary approach. With contributions from eminent scholars from diverse backgrounds, the book explores poverty from a human rights perspective. Its central message is that poverty is not necessarily a failure on the part of an individual, but rather caused by the actions or inactions of governments, which are often exacerbated by structural inequalities in many African societies. This in turn requires a more pragmatic approach grounded in respect for human rights.

Exploring the link between poverty and human rights in Africa will be useful to researchers, policymakers, students, activists and others interested in addressing poverty.      

Abbreviated table of Contents:

PREFACE viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x

CONTRIBUTORS xi

• 1. General introduction to poverty and human rights in Africa

• 2. Integrating a human rights approach to food security in national plans and budgets: The South African National Development Plan

• 3. Is South Africa winning the war on poverty and inequality? What do the available statistics tell us?

• 4. Who really ‘state-captured’ South Africa? Revealing silences in poverty, inequality and structurally-corrupt capitalism

• 5. Poverty, women and the human right to water for growing food

• 6. The link between environmental pollution and poverty in Africa

• 7. Alleviating poverty through retirement reforms

• 8. Disability, poverty and human rights in Africa: Opportunities for poverty reduction from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• 9.The co-existence of gender inequality and poverty

• 10. The potential of the African human rights system in addressing poverty

• 11. Realising access to justice for the poor: Lessons from working with rural communities

• 12. The role of the South African Human Rights Commission in ensuring state accountability to address poverty

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Exploring faith-based organizations (FBOs) in current developmental discourses and practice, this book presents a selection of empirical in-depth case-studies of Christian FBOs and assesses the vital role credited to FBOs in current discourses on development.

Examining the engagement of FBOs with contemporary politics of development, the contributions stress the agency of FBOs in diverse contexts of development policy, both local and global. It is emphasised that FBOs constitute boundary agents and developmental entrepreneurs: they move between different discursive fields such as national and international development discourses, theological discourses, and their specific religious constituencies. By combining influxes from these different contexts, FBOs generate unique perspectives on development: they express alternative views on development and stress particular approaches anchored in their theological social ethics.

This book should be of interest to those researching FBOs and their interaction with international organizations, and to scholars working in the broader areas of religion and politics and politics and development. 

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Unquestionably, poverty and inequality are among the major challenges that face South Africa today. In this well-researched, comprehensive volume, the authors:

• use new techniques to measure and analyse household inequality and poverty in South Africa;

• analyse the nature and functioning of vulnerability in the labour market;

• explore the links between labour market participation and household poverty and inequality;

• investigate current social and labour market policies; and

• examine the implications of current anti-poverty policies and strategies.

An exciting aspect of this ground-breaking work is the proposals for the development of new and effective strategies to fight poverty in South Africa.

Contents page:

Foreword  

The Contributors

Acknowledgements

Introduction  

• The origins of poverty and inequality in the South African labour market

• A segmented labour market

• Fiscal incidence and differential social spending

• Anti-poverty policy investigations, past and present

• Notes

1. Understanding Contemporary Household Inequality in South Africa

• The importance of race in national inequality

• Sources of income and national inequality

• A closer look at inequality, poverty and the labour market

• Conclusion

• Notes

2. Measuring Poverty in South Africa

• Identifying the poor

• Deriving a poverty line

• Adjusting for household size and structure

• Limitations of the approach

• A profile of poverty in South Africa

• Conclusion

• Notes

3. Correlates of Vulnerability in the South African Labour Market

• An overview of labour market poverty

• An application of a class of poverty measures to the labour market

• Conclusion

• Notes

4. Modelling Vulnerability and Low Earnings in the South African Labour Market

• Previous earnings function models in South Africa

• The model set-up

• Model results

• Conclusion

• Notes

5. Household Incomes, Poverty and Inequality in a Multivariate Framework

• Econometric issues

• Estimation, results and discussion: the important determinants of household income, poverty and inequality

• Conclusion

• Notes

6. Public Expenditure and Poverty Alleviation - Simulations for South Africa

• The theoretical approach

• Simulations for South Africa

• Conclusion

7. Social Policy to Address Poverty

• Education

• Social security

• Conclusion

• Notes

8. Contemporary Labour Market Policy and Poverty in South Africa

• Labour market reforms and institutions in post-apartheid South Africa

• Labour market policy and poverty: a review of tools for analysis

• Labour reforms and household poverty in South Africa: an assessment

• Labour reforms and the `working poor'

• Policy recommendations: the labour market as a tool for poverty alleviation

Notes

Appendix

Bibliography

Index

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Regardless of the poverty line used, the speed and scale of China’s poverty reduction are historically unprecedented. Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below US$1.90 per day—the international poverty line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty—has fallen by close to 800 million, accounting for almost three-quarters of the global reduction in extreme poverty. In 2021, China declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty according to its national poverty threshold, and that it had built a “moderately prosperous society in all respects.” However, a significant number of people remain vulnerable, with incomes below a threshold more typically used to define poverty in upper-middle-income countries. China has set a new goal of approaching common prosperity by 2035, which can help keep the policy focus on the vulnerable population. 

Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead explores the key drivers of China’s poverty alleviation achievements and considers the lessons of China’s experience for other developing countries. The report also makes suggestions for China’s future policies. 

China’s approach to poverty reduction was based on two pillars. The first aimed for broad-based economic transformation to open new economic opportunities and raise average incomes. The second was the recognition that targeted support was needed to alleviate persistent poverty; this support was initially provided to disadvantaged areas and later to individual households. The success of China’s economic development and the associated reduction of poverty also benefited from effective governance, which helped coordinate multiple government agencies and induce cooperation from nongovernment stakeholders. 

To illustrate the role of broad-based economic transformation for poverty alleviation, separate sections of the report analyze growing agricultural productivity, incremental industrialization, managed urbanization and rural-to-urban migration, and the role of infrastructure.

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While the economic growth renaissance in sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognized, much less is known about progress in living conditions. This book comprehensively evaluates trends in living conditions in sixteen major sub-Saharan African countries, corresponding to nearly 75 per cent of the total population. Authors, all with extensive knowledge of the country in question, were charged with conducting a careful assessment of the full range of available evidence to provide a succinct storyline and systematic explanation for trends in living conditions. A striking diversity of experience emerges. While monetary indicators improved in many countries, others are yet to succeed in channeling the benefits of economic growth into the pockets of the poor. Some countries experienced little economic growth, and saw little material progress for the poor. At the same time, the large majority of countries have made impressive progress in key non-monetary indicators of well-being. 

Overall, the African growth renaissance earns two cheers, but not three. While gains in macroeconomic and political stability are real, they are also fragile. Growth on a per capita basis is much better than in the 1980s and 1990s, yet not rapid compared with other developing regions. Importantly from a pan-African perspective, key economies—particularly Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa—are not among the better performers. Looking forward, realistic expectations are required. The development process is, almost always, a long hard slog. Nevertheless, real and durable factors appear to be at play on the subcontinent with positive implications for growth and poverty reduction in future.

Contents page:

Foreword 

Acknowledgements 

List of Figures 

List of Tables 

List of Boxes 

List of Abbreviations 

Notes on Contributors 

• Ch.1 Growth and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa 

• Ch.2 Synthesis: Two Cheers for the African Growth Renaissance (but not Three) 

Part 1 Rapid Growth and Rapid Poverty Reduction

• Ch.3 Poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11: Welfare Improvements in a Changing Economic Landscape 

• Ch.4 Ghana: Poverty Reduction over Thirty Years 

• Ch.5 Did Rapid Smallholder-Led Agricultural Growth Fail to Reduce Rural Poverty? Making Sense of Malawi’s Poverty Puzzle 

• Ch.6 Growth, Poverty Reduction, and Inequality in Rwanda 

• Ch.7 Poverty and its Dynamics in Uganda: Explorations Using a New Set of Poverty Lines 

Part 2 Rapid Growth but Limited Poverty Reduction

• Ch.8 Burkina Faso: Shipping around the Malthusian Trap 

• Ch.9 Mozambique: Off-track or Temporarily Sidelined? 

• Ch.10 Spatial and Temporal Multidimensional Poverty in Nigeria 

• Ch.11 Growth and Poverty Reduction in Tanzania 

• Ch.12 Assessing Progress in Welfare Improvements in Zambia: A Multidimensional Approach 

Part 3 Uninspiring/Negative Growth and Poverty Reduction

• Ch.13 Slow Progress in Growth and Poverty Reduction in Cameroon 

• Ch.14 The Fall of the Elephant: Two Decades of Poverty Increase in Côte d’Ivoire, 1988–2008 

• Ch.15 Incomes, Inequality, and Poverty in Kenya: A Long-Term Perspective 

• Ch.16 Utility-Consistent Poverty in Madagascar, 2001–10: Snapshots in the Presence of Multiple Economy-Wide Shocks 

• Ch.17 Poverty, Inequality, and Prices in Post-Apartheid South Africa 

Part 4 Low-Information Countries

• Ch.18 Growth and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo: 2001 through 2013 

Index

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When discussing development issues in Africa, it is not sufficient to simply stress the ubiquity of failure, malnutrition, disease, predatory states and war, one also has to recognize that important aspects in the lives of millions of ordinary people have been transformed over the last five decades. The contributions in this book are rooted in extensive empirical research, some at a local, regional and/or national level in different African countries (Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa and Uganda), while others take a pan-African view. All, however, offer insight from different analytical perspectives into the heterogeneity of poverty and development processes in Sub-Saharan African and confront the ideas, concepts and assumptions that lie behind pro-poor policies. The volume also encourages policy makers to choose realistic policy prescriptions in an attempt to move people out of poverty. 

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The Last Mile explores the gaps and dichotomy between drafted policies and their implementation, and the last mile challenges which often make public services inaccessible to the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. It provides an in-depth overview of the dynamics between communities, research and consultation and the implementation of policies for development. 

Rich in empirical data and case studies from different government programmes and reports, this book examines the implementation of government service programmes for poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, and income generation for the poor, among others, from a people’s perspective. It highlights the need for policies and institutions to align their methods to community needs. Offering guidelines for redesigning as well as solutions to counter challenges related to lack of trust and effective communication, human resource management, capacity development, redressal mechanisms, and facilitating the last mile connection, the author delineates effective ways for integrating new technologies in policy implementation. The book also addresses legacy issues in institutions and re-orienting policy for better governance, transparency, and building trust. 

Part of the Innovations, Practice and the Future of Public Policy in India series, this book, by a senior practitioner, will be an essential resource for students and researchers of development studies, sociology, public policy and governance, economics, and South Asian studies. 

Contents page:

Introduction

• Ch. 1 - A Poverty-Free India: Building Systems for Outcomes

• Ch. 2 - The Historical Legacy

• Ch. 3 - The Diversity of Geographies

• Ch. 4 - High Growth, Ease of Doing Business, and Well-Being

• Ch. 5 - Improving Ease of Living of the Poor

• Ch. 6 - Why Incomes Matter

• Ch. 7 - Women's Well-Being and Livelihoods

• Ch. 8 - Women, Work, and Well-Being

• Ch. 9 - Vulnerable Social Groups, Inclusive Policies and Programmes

• Ch. 10 - Policy and Programme Formulation in Basic Education

• Ch. 11 - Revisiting Skills for Full Employment

• Ch. 12 - Higher Education: Meeting the Challenge

• Ch. 13 - Policy and Programme Formulation in Health

• Ch. 14 - Making Quality Health for All a Reality

• Ch. 15 - Poshan, People, and Panchayats

• Ch. 16 - Improving Governance of Programmes

• Ch. 17 - Community Connect, GPDPs, and Rankings

• Ch. 18 - Human Resource Reforms

• Ch. 19 - Poverty-Free Gram Panchayats

• Ch. 20 - Improving Well-Being of Urban Poor

• Ch. 21 - Why We Need the PM's Human Development Council

• Ch. 22 - Global Warming: Local Churning

• Ch. 23 - A Poverty-Free India: Concluding Remarks

• Ch. 24 - An India for All

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This book examines how state actors and other stakeholders participate in natural resource governance initiatives and seek to promote natural resource-based development in Africa.       

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments

Foreword

SECTION I INTRODUCTION

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

SECTION II GOVERNANCE FRAMINGS AT LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL LEVELS

2 Corporate Framing of Sustainability in the Mineral Sector: “New Governance” Insights from South Africa

3 The Resource Curse and Limits of Petro-Development in Ghana’s “Oil City”: How Oil Production Has Impacted Sekondi-Takoradi

4 Stakeholder Salience and Resource Enclavity in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Ghana’s Oil

5 Gender, Land Grabbing, and Glocal Land Governance in Ghana and Uganda

6 Governing Artisanal Commodity Extraction in Cameroon: A Comparative Analysis of the Gold and Palm Oil Sectors

SECTION III CRITICAL APPROACHES TO INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT: THE POLITICS OF RESOURCE NATIONALISM, LOCAL PROCUREMENT, AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

7 Copper Economics and Local Entrepreneurs in Zambia: Accumulation by Dispossession and the Possibility of Dependent Development

8 “The Curse of Being Born with a Copper Spoon in Our Mouths”: An Examination of the Changing Forms of Zambian Resource Nationalism

9 Promoting Mining Local Procurement through Systems Change: A Canadian NGO’s Eforts to Improve the Development Impacts of the Global Mining Industry

10 The Promises and Pitfalls of Pursuing Inclusive, Sustainable Development through Resource Corridors in Africa

11 “Community Development” in Oil and Gas Projects: The Case of the West African Gas Pipeline Project

SECTION IV LAND AND HUMAN SECURITY: CENTRAL AFRICA IN FOCUS

12 Land, High-Value Natural Resources, and Conflict in the Central African Republic

13 Copper Stakes: Exclusion, Corporate Strategies, and Property Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo

14 China and the Democratic Republic of Congo: What the Sicomines Agreement Tells Us about Beijing’s Foreign Policy in Africa

SECTION V CONCLUDING REMARKS AND REFLECTIONS

15 Reflections on Natural Resource–Based Development in Africa in the 2020s

Contributors

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What is development, what has it been in the past, and what can historians learn from studying the history of development? How has the field of the history of development evolved over time, and where should it be going in the future? This is the first volume of the newly established Yearbook for the History of Global Development – a serial publication we hope will became a key outlet in this field of research. 

Understanding the history of development is vital to the analysis of contemporary development theory. Historical analysis offers insight into contemporary developmental challenges that can assist in finding sustainable solutions. Ultimately, it is difficult to conceive of any study addressing questions of development that does so without reference to past events, ideas, or policies. We believe that a dedicated yearbook on these topics can help to bring the different approaches and findings together in fruitful ways. The Yearbook aims at providing a forum that emphasizes the interconnected nature of past and present development challenges and development approaches. The purpose of the Yearbook is to offer a space for the presentation of research on the history of concepts, theories, practices, and experiences concerning development policies in the past that continue to shape present-day attitudes and beliefs. As editors, we hope to attract a large number of readers from across the globe and from different backgrounds. By making all volumes available in open-access format, we try to overcome structural inequalities that continue to characterize international academic debate.

 The first volume of the Yearbook consists of three parts: one on “Development and History”; one on “Measuring Development”; and a “Forum on Alternative Development Indices.” The rationale is to bring together pieces that reflect the current state of the art in the field, broadly understood, and to highlight some of the themes on which fresh research is currently being carried out.

Contents page:

Introduction

I DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY (ED. CORINNA R. UNGER AND NICHOLAS FERNS)

• Globalizing Development: A View from Late Imperial China

• Where Did the Idea of International Development Come From? Looking Beyond the Industrialized Core

• Entangled Histories of “Development,” “development,” and “Christian development”

• Development, Modernization, and the Remaking of an Imperial World Order

• Which Speeches Matter? Reflections on the Invention of Development

II MEASURING DEVELOPMENT (ED. CORINNA R. UNGER AND JACK LOVERIDGE)

• The Historiography of Measuring Development

• Numbers in Space: Measuring Living Standards and Regional Inequality in the Soviet Union

• Profitability Through Quantification: The World Bank and Rural Development in the 1970s

• Was the Large Dam a “Modern Temple”? Taking Stock of India’s Development Tryst with the Bhakra-Nangal

III FORUM: ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT INDICES (ED. IRIS BOROWY AND CORINNA R. UNGER)

• A Note on the Historical Origins of ISEW-GPI

• The Origins of the National Welfare Index (NWI)

• GNH-Led Development in Bhutan

• The Happy Planet Index

• Commentary: The New Epicureans

List of contributors

=====================================================================================================

The last couple of decades has not only witnessed an increased convergence between human rights and development but also a significant shift towards rights-based approaches to development, including especially responsiveness to the fact that development in itself is a human right guaranteed to be enjoyed by all peoples. This edited volume of peer-reviewed papers constitutes the first product resulting from the annual international conference series on the right to development, organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute at the University of South Africa. It explores the complex nature of the right to development from a diversified perspective, including from a conceptual, thematic, country and regional points of view. 

Conceived with the purpose to overshadow dominant economic growth approaches to development, the perspectives on the right to development articulated in this publication seek to locate the developmentalist discourse within the framework of accountability and people-centred development programming, necessitating appropriate policy formulation to ensure the constant improvement in human well-being. 

The book is written with the aim to reach out to researchers, academics, practitioners and policy makers who desire an in-depth understanding of the right to development as it applies universally.

Abbreviated table of Contents:

Acknowledgments

Preface

Contributors

• 1. Introduction: The right to development in broad perspective

Carol C Ngang, Serges Djoyou Kamga & Vusi Gumede

PART I: CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES

• 2. ‘Marianne’ – the symbol of freedom: A critical analysis in the light of the right to development

Clotaire Nengou Saah

• 3. The right to development under the African Charter: Is there an extraterritorial reach?

Romola Adeola

• 4. Access to justice as a mechanism for the enforcement of the right to development in Africa

Ebenezer Durojaye, Oluwafunmilola Adeniyi & Carol C Ngang

PART II: THEMATIC PERSPECTIVES

• 5. The impact of corruption on the right to development in Africa

Anzanilifuno Munyai & Avitus A Agbor

• 6. The right to development: An African feminist view

Rhoda Asikia Ige & Carol C Ngang

• 7. The right to sustainable development for women in Africa: A corollary of the right to peace

Paidamwoyo Mukumbiri

• 8. Reflections on the right to development for indigenous peoples in Cameroon

Esther E Njieassam & MLM Mbao

• 9. Land and the right to development in Africa

Robert K Home

PART III: COUNTRY PERSPECTIVES

• 10. ‘O Cameroon, though cradle of our fathers, … : Land of promise’ and the right to development

Carol C Ngang & Serges Djoyou Kamga

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This book addresses poverty, one of the important issues confronting Africa, from a multi-disciplinary approach. With contributions from eminent scholars from diverse backgrounds, the book explores poverty from a human rights perspective. 

Its central message is that poverty is not necessarily a failure on the part of an individual, but rather caused by the actions or inactions of governments, which are often exacerbated by structural inequalities in many African societies. This in turn requires a more pragmatic approach grounded in respect for human rights.

Contents page:

INTRODUCTION - Mariano Féliz and Aaron Louis Rosenberg

Ch. 1 - THE MAKING AND REMAKING OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Contemporary Limits and Potential Contributions of Human Rights to the Eradication of Poverty, from the Perspective of the Global South - Camillo Perez-Bustillo

Ch. 2 - "I'M GONNA GET MY SHARE OF WHAT'S MINE": Narratives of Poverty and Crime in Postcolonial Jamaica and Kenya -  Aaron Louis Rosenberg

Ch. 3 - CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS: A New Paradigm for Combating Poverty in Latin America? - Pablo E. Pérez and Brenda Brown

Ch. 4 - NEODEVELOPMENTALISM IN ARGENTINA: Its Contradictions, Barriers, and Limits to Poverty Reduction and Social Change - Mariano Féliz

Ch. 5 - ALTERNATIVE PATHS OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A Case for Poverty Alleviation Programs by the Poor - Jude Ssempebwa and Jaqueline Nakaiza

Ch. 6 - SCOPE AND USEFULNESS OF "RIGHT TO INFORMATION" AS ANTI-POVERTY TOOL: The Bangladesh Experience - Kazi Nurmohammad Hossainul Haque

Ch. - PERI-URBAN DWELLING AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN AFRICA - Innocent Chirisa

Ch. 8 - ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS AS DRIVERS OF GENDERED SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION: Experiences from Zimbabwe - Manse Chiweshe

Ch. 9 - CIVIL SOCIETY MOVEMENTS AND RIGHTS DISCOURSE IN POST-APARTHEID SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION - Christopher G. Thomas

CONCLUSION - Mariano Féliz and Aaron Louis Rosenberg

=====================================================================================================================

This book endeavours to outline case studies that promote sustainable Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives. 

It is generally believed that local governments are the foot soldiers of LED. However, this seems to be a myth, as local governments in South Africa and elsewhere have not yet fulfilled this mandate and have been struggling for several years to implement LED initiatives. The distinctive merit of this book lies in the way it combines the South African context with the wider international development context in ways that there is a flow of information and ideas both ways. 

The book is an essential part of this sequence of ideas development and action at a critical time for strategic action directed at a sustainable future. It showcases case studies and responses to the impacts of globalisation as a bridge between urban/rural and institutional action and reveals avenues for local government leadership in communities, research, student engagement and wider interactions.

Contents page:

• Ch. 1: Overcoming gender inequality through skills development within the arts and culture sector of South Africa

• Ch. 2: Empowering women-owned businesses trading at the Tshakhuma Fresh Produce Market in Limpopo

• Ch. 3: Empowerment of automotive artisans and the unemployed: A case of the Winterveld Enterprise Hub

• Ch. 4: Leveraging Indigenous Knowledge for local economic development: The case of home-brewed alcohol in the Sekhukhune District Municipality

• Ch. 5: A lifelong learning approach drives economic development in Gwydir Shire

• Ch. 6: Local economic development and food and energy sustainability: City of Tshwane

• Ch. 7: Local economic development and infrastructure: Zero wastewater, save ocean life, save the environment and save the people

• Ch. 8: Local economic development and an enabling environment: A business perspective

• Ch. 9: Diversification or concentration of economic sectors for development: An assessment of the regional economy of Gauteng province, South Africa

• Ch. 10: The ‘resettlers’ of the Three Gorges Dam project: The risk of social articulation impoverishment in regional and local economic development

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The 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the authorities to increasingly turn inward and use ethnocentrism, protectionism, and top-down approaches to guide policy on trade, competition, and industrial development. The continuing aftereffects of such policies range from the rise and seeming success of authoritarian states, rise of populist and protectionist trends, and evolving academic agendas inspiring the reemergence of top-down industrial policies across the world.

This open access edited volume contains contributions from over 30 scholars with expertise in economics, innovation, management, and economic history. The chapters offer unique theoretical and empirical contributions discussing topics such as how industrial policies affect risk, incentives, and information for investments. They also address the policy perspectives on new technologies such as AI and its implications for market entry, the role for independent entrepreneurship in increasingly regulated markets, and whether governments should focus on market interventions or institutional capacity-building.

 Questioning the Entrepreneurial State initiates a much sought-after debate on the notion of an Entrepreneurial State. It discusses the dangers of top-down approaches to industrial policy, examines lessons from such approaches for future policy design, and calls attention to the progress of open and contestable markets in a sound economy and society.

​Contents page:

Front Matter

Introductory Chapter

• Front Matter

• Introduction

The Entrepreneurial State: Theoretical Perspectives

• Front Matter

• The Entrepreneurial State and the Platform Economy

• An Effectual Analysis of Markets and States

• The Entrepreneurial State: An Ownership Competence Perspective

• Innovation Without Entrepreneurship: The Pipe Dream of Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy

The Entrepreneurial State, Entrepreneurial Universities, and Startups

• Front Matter

• Building Local Innovation Support Systems: Theory and Practice

• Reducing Higher Education Bureaucracy and Reclaiming the Entrepreneurial University

• Cultural Ideals in the Entrepreneurship Industry

• Evaluating Evaluations of Innovation Policy: Exploring Reliability, Methods, and Conflicts of Interest

• Do Targeted R&D Grants toward SMEs Increase Employment and Demand for High Human Capital Workers?

The Entrepreneurial State and Sustainability Transitions

• Front Matter

• Third-Generation Innovation Policy: System Transformation or Reinforcing Business as Usual?

• Less from More: China Built Wind Power, but Gained Little Electricity

• The Failures of the Entrepreneurial State: Subsidies to Renewable Energies in Europe

• Directionality in Innovation Policy and the Ongoing Failure of Green Deals: Evidence from Biogas, Bio-ethanol, and Fossil-Free Steel

From the Entrepreneurial State Towards Evidence-Based Innovation Policy

• Front Matter

• Policy Instruments for High-Growth Enterprises

• Public-Steering and Private-Performing Sectors: Success and Failures in the Swedish Finance, Telecoms, and City Planning Sectors

• The Digital Platform Economy and the Entrepreneurial State: A European Dilemma

• Collaborative Innovation Blocs and Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy: An Ecosystem Perspective

Reviews:

 “Creative destruction, innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of economic growth. The government has a clear role, to provide the basic fabric of a dynamic society, but industrial policy and state-owned companies are the boulevard of broken dreams and unrealized visions. This important message is convincingly stated in Questioning the Entrepreneurial State.” --Anders Borg, former Minister of Finance, Sweden

“Misreading the dynamism of American entrepreneurship, European intellectuals and policy makers have embraced a dangerous fantasy: catching up requires constructing an entrepreneurial state.  This book provides a vital antidote: The entrepreneur comes first: The state may support. It cannot lead.” --Amar Bhidé, Thomas Schmidheiny Professor of International Business, Tufts University

 “This important new book subjects the emergence of the entrepreneurial state, which reflects a shift in the locus of entrepreneurship from the individual to the public sector, to the scrutiny of rigorous analysis. The resulting concerns, flaws and biases inherent in the entrepreneurial state exposed are both alarming and sobering. The skill and scholarly craftsmanship brought to bear in this crucial analysis is evident throughout the book, along with the even, but ultimately consequential thinking of the authors. A must read for researchers and thought leaders in business and policy." --David Audtretsch, Distinguished Professor, Ameritech Chair of Economic Development, Indiana University

“The book is written for both academics and policymakers, and it is written clearly without an assumption that readers possess a strong foundation of economic training. … Questioning the Entrepreneurial State is an excellent edited volume comprising thought provoking concerns about the viability of an entrepreneurial state. … After reading this edited volume, readers will learn not just the entrepreneurial state and criticisms, but will learn about a variety of topics on institutions, ecosystems, sustainability, and politics related to entrepreneurship and innovation.”  --Christopher John Boudreaux (Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Vol. 32, 2022)

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This open access book analyses the development problems of sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) from the eyes of a Korean diplomat with knowledge of the economic growth Korea has experienced in recent decades. The author argues that Africa's development challenges are not due to a lack of resources but a lack of management, presenting an alternative to the traditional view that Africa's problems are caused by a lack of leadership. In exploring an approach based on mind-set and nation-building, rather than unity – which tends to promote individual or party interests rather than the broader country or national interests – the author suggests new solutions for SSA's economic growth, inspired by Korea's successful economic growth model much of which is focused on industrialisation.

This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs and governmental bodies in economics, development and politics studying Africa's economic development, and Korea's economic growth model.

​Contents page:

Front Matter

The Paradox of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Disillusionment and Dilemma

• Assessing the Role of Foreign Aid, Donors and Recipients

Rethinking the Root Causes of Africa’s Under-Development

• Review of Conventional Explanations

• Uncovering the Main Root Cause: The Mindset Factor

Africa’s Forgotten Mission of Nation-Building: What are Missing

• Finding the Missing Links

• Reasons for Optimism and the Tasks at Hand

Understanding Korean Development Model

• Korea’s Path of Development in Retrospect

• The Essence of the Korean Model of Development

Application of the Korean Model for Africa

• Applicability of the Korean Development Model for Africa

• Policy Recommendations for Africa

• Engineering Rural Development for Africa

Africa on the New Path to Development

• Re-setting the Priorities

• Enacting Bold but Harmonious Change

Back Matter

Reviews:

 “Written by a Korean diplomat and Africanist, this book offers a unique perspective on the development problems of the sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), and it also suggests effective solutions for SSA to take off economically, basically through the two-step approach of building-block and building-bridge.” --Keun Lee, Professor of Economics at Seoul National University, South Korea

“The potency of this book lies in the unique qualification of the author with vast experiences richly encompassing both the Korean and African aspects and policy expertise guided by strong academic credentials. His work embodies keen insights, and is a welcome addition to the African development discourse; I highly recommend it to all those interested in meeting the African development challenges head-on.” --Augustin K. Fosu, Professor of Economics (ISSER) at University of Ghana, Ghana

 “On the strength of a life-long front-row experience of the continent and a deep command of the literature, facts and debates, Jong-Dae Park offers an intriguing cultural argument about African development. Inspired by the experience of South Korea, it is provocative (despite its gentle tone) and likely to prove controversial. Yet, it is also hopeful and well worth reading, both for African and non-African students, scholar and practitioners of development.” --Pierre Englebert, Professor of Political Science at Pomona College, USA

 “A perspective from an Asian with profound experience in Africa and who is keenly aware of Korea's achievements is a welcome addition for tackling Africa's development challenges and opportunities. Jong-Dae Park weaves together so immaculately his personal observations, careful reading of available literature, and insights into the Korean experience; the book forces the reader to navigate peculiar idiosyncrasy and generalities in Africa and South Korea’s development so as to draw some crucial lessons.” --Siphamandla Zondi, Professor of Political Science at University of Pretoria, South Africa

 “Jong-Dae Park is uniquely qualified to comment on the contrast between Africa and South Korea due to his background. Park's critique is not an armchair academic exercise; he is passionate about development because, as a Korean, he has witnessed first-hand the transformation of his country, while in Africa he sees the vast potential not yet realized.” --Dr. Ian Clarke, Chairman of Clarke Group, Uganda

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This book tells the story of development studies in practice over the last fifty years through the work of one remarkable individual, Robert Chambers. His work has taken him from being a colonial officer in Kenya through training and managing large rural development projects to a fundamental critique of top-down development and the championing of participatory approaches. The contributors eloquently demonstrate how he has been at the centre of major shifts in development thinking and practice over this period, popularising terms that are now at the centre of the development lexicon such as vulnerability, multi-dimensional poverty, sustainable livelihoods and 'farmer first'. 

Robert Chambers played a major role in the massive growth in participatory approaches to development, and particularly the application of participatory methods in development research and appraisal. This has led to fundamental challenges to development practice, ranging from approaches to monitoring and evaluation to institutional learning and professional training. There is probably no-one who has had more influence on approaches to development in the past decades. Revolutionizing Development offers a unique overview of these contributions in thirty-two concise chapters from authors who have been intimately involved as collaborators, critics and colleagues of Robert Chambers.

​Contents page:

• Ch. 1 - Putting the Last First: Reflections on the Work of Robert Chambers

Part 1 - Conceptualizing Development

• Ch. 2 - Challenging Development Priorities

• Ch. 3 - Beginners in Africa: Managing Rural Development

• Ch. 4 - The Path from Managerialism to Participation: The Kenyan Special Rural Development Programme

• Ch. 5 - Foxes and Hedgehogs – and Lions: Whose Reality Prevails?

• Ch. 6 - Administration and Development

• Ch. 7 - Participation in International Aid

• Ch. 8 - Power and Participation

• Ch. 9 - Reframing Development

Part 2 - Rural Development, Poverty and Livelihoods

• Ch. 10 - Exploring Sustainable Livelihoods

• Ch. 11 - Putting the Vulnerable First

• Ch. 12 - Seasonality: Uncovering the Obvious and Implementing the Complex

• Ch. 13 - Refugee Studies

• Ch. 14 - Farmer First: Reversals for Agricultural Research

• Ch. 15 - Agricultural Development: Parsimonious Paradigms

• Ch. 16 - In Search of a Water Revolution: Canal Irrigation Management

• Ch. 17 - The Last Frontier: The Groundwater Revolution in South Asia

• Ch. 18 - Trees as Assets: Legacies and Lessons

• Ch. 19 - Finding a Sustainable Sanitation Solution: Scaling Up Community-Led Total Sanitation

• Ch. 20 - Technology and Markets

Part 3 - Methodological Innovations

• Ch. 21 - Village Studies

• Ch. 22 - Whose Knowledge Counts? Tales of an Eclectic Participatory Pluralist

• Ch. 23 - Learning to Unlearn: Creating a Virtuous Learning Cycle

• Ch. 24 - The Use of Participatory Methods to Study Natural Resources1

• Ch. 25 - Participatory Numbers

Part 4 - Practising Development: New Professionalism

• Ch. 26 - The Personal and the Political

• Ch. 27 - Poverty Professionals and Poverty

• Ch. 28 - Changing Attitudes and Behaviour

• Ch. 29 - Networking: Building a Global Movement for PRA and other Participatory Methods

• Ch. 30 - Institutional Learning and Change

• Ch. 31 - Participation, Learning and Accountability: The Role of the Activist Academic

• Ch. 32 - Development Professionalism

• Ch. 33 - Appreciation and Reflections (By Robert Chambers)

Reviews:

 “A powerful influence on development doing and thinking, Robert Chambers provokes us to focus on what doesn't fit our neat categories, reversing our normal assumptions. He has transformed attitudes and behaviours through impelling us to reflect on how we work and what we do. This wonderful collection of perspectives on Robert's life and work reminds us how much a single person can do by being confident, pragmatic and willing to take risks.” --Dr Camilla Toulmin, Director, International Institute for Environment and Development, London

“Robert Chambers has been an ardent advocate of a livelihood approach to development, a testimony to his holistic vision of sustainable human security and happiness. This book captures the essence of his many original contributions during the last fifty years. Through the 'farmer first ' approach he has shown the pathway for linking ecology, economics, equity and employment in a mutually reinforcing manner leading to food for all and forever.” --Professor M S Swaminathan, Chairman, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Member of Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha); and Chair, High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

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The world has witnessed unparalleled economic progress in the last three decades. But success is not preordained, and several headwinds threaten this hard fought progress. Inequality is leaving many people and subgroups behind and excluding them from enjoying the benefits of this great economic expansion. More recently, the world has awakened to the reality of a new type of risk. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) struck at a time when the world was healthier and wealthier than ever before. 

There is little disagreement over the need to enable a recovery that is fairer, safer, and more sustainable. This report describes how these ambitious objectives can be achieved by providing evidence based tools and information to guide countries to spend better and improve policies. It is in this context that this document presents policy guidance to identify and diagnose key development challenges and develop solutions to help countries build better. The diagnostic is based on an assessment of a country's performance across four key three pillars of development:

• Resilience,

• Inclusion,

• Sustainability, and

• Efficiency.

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The book provides critical information and knowledge on the importance of livestock in the global effort to alleviate poverty and promote human health. It describes and evaluates case studies, examines theoretical frameworks, and discusses key global policy development issues, challenges and constraints related to smallholder livestock-production systems around the globe. The book is written for academic professionals, industry experts, government officials and other scholars interested in the facts and issues concerning the contribution of livestock to the social and economic progress of developing countries.

​Contents page:

1. Multifunctionality of Livestock in Developing Communities

Frans Swanepoel, Siboniso Moyo

2. Livestock Development Projects that Make a Difference: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why

Aldo Stroebel, Patti Kristjanson, Alice N. Pell

3. Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women through Livestock

Brigid Aileen Letty, Ann Waters-Bayer

4. The Way Forward for Livestock and the Environment

Pierre Gerber, Delia Grace, Mario Herrero, Philippe Lecomte, AM Notenbaert, Shirley Tarawali, Philip Thornton, Jeannette van de Steeg, Akke van der Zijpp

5. The Role of Foods of Animal Origin in Human Nutrition and Health

Lindela Rowland Ndlovu

6. Interactions between Gender, Environment, Livelihoods, Food, Nutrition and Health

Frans Swanepoel, Aldo Stroebel, Edward A. Nesamvuni

7. Livestock against Risk and Vulnerability: Multifunctionality of Livestock Keeping in Burundi

Luc D’Haese, Marijke D’Haese, Stijn Speelman, Ellen Vandamme

8. Sustainable Livestock Intensification

Sammy Carsan, Akke van der Zijpp, Pieter Wilke

9. Value Chains and Innovation

Heather Burrow, Berhanu Gebremedhin, John McDermott, Karl M. Rich

10. Implications and Innovative Strategies for Enhancing the Future Contribution of Livestock

Frans Swanepoel, Aldo Stroebel, Canagasaby Devendra, Johan van Rooyen

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The Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics provides readers with insight into the central questions of development ethics, the main approaches to answering them, and areas for future research. Over the past seventy years, it has been argued and increasingly accepted that worthwhile development cannot be reduced to economic growth. Rather, a number of other goals must be realised: 

• Enhancement of people's well-being 

• Equitable sharing in benefits of development 

• Empowerment to participate freely in development 

• Environmental sustainability 

• Promotion of human rights 

• Promotion of cultural freedom, consistent with human rights 

• Responsible conduct, including integrity over corruption. 

Agreement that these are essential goals has also been accompanied by disagreements about how to conceptualize or apply them in different cases or contexts. Using these seven goals as an organizing principle, this handbook presents different approaches to achieving each one, drawing on academic literature, policy documents and practitioner experience. 

This international and multi-disciplinary handbook will be of great interest to development policy makers and program workers, students and scholars in development studies, public policy, international studies, applied ethics and other related disciplines.

Contents page:

• Introduction

• What is development ethics?

Part I - Contexts

• Ch. 2- Global ethics: Development ethics as global ethics

• Ch. 3- Integral human development: Development of every person and of the whole person

• Ch. 4- Post-development: No development is good development

• Ch. 5- Epistemology: Epistemic injustice and distortion in development theory and practice

Part II- Well-being

• Ch. 6- Well-being: Happiness, desires, goods, and needs

• Ch. 7- The capability approach: Ethics and socio-economic development

• Ch. 8- Happiness: Using subjective well-being metrics to gauge development

• Ch. 9- Adaptive preferences: Accounting for deflated expectations

Part III - Social and global justice

• Ch. 10- Social and global justice: Models of development and theories of justice

• Ch. 11- Gender: Feminist insights on inequality in development

• Ch. 12- Indigenous peoples: Self-determination, decolonization, and indigenous philosophies

• Ch. 13- Horizontal inequalities: Individual capabilities and inequalities between groups

• Ch. 14- Children: Intergenerational transmission of poverty and inequality

• Ch. 15- Health: Social gradients and unjust health outcomes

Part IV- Empowerment and agency

• Ch. 16- Empowerment: Participatory development and the problem of cooptation

• Ch. 17- Agency: Expanding choice through democratic processes

• Ch. 18- Education: Worthwhile education for ethical human development

• Ch. 19- Displacement: Land acquisition and disempowerment

Part V - Environmental sustainability

• Ch. 20- Sustainability and climate change: Human development and human responsibilities

• Ch. 21- Food production: Food security and agricultural development

• Ch. 22- Buen vivir and the rights of nature: Alternative visions of development

Part VI - Human rights

• Ch. 23- Human rights: Shaping development ethics, pragmatics, law, policy and politics

• Ch. 24- The right to development: Ethical development as a human right

• Ch. 25- Security: Building security through peace and reconciliation

Part VII - Cultural freedom

• Ch. 26- Cultural freedom: Worthwhile development for a diverse world

• Ch. 27- LGBTI people: “Being LGBTI” in international development

• Ch. 28- Religion: Religious contributions to development issues

Part VIII - Responsibility

• Ch. 29- International responsibilities: From utility and humanitarianism to global justice

• Ch. 30- Development practitioners: Absent in the deliberative discourse on development ethics

• Ch. 31- Corruption: Concepts, costs, causes and challenges

Part IX - Regional perspectives

• Ch. 32- Latin America: Inequality provoking critical thought

• Ch. 33- South Asia: Environmental concerns and human rights violations

• Ch. 34- East Asia: Challenges to political rights

• Ch. 35- Middle East and North Africa: The Arab Spring as a political expression of ethical issues

• Ch. 36- French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa: From buying and selling loyalty to demanding democracy

• Ch. 37- Sub-Saharan Africa: Development ethics and post-colonial debate

• Ch. 38- Europe: European development ethics – past and present

• Ch. 39- USA and Canada: High-income maldevelopment

Reviews:

 “Jay Drydyk and Lori Keleher have done a stellar job in bringing leading scholars in development ethics together for this Handbook of Development Ethics. The chapters in this handbook make it clear that development is not just about economic growth, but in the first place about wellbeing, justice, empowerment, the environment, human rights, cultural freedoms, and taking responsibilities. This handbook will become an essential resource for any student or teacher of development ethics. And it should be interesting for anyone who wants to think systematically about what matters when moving towards a better world for all.” --Ingrid Robeyns, Chair in Ethics of Institutions, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University, Netherlands

“The three quarters of a century after the second world war has seen dramatic improvements, on average, in life expectancy, educational achievements, and income in parts of the world where these were lowest. The "on average" qualification is of course important―some have benefited much more than others, and significant numbers have been immiserized. What are the basic ethical principles according to which one would assess the gains for some against the losses for others in health, education and income? Are these the only dimensions along which changes are to be measured and assessed? And in any case, can such consequentialist perspectives capture the essence of ethical dilemmas in development? These questions do not make for easy answers, and there is lively debate among scholars on development ethics, animated by ground level political expressions, sometimes violent, of huge discontent among those "being developed". This excellent volume brings together leading analysts to chart the terrain and lay the foundations for further systematic debate and exploration. It will become a go to reference for those working on normative assessment of the development process.” --Ravi Kanbur, T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, USA

 “This book is an extraordinary conversation among diverse ethical values that in the process revises each one of them. Like in a symphony, where the color and sound of an instrument is perceived differently when joined by others, the seven values organizing this handbook interact as living creatures. The orchestra is in place; and it is worth listening to it like a unified piece. It is much more than a handbook.” --Javier M. Iguiniz-Echeverria, Professor Emeritus, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Executive Secretary of the National Accord of Peru, President of the Institute for Human Development in Latin America

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The message of Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development is clear: livelihoods approaches are an essential lens on questions of rural development, but these need to be situated in a better understanding of political economy. The book looks at the role of social institutions and the politics of policy, as well as issues of identity, gender and generation. The relationships between sustainability and livelihoods are examined, and the book situates livelihoods analysis within a wider political economy of environmental and agrarian change. Four dimensions of a new politics of livelihoods are suggested: a politics of interests, individuals, knowledge and ecology. Together, these suggest new ways of conceptualizing rural and agrarian issues, with profound implications for both thinking and action.

Contents page:

Prelims: 

Inter-Church Organization for Development | Cooperation Statement | Acknowledgements | 

Series Editors’ Foreword | Author’s Preface

1 Livelihoods Perspectives: A Brief History

• Livelihoods Thinking

• Sustainable Rural Livelihoods

• Keywords

• Core Questions

2 Livelihoods, Poverty and Wellbeing

• Livelihood Outcomes: Conceptual Foundations

• Measuring Livelihood Outcomes

• Evaluating Inequality

• Multidimensional Metrics and Indices

• Whose Indicators Count? Participatory and Ethnographic Approaches

• Poverty Dynamics and Livelihood Change

• Rights, Empowerment and Inequality

• Conclusion

3 Livelihoods Frameworks and Beyond

• Livelihood Contexts and Strategies

• Livelihood Assets, Resources and Capitals

• Livelihood Change

• Politics and Power

• What’s in a Framework?

• Conclusion

4 Access and Control: Institutions, Organizations and Policy Processes

• Institutions and Organizations

• Understanding Access and Exclusion

• Institutions, Practice and Agency

• Difference, Recognition and Voice

• Policy Processes

• Unpacking the Black Box

5 Livelihoods, the Environment and Sustainability

• People and the Environment: A Dynamic Relationship

• Resource Scarcity: Beyond Malthus

• Non-Equilibrium Ecologies

• Sustainability as Adaptive Practice

• Livelihoods and Lifestyles

• A Political Ecology of Sustainability

• Sustainability Reframed: Politics and Negotiation

6 Livelihoods and Political Economy

• Unity of the Diverse

• Class, Livelihoods and Agrarian Dynamics

• States, Markets and Citizens

• Conclusion

7 Asking the Right Questions: An Extended Livelihoods Approach

• Political Economy and Rural Livelihood Analysis: Six Cases

• Emerging Themes

• Conclusion

8 Methods for Livelihoods Analysis

• Mixed Methods: Beyond Disciplinary Silos

• Operational Approaches to Livelihoods Assessment

• Towards a Political Economy Analysis of Livelihoods

• Challenging Biases

• Conclusion

9 Bringing Politics Back In: New Challenges for Livelihoods Perspectives

• Politics of Interests

• Politics of Individuals

• Politics of Knowledge

• Politics of Ecology

• A New Politics of Livelihoods

Back Matter: 

References | Index 

Reviews:

 “This is an extraordinarily important book. It should become a classic. It is a must for every development professional. It is a masterly analysis and overview of the evolution and dimensions of the sustainable livelihoods approach, and opens up new territory of political economy, political ecology and a new politics of livelihoods. Concise yet comprehensive, combining and drawing on the perspectives of many disciplines, accessible to all readers, professionally impeccable, and on top of all this, original in its analysis and extension into new fields, this book is a wonderful contribution to development thinking and action. May it be very widely read, and may it be very influential.” --Robert Chambers, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

“In this uniquely comprehensive, lucid and valuable review of notions of sustainable livelihoods and their applications, Ian Scoones makes a potent argument for reinstating an expansive perspective on livelihoods, informed by the political economy of agrarian change, at the centre of current concerns with overcoming rural inequality and poverty.” --Henry Bernstein, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

“Ian Scoones has produced a book that is in perfect balance: immensely useful, it is also challenging; theoretically perceptive, it is wonderfully readable; historically informed, it also looks forward, proposing agendas for scholars and professionals alike. Students and practitioners will find it invaluable because it places livelihood thinking in context, explores its applications, explains its limits and — perhaps most important of all — persuades the reader that being political and being practical are absolutely not mutually exclusive options in development, whether writing about it or working within it.” --Anthony Bebbington, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University and idpm, University of Manchester

“This book offers a sanguine assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a sustainable livelihoods approach. The proposed extension of the approach builds on a political economy tradition in agrarian and development studies. Nurturing sustainable livelihoods for the poor is not just about recognizing their exceptional skill at making a living, which includes diversifying livelihoods, jumping scales and nesting home places within productive networks, but also mitigating their vulnerability to land grabs, drought and floods, natural disasters, corporate greed and venal politics.” --Simon Batterbury, University of Melbourne

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This handbook is intended to introduce community development workers and local activists to the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), an exciting and innovative means of researching the opportunities for change within our households and communities. 

The Handbook is also potentially relevant for academics and policy makers who are interested in finding out more about how the approach can be used more generally within research and policy development on poverty. 

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Although great strides have been made, Africa still lags behind other parts of the world in the reduction of poverty. We now know that the poorest people rarely benefit from poverty reduction programmes, and this is especially true in some countries of sub-Saharan Africa [SSA]. Microfinance programmes, for example, that can help many poor people improve their lives do not generally reach the poorest people – casual labourers in remote rural areas, ethnic and indigenous minorities, older people, widows, migrants, bonded labourers and others.

As a result, NGOs and donors have started to mount programmes explicitly targeting the extreme poor, the poorest and the ultra-poor. This book follows on from What works for the Poorest: Poverty Reduction Programmes for the World's Extreme Poor and examines such initiatives in Africa. Through a set of carefully selected papers it questions why the poorest often do not benefit from poverty reduction and growth policies, analyses innovative ultra-poor programmes from around the continent, and explores the lessons that emerge from this new and important body of knowledge.

What Works for Africa's Poorest: Programmes and Policies for the Extreme Poor contains a unique cross-section of country-specific case studies from across SSA, combined with cross-country analyses of important programmes, written by practitioners, academics and advisers. It is essential reading for researchers and students studying poverty in international development and for policy makers and programme managers involved in poverty reduction programmes. 

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This book examines women’s economic empowerment in a range of developing country contexts, investigating the societal structures and norms which keep women from achieving economic equality. Despite global progress in closing gender gaps in education and health, women’s economic empowerment has lagged behind, with little evidence that economic growth promotes gender equality. IDRC’s Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) programme was set up to provide policy lessons, insights, and concrete solutions that could lead to advances in gender equality, particularly on the role of institutions and macroeconomic growth, barriers to labour market access for women, and the impact of women’s care responsibilities. This book showcases rigorous and multidisciplinary research emerging from this ground-breaking program, covering topics such as school-to-work transition, child marriage, unpaid domestic work and childcare, labour market segregation, and the power of social and cultural norms that prevent women from fully participating in better paid sectors of the economy. With a range of rich case studies from Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda, this book is perfect for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in the Global South. 

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