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Books received in 2005
de Aghion, Beatriz Armendáriz and Jonathan Morduch
The Economics of Microfinance
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Cambridge, ISBN: 0-26201216-2, 346 pp.
This survey of microfinance draws on developments in theories of contracts and incentives. The authors challenge conventional assumptions about how poor households save and build assets and how institutions can overcome market failures. The book provides an overview of microfinance, including lessons from informal markets, savings and insurance, the role of women, the place of subsidies, impact measurement, and management incentives. It integrates theory with empirical data, citing studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and introducing ideas about asymmetric information, principal-agent theory, and household decision making in the context of microfinance.
Aikman, Sheila and Elaine Unterhalter (eds.)
Beyond Access: Transforming Policy and Practice for Gender Equality in Education
Oxford: Oxfam GB, 2005, ISBN 0-85598-529-1, 263 pp.
This book is about ‘transforming policy and practice to promote equitable processes in education, in response to the need for equality, quality, and justice for all’, and examines the ways in which gender inequality relates to other sources of social division and conflict. Two thirds of those without access to education are girls or women. The first part of the book examines the extent of inequality, and challenges to overcoming it. The second concerns government policies and their consequences for women’s empowerment, and the third examines successful local practices and their policy implications. The concluding chapter highlights some of the ‘intersections and disjunctures’ of policy and practice, making clear that there are no ‘quick fixes’ and underlining the need for political will to change, but shows that dramatic actions, training, or ‘structured reflection’ can nevertheless yield significant results.
Bais, Karolein and Mijnd Huijser
The Profit of Peace: Corporate Responsibility in Conflict Regions
Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd., 2005, ISBN: 1 874 719 90 X, 144 pp.
Some 60,000 multinational companies work in over 70 conflict regions worldwide. Many of these profit from conflicts, whether by trading arms, taking advantage of the absence of the rule of law, or exploiting the availability of cheap labour. Extensive and candid interviews with senior managers working in countries such as Afghanistan, Burma, and Rwanda show that most corporate managers recognise that the mere fact of investing in a conflict region inevitably influences the outcome of the conflict in some way. The authors set out a range of business practices that can help contribute to peace and stability.
Baksh-Sodeen Rawwida and Linda Etchart (eds.)
Gender Mainstreaming in Conflict Transformation: building sustainable peace
London: The Commonwealth Secretariat, 2005, ISBN: 0-85092-754-4 , 232 pp.
This book argues that in order to build peace, gender equality needs to be placed on the policy and programme agenda of the entire spectrum of peace and conflict-related initiatives and activities. These include conflict prevention and early warning mechanisms; peace negotiations and agreements; peacekeeping, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; truth and reconciliation commissions; post-conflict reconstruction; and peace building and peace education.
Bicker, Alan, Paul Sillitoe and Johan Pottier (eds.)
Development and Local Knowledge: New Approaches to Issues in Natural Resources Management, Conservation and Agriculture
London: Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-31828-2, 222 pp.
A new field of ‘indigenous knowledge’ is emerging in the practice of applied anthropology. This book focuses on two related issues: the proper definition of indigenous knowledge – what it is, who should define it, and what are the implications of this, particularly in the political arena; and how to develop methodologies that are appropriate to indigenous knowledge, in particular how the development industry can be sympathetic in the way it gains access to such knowledge, and who should control its use, and how.
Bray, Mark and Seng Bunly
Balancing the Books: Household Financing of Basic Education in Cambodia
Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre in collaboration with the World Bank, 2005, ISBN: 962-8093-39-8, 113 pp.
Cambodia is among the countries in which government capacity has been particularly constrained in financing education systems, and in which the costs of schooling are especially high. This book presents empirical data on the household costs of primary and lower secondary schooling, building on previous research, and showing changes over time.
Bryant, Coralie and Christina Kappaz
Reducing Poverty, Building Peace
Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2005, ISBN: 1-56549-205-6, 216 pp.
The authors argue that it is possible to reduce poverty in rich as well as poor countries, and that doing so will build opportunities for peace. They therefore examine some of the policies, programmes, and projects that have 'worked' or at least enjoyed some success and consider how best to draw out and apply the lessons from these in order to build the necessary political commitment to apply these lessons more widely.
Caplan, Richard
International Governance of War-Torn Territories, Rule and reconstruction
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN: 0 19 926345 0, 291 pp.
This book is a study of contemporary experiences in the international administration of war-torn territories, and the challenges – operational, political and normative - that arise. It is based principally upon Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slavonia, Kosovo, and East Timor. It discusses the power of international organisations in peace building tasks, the administration of countries and political engagement. Differences are distinguished between administration of countries and peace building, state building and military occupations, some of the differences being that administration is more comprehensive in scope and answers to an international body. Questions arise as to the legitimacy of such administrations and under whose authority they operate. Implementation of such administration by the UN or other multilateral organisations has moved from intervening in country to country armed conflicts to internal conflicts, raising the question of when should such bodies intervene when peoples human rights are being broken. The author argues that the success of International Administration is dependent on the context in which the administration occurs. International administration, it is argued, although having many problems in its design and implementation has made a positive contribution to the mitigation of conflict in the territories where they have been established.
Carr, Marilyn (ed.)
Chains of Fortune: linking women producers and workers with global markets
London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004, ISBN 0-85092-798-6, 220pp.
This edited volume comprises six case studies. Three link local producers with global markets: a Ghanaian cocoa cooperative of 45,000 producers who co-own a chocolate company in the UK; family-based cooperatives in Samoa which produce organic virgin coconut oil for export; and small enterprises in Mozambique which are helping to regenerate the cashew-processing and export industry. Three focus on improving the working conditions of wage workers in global value chains in the fruit-exporting industry in South Africa, the garment export industry in Bangladesh, and in the newly-created call centres in India.
Chambers, W. Bradnee and Jessica F. Green (eds.)
Reforming International Environmental Governance: From Institutional Limits to Innovative Reforms
Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2005, ISBN: 92-808-1111-8, 234 pp.
The 2002 World Summit of Sustainable Development identified the need to overhaul the institutional framework for environmental governance, but failed to make firm recommendations as to how to reform the 500 agreements and institutions currently in existence. Contributors to this edited volume formulate proposed changes and examine the costs, benefits, and potential contributions of three possible models for ensuring these: enforcement, centralisation, and cooperation through increased coordination and collaboration.
Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek and Marilyn Chen
Mainstreaming Informal Employment and Gender in Poverty Reduction: a handbook for policymakers and other stakeholders
London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004, ISBN 0-85092-797-8, 248pp.
Contributors highlight the lack of attention to employment, especially informal employment, in poverty-reduction strategies, and point to the links between informal employment, being a woman or a man, and being poor. The book draws on recent data and evidence produced by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), a global research policy network, as well as the knowledge and experience of its grassroots membership. Including practical examples, it calls for greater emphasis on informal employment and gender, and sets out a strategic framework that offers guidelines for policy makers and other stakeholders.
Chenoweth, Jonathan and Juliet Bird (eds.)
The Business of Water and Sustainable Development
Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 1-874719-30-6, 277 pp.
The 2002 Johannesburg Declaration stated that the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and sanitation should be halved by 2015. This book illustrates the range of approaches that will be necessary to achieve this aim. Some will be large-scale Western-style improvements involving the creation of new business models, while many smaller communities would be better served by small-scale solutions. NGOs have been active in this area and many are now adopting a more business-like model in order to increase their outreach.
Coles, Anne and Tina Wallace (eds.)
Gender, Water and Development
Oxford: Berg, 2005, ISBN: 1-84520-125-6, 256 pp.
Organisations providing improved water supplies to poor communities often neglect the gendered nature of access to and control over water resources. This book shows how, in different environmental, historical and cultural contexts, gender has been an important element in water provision. Case studies include analysis of the role of water in inhibiting the fight against HIV/AIDS in southern Africa, and the challenges of taking gender into account in large water projects in India and Nepal.
Commonwealth Secretariat
Gender and Human Rights in the Commonwealth: Some Critical Issues for Action in the Decade 2005-2015
London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004, ISBN: 0-85092-808-7, 307 pp.
This book brings together the papers commissioned for a Pan-Commonwealth Expert Group Meeting on Gender and Human Rights held in February 2004. The papers address a range of gender issues, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), gender-based violence, culture and law, indigenous peoples, trafficking and migration, land and property rights, diversity and a lifecycle approach to gender, and human rights.
Commonwealth Secretariat
Gender Sensitive Approaches to HIV/AIDS: a training kit for peer educators
London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004, 50pp. + CD ROM.
Inequality between men and women – in personal relationships, in the household and in the community and wider society – drives and perpetuates HIV/AIDS. This manual is an initiative to mainstream gender into all government policies and programmes, as mandated by Commonwealth Heads of Government. It applies a gender perspective to HIV/AIDS in the context of broad-based multi-sectoral approaches. It is intended to assist managers and planners at different levels to identify the gender aspects of HIV/AIDS and to mainstream these into all policies, programmes, projects, and activities.
Court, Julius, Ingie Hovland and John Young (eds.)
Bridging Research and Policy in Development: Evidence and the Change Process
Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby: ITDG Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1 85339 603 6 pp. 208.
This book seeks to address three key questions: 'When and why does development research make a difference?', 'Why do some research findings influence policy and practice while others do not?' and '..how can we promote more informed international development policy?' Part I of the book gives both a background to the role of research and policy in international development and a framework for understanding research/policy processes. Part II looks at four case studies which illustrate research-policy processes in action and Part III draws conclusions from the information provided by the case studies and gives practical recommendations for researchers who want their research findings to influence policy outcomes.
Dinello, Natalia and Lyn Squire, (eds.)
Globalisation and Equity: Perspectives from the Developing World
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2005, ISBN 1 84376 884 4, 253 pp.
Globalisation has been a hot topic of debate in the development world for the past decade. This book attempts to act as a platform from which development practitioners and academics from the ‘economically developing world’ can speak, and from which a global perspective can be gained. All the chapters were delivered as papers at the 4th Annual Global Development Conference held in Cairo, Egypt, January 2003, and represent perspectives from around the world. The authors outline methodological approaches, the results of empirical research and their implications for policies and strategies.
Djurfeldt, G, H. Holén, M Jirström and R. Larsson
The African Food Crisis, Lessons from the Asian Green Revolution
Wallingford: CABI Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0 85199 998 0, 266pp.
This book is the outcome of a three-year project co-ordinated by a group of Swedish researchers with collaborating scholars from Asia and Africa. It provides a comparitive study between Asian agricultural development during the Green Revolution in food production and the current problematic agricultural situation in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on case studies of eight African and eight Asian countries (focusing on the early part of the Green revolution), this book presents a causal and explanatory model of Asian green revolutions. It discusses why such progress has been made in Asia but has not yet occurred in Africa. It also examines the implications of the case studies for future development in Africa.
Dowber, Ladislau
The Broken Mosaic: For an Economics Beyond Equations
London and New York: Zed Books, 2005, ISBN 1 84277 633 9, pp. 162.
Ladislau Dowber is a renowned Brazilian economist and in this partly autobiographical work, he gives his views on the failings of conventional economics to effect postive change in the lives of the poor; views derived from a lifetime spent investigating economic and social issues.
Evans, Anne, Yasin Osmani and Anne Tully
A Guide to Government in Afghanistan
Washington, DC and Kabul: The World Bank and The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation, 2004, ISBN: 0-8213-5835-9, 160 pp.
The three objectives of the guide are: to provide a basic guide to the structures and processes of Afghani government; to provide reformers with some understanding of how to work ‘with the grain’ of the existing institutional arrangements; and to pay tribute to the people who have maintained and are now reforming the system. It sets out the evolution of the Afghan state, the political context, and the administrative and organisational components of the government. The main conclusion is to ‘handle the existing arrangements with care’.
Evian, Clive
Primary HIV/AIDS Care
Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2005 (revised edition), ISBN: 1-4050-6386-6, 342 pp.
This is an updated edition of a practical guide for frontline primary health care workers in the clinical and supportive care of people with HIV/AIDS. The illustrated handbook includes information on testing, counselling, anti-retroviral therapy, the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and children, HIV-associated conditions, care of the terminally ill, and ethical considerations in dealing with HIV/AIDS.
Giffen, Janice and Lucy Earle, with Charles Buxton
The Development of Civil Society in Central Asia
Oxford: INTRAC, 2005, ISBN: 1-897748-75-2, 197 pp.
Based on research undertaken in Central Asia between 1999 and 2003, this book examines civil society in the various countries in the region, and illustrates the impact of internal and external forces, both historical and contemporary, in shaping the evolution of civil society organisations in the post-Soviet context, including political parties, religious groups, NGOs, and labour unions.
Gret, Marion and Yves Sintomer, translated by Stephen Wright
The Porto Alegre Experiment: Learning Lessons for Better Democracy
London: Zed Books Ltd, 2005, ISBN 1 84277405 0, 141pp.
In 1988 a left wing coalition known as the ‘Popular Front’ was swept to power as the municipal government in Porto Alegre, Brazil. They started an innovative endeavour: the participation of the city’s residents in the setting of the municipal budget. This book is about how and whether this democratic innovation works and if it is possible, not to copy the model, but to use such an example to stimulate a renewal of democratic institutions elsewhere in the world. It brings up questions about how inhabitants can actively participate in democracy going past the public vote, to give more control of political processes to the population. This book will be relevant to scholars, politicians and those campaigning for a deepening of democratic institutions worldwide.
Hippler, Jochen (ed.)
Nation-Building: A Key Concept for Peaceful Conflict Transformation
London: Pluto Press, 2005 (first published in German, 2004), ISBN: 0 7453 2336 7, 202 pp.
In a time characterised by globalisation, humanitarian interventions, and ‘liberal protectorates’, the question of nation building has occupied an important place in development policy since the failed intervention in Somalia. The author hopes to contribute towards broadening and systematising our understanding of the processes. Part I deals with the general and conceptual problems; Part II is an analysis of important cases from Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, and Part III focuses on the political aspects that range from viewing nation building as an variant of ‘interest politics’ for controlling other societies, to a development approach to achieve stabilisation. Hippler concludes that it is worth forming manageable, unified political concepts provided that it is possible to resist the instrumentalisation of nation building as new form of imperialism.
Klein, Axel, Marcus Day and Anthony Harriot (eds.)
Caribbean Drugs: From Criminalization to Harm Reduction
London: Zed Books, 2004, ISBN 1-84277-499-9, 272 pp.
The book underlines the dimensions of the illicit drugs market in the Caribbean, and examines the region’s experiences since a coordinated approach to criminalising the problem was adopted in part under US pressure. It argues that the origins of the problem lie in the neo-liberal economic policies that have opened up the region’s borders and undermined its traditional sources of employment and exports, namely bananas and sugar. Serious human and social consequences have resulted from the criminalisation of traditional cultural practices in relation to the consumption of ‘ganja’.
Lele, Uma
The CGIAR at 31: An Independent Meta-Evaluation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
Washington, DC: The World Bank Operations Evaluation Department (OED), 2004, ISBN: 9 780821 356456, 220 pp.
This report is part of an independent review by the OED of the World Bank’s involvement in global programmes through the CGIAR. This consists of 16 autonomous research centres and is the largest global programme supported by the Bank, having received US$390 million since it was founded in 1971. One of the conclusions is that the CGIAR’s founding principles are ‘unsuited to ensuring poverty impacts in a changed environment’, and that while its ‘productivity-enhancing research has had sizeable impacts on reducing poverty’, further improvements in agricultural productivity are critical to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015.
Levy, Sarah (ed.)
Starter Packs: A Strategy to Fight Hunger in Developing Countries?
Wallingford: CABI Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 0-85199-008-8, 320 pp. + CD-ROM.
Despite repeated interventions by governments, donors, and NGOs, food insecurity continues and many countries continue to rely on food aid. To address this problem, the original idea of the Starter Pack was to give a bag of fertiliser and seed to every smallholder farmer in Malawi. Although the programme did not work as originally intended, it helped to achieve national food security. The scaling down of the programme contributed to the food crisis that hit Malawi and other countries in 2002. This book (with accompanying CD) assesses the project and its replicability.
Lipschutz, Ronnie D. with James K.Rowe
Globalization, Governmentality and Global Politics, Regulation for the rest of us?
London and New York: Routledge, 2005, ISBN0 415 70160 0, 253 pp.
A growing number of NGOs, social movements, lobbying groups, and even business associations and corporations are crossing political, cultural, institutional and territorial borders in an effort to globalise social activism, campaign for a ‘just’ world order and human rights and social and environmental regulation, in a largely unregulated capitalist system and asks who should regulate international trade and how? The book provides case studies on the clothing industry, forestry and corporate responsibility and discusses the issues and problems that have given rise to social movements. This book will be interesting reading for those interested in globalisation, civil society, citizenship and human rights.
Little, Jo and Carol Morris (eds.)
Critical Studies in Rural Gender Issues
Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 0-7546-3517-1, 164 pp.
Gender studies are increasingly recognised as central to rural research and to the understanding of rural, social, and economic relationships. This edited volume brings together a range of social scientists to examine new perspectives on gender and ‘rurality’. Combining theoretical debates with a range of original empirical research, the book introduces new material on gender identity and on masculinity and femininity in rural areas
Mancuso Brehm, Vicky, with Emma Harris-Curtis, Luciano Padrão, and Martin Tanner
Autonomy or Dependence? Case Studies of North-South NGO Partnerships
Oxford: INTRAC, 2004, ISBN: 1-897748-72-4, 207 pp.
This book examines the concept of partnership from the perspectives of a range of European NGOs and their ‘partner’ organisations in the South, and illustrates the central importance of financial control in shaping these relationships and in maintaining a hierarchy of power. The key role played by individuals within these partnerships is also stressed in a series of case studies from Brazil, Cambodia, and Tanzania. The authors contend that future international partnerships will revolve more around joint advocacy and networking than around the simple transfer of funds.
Mayo, Marjorie
Global Citizens: Social Movements and the Challenge of Globalization London: Zed Books, 2005, ISBN: 1-84277-139-6, 240 pp.
The book sets out to explore the lessons from social movements that challenge the New World Economic Order. Using case studies, it explores how NGOs, community organisations, and the labour movement can develop effective campaigning alliances without becoming institutionalised; how they can maintain an effective balance between immediate gains and longer-term strategies for transformation; how they can work with celebrities to gain media attention; and how social movements can develop organisational forms that are genuinely representative and democratically accountable. The book concludes by identifying lessons for challenging neo-liberal agendas and developing more transformatory approaches.
Mazurana, Dyan, Angela Raven-Roberts, and Jane Parpart (eds.)
Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping
Lanham, MD and Oxford, 2005, ISBN: 0-7425-3633-5, 304 pp.
This edited volume draws on a wide range of contributors – international policy makers, aid workers, peacekeepers, and academics – whose experiences span major recent conflict and post-conflict contexts in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central America. Contributors underline the role of gender in the intersection of armed conflict and political violence, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations, insisting on the critical importance of applying an analysis of gender relations to these issues, differentiating the way in which these affect women and men, and stressing the need to incorporate women’s perspectives in these and in the subsequent peace-building activities.
Midlarsky, Manus I.
The Killing Trap: Genocide in the Twentieth Century
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-521-89469-7, 412 pp.
The book offers a comparative analysis of the genocides, politicides, and ethnic cleansing of the twentieth century, which are estimated to have cost 40 million lives, and seeks to understand the occurrence and magnitude of genocide as a means of contributing towards future prevention. The author compares socio-economic circumstances and international contexts, and includes in this analysis European Jews, Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Tutsi in Rwanda, black Africans in Darfur, and Cambodians, Bosnians, and the victims of conflict in Ireland. The occurrence of genocide is explained by means of a framework that gives equal emphasis to the non-occurrence of genocide; and victims are given a prominence equal to that of perpetrators in understanding the magnitude.
Pearce, Nick and Will Paxton (eds.)
Social justice: building a fairer Britain
London: Politico’s Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84275-133-6, 406 pp.
In this book, contributors attached to the Institute for Public Policy Research analyse what the government can do to build a fairer society in the UK. The book articulates the principles of social justice, and sets out the radical reforms needed to create equality of opportunity in Britain in relation to issues such as education, social mobility, the welfare state, migration, environmental sustainability, and taxation.
Prahalad, C. K.
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
Philadelphia, PA: Wharton School Publishing, 2004, ISBN: 0 1314 6750 6, 496 pp, plus CD-ROM.
Prahalad argues that private business can help to reduce poverty while also making a profit by creating new markets for products and services aimed at the poor – those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. He challenges misconceptions about the purchasing power, delivery infrastructure, and consumption habits of the poor that have discouraged companies from entering these markets. The book includes12 case studies of businesses that have become involved in this market ranging from the Aravind Eye Care System, the Indian prosthesis maker JaipurFoot, and the computer software conglomerate ITC in India, to the Mexican cement manufacturer CEMEX.
Prunier, Gérard
Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide
London: C. Hurst & Co., 2005, ISBN: 1-85065-770-X, 212 pp.
Following the 1984-1985 Sahelian famine an insurgency was countered by means including the massacre of peasants and burning of their villages. While some referred to this as genocide, the government of Sudan claimed that it was ethnic conflict out of control. More recent events in Darfur have raised the question of how genocide is defined, with some using a crude mortality rate (possibly 300,000 by the end of 2004) with others, including the UN, determining this mainly on intent. The author traces the history of Darfur and explains recent events in this light, in order to ask whether Sudan will remain the centralised ‘Arab’ country it has been since independence, or whether it will embark on the ‘probably painful’ process of reflecting an ‘African’ majority. The fact that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement excludes Darfur does not give cause for optimism.
Quisumbing, Agnes R., Jonna P. Estudillo and Keijiro Otsuka
Land and Schooling: Transferring Wealth Across Generations
Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003, 0-8018-7842-X, 304 pp.
The authors identify the factors affecting land inheritance and schooling across generations in the Philippines, Indonesia and Ghana. Based on household surveys, they examine how these factors affect the distribution of income and spending in the household overall and among its individual members. They look at how these differences in land holdings and education affect what sons and daughters will earn over their lifetimes. To help correct gender inequalities, the authors consider policies to encourage adoption of labour-intensive agricultural technologies, to extend school systems in rural areas, to promote competition in off-farm labour markets, and to eliminate discrimination against women.
Rolnik, Raquel and Renato Cymbalista
Communities and Local Government: Three Case Studies in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Geneva: UNRISD, 2004, ISSN: 1020-8186, 17 pp.
This paper describes three forms of collaboration between the São Paulo local government, civil society organisations (CSOs), and community groups, begun during the 1989-1993 Workers’ Party administration. The first case is the ‘participatory budget’: a citywide process that involved hundreds of CSOs, tens of thousands of residents, and many civil servants and party activists. The second is the ‘Recyclable Materials Collectors’ Cooperative’ creating decent employment for homeless men in collecting and recycling discarded materials. The third is a model for self-governed mutual assistance housing cooperatives. This paper considers the complex history, backgrounds, and tensions within the projects, their waxing and waning, and the consequences at local and national level. The overall impact on the ‘social reality’ of Brazil was ‘disappointing’ in view of the immense barriers to the redistribution of wealth and power. Now, with the Workers’ Party holding local and federal government, will be a telling period in terms of the capacity to reverse Brazil’s historical inequality.
Sachs, Jeffrey
Investing in Development: a practical plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
London: Earthscan, 2005, ISBN: 1-84407-217-7, 329 pp.
The UN Millennium Project was commissioned by Kofi Annan to develop a plan of action for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reported in January 2005. This book brings together the core recommendations for investment strategies and approaches to financing them that will allow even the poorest countries to achieve the MDGs by 2015.
Save the Children (UK)
Children’s Feedback Committees in Zimbabwe: An Experiment in Humanitarian Accountability
Harare: SCF (UK), 2005, ISBN: 0-7974-2933-6, 60 pp.
This publication represents an exploration of children’s feedback committees that were established during the height of the food aid intervention in Zimbabwe during 2003-2004. The project was designed to show how children are affected both positively and negatively by food distributions. The process of working with the communities, establishing children’s committees, and responding to inefficient or inequitable processes in the delivery of emergency assistance, are all examined in light of this initiative.
Starik, Mark and Sanjay Sharma, with Carolyn Egri and Rich Bunch
New Horizons in Research on Sustainable Organisations: Emerging Ideas, Approaches and Tools for Practitioners and Researchers
Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd., 2005, ISBN: 1-874719-77-2, 228 pp.
Contributors in this ‘academic-practitioner’ collaboration argue that the environment and the economy are not in conflict, but could reinforce each other. The sustainable corporation is not in contradiction with society because it encompasses ethical awareness, social responsibility, and environmental consideration; profitability being assumed. This will not happen overnight, however. For instance, Exxon and Mobil are two of several companies that organised against the Kyoto Protocol, through the Global Climate Coalition.
Stern, Nicholas, Jean Jacques Dethier and F. Halsey Rogers (eds.)
Growth and Empowerment: Making Development Happen
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-262-19517-8, 488 pp.
This book is based on Stern’s lectures from 2002, though he argues that his ideas have since evolved, based on his time as chief economist and senior vice president at the World Bank (after which he worked at the British Treasury). The lectures are entitled ‘Experience’, Strategy’, ‘Research’, and ‘Action’. Much of the world remains plagued by poverty and its attendant problems. Stern’s strategy rests on ‘building an investment climate that facilitates investment and growth’ and ‘empowering and investing in poor people so that they participate in that growth’. These approaches differ from the command economy models of the 1950s and 1960s, and from the dogmatic market fundamentalism of the 1980s and 1990s. Contributors seek to ‘offer a strategy that both guides action and provides a program for learning’ as well as ‘an analytical framework for action’ for the international development community.
Sweetman, Caroline (ed.)
Gender and the Millennium Development Goals
Oxford: Oxfam GB, 2005, ISBN: 0-85598-550-X, 117 pp.
This collection (a reprint of an issue of Gender and Development) focuses on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from a gender perspective. Contributors examine the strengths and weaknesses of this way of understanding and addressing poverty, and suggest ways of strengthening the approach by using key insights and approaches associated with the decades-long fight to establish and uphold the rights of women.
Taylor, Rupert (ed.)
Creating a Better World: Interpreting Global Civil Society
Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2004, ISBN: 1-56549-189-0, 210 pp.
This edited volume includes both theoretical and case-study accounts of contemporary global movements ranging from the well-publicised demonstrations at Seattle, Genoa, and so on through to environmental and labour movements, to NGOs, to grassroots organisations such as Slum/Shack Dwellers International. Their overall belief is that global civil society networks are able to create a just global order.
Teunissen, Jan Joost and Age Akkerman (eds.)
Helping the poor? The IMF and Low-Income Countries
The Hague: FONDAD, 2005, ISBN 90-7-4208-25-8: 235 pp.
Contributors to this edited volume include policy makers from the IMF and the World Bank and the topics covered include the dynamics of donors, recipients, and the IMF; institutional changes to prevent the recurrence of debt problems; and stepping up ambitions of the 1999 poverty reduction strategy (PRS). Discussing the successes and shortcomings of IMF and Bank support for poor countries, one contributor claims that the assistance ‘has remained insufficient, often mal-directed and still too much inspired by beliefs held in Washington’.
UNDP
Human Development Report 2005: international development at a crossroads - aid, trade and security in an unequal world
New York, NY: OUP, 2005, ISBN: 0-19-530511-6, 372 pp.
Available at http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/
Most countries are off track for most of the MDG targets. This year’s HDR highlights the human cost of missed targets and broken promises. Extreme inequality between and within countries is one of the main barriers to human development and to the achievement of the MDGs. Practical action and new approaches to international cooperation are vital if the promise of the Millennium Declaration is to be realised. Focusing on aid, trade, and security, all central pillars of international cooperation, this Report analyses the problems, and identifies solutions, emphasising that rich countries need to align their policies with the commitments made in the Millennium Declaration.
UNFPA
State of World Population 2005: The Promise of Equality - Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals
New York, NY: United Nations Population Fund), 2005, 120 pp.
Available at http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/english/ch1/index.htm
In 2002, the UN Millennium Project brought together more than 250 experts to advise on how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Their conclusions are reflected in this annual report, which focuses on gender equity, reproductive health and the MDGs. It also contains worldwide statistics on infant mortality, life expectancy, education, births, contraception, HIV prevalence, and demographic, social, and economic indicators.
UNRISD
Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World
Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), 2005, ISBN: 92-9085-052-3, 303 pp.
This report focuses on areas of policy and institutional reform that are critical for the realisation of women’s rights and for efforts to achieve gender equality in an unequal world. It covers the key areas of macroeconomics, liberalisation, labour markets, work and social policy, politics and public life, gender and armed conflict, and peace building. Within these key issues, the report addresses eight of the twelve areas of concern articulated in the Beijing Platform for Action.
Waddell, Steve
Societal Learning and Change: How Governments, Business and Civil Society are Creating Solutions to Complex Multi-Stakeholder Problems
Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd., 2005, ISBN 1-874719-93-4, 164 pp.
The author presents eight diverse cases of remarkable change - of individuals, organisations, and society – and calls on readers to achieve their own aspirations for change. In response to globalisation and environmental crises, there is a complicated ‘paradigm shift’, particularly concerning the environment and society. Adapting to new challenges means that people in diverse social positions and with very different viewpoints need to be engaged, in ways that create new relationships between people, organisations, and sectors that share common interests but traditionally would not interact.
Wisner, Ben, Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon, and Ian Davis
At Risk: Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters (2nd edn.)
London and New York, NY: Routledge, 2004, ISBN: 0-415-25216-4, 471 pp.
The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to major events such as earthquakes and hurricanes, with the implication that such catastrophes are in some sense unavoidable, unpredictable, and uniform in their effects. In this revised edition of their 1994 work, the authors examine the effects of disasters on different social groups (notably women, children, refugees and migrants, people with disabilities), focusing on natural disasters not as an aberration but as a failure of mainstream development. For instance, the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in Central America was intensified by the deforestation and occupation of marginal land that has been caused by the growth in agro-export such as beef cattle ranching and extensive plantations of cotton, banana, and African palm. The authors look both at the root causes of vulnerability in relation to, for instance, the global economy, and at the reasons why some households and individuals are more vulnerable than others.
World Bank
Global Monitoring Report 2005: Millennium Development Goals – from Consensus to Momentum
Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2005, ISBN: 0-82-13-6077-9, 256 pp.
This report is the second in an annual series assessing progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and related development outcomes, and focuses on sub-Saharan Africa. It presents in-depth analysis of the agenda and priorities for action, discusses the necessary improvements in policies and governance in developing countries, and examines actions that developed countries must take to provide more and better development aid and to reform their trade policies. It also evaluates how international financial institutions can strengthen their support for this agenda. The report concludes that without rapid action to accelerate progress, the MDGs will be seriously jeopardised – especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
World Bank
World Development Indicators
Washington DC: The World Bank, 2005, ISBN: 0-8213-6071-X, 403 pp.
Providing statistics that illustrate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the report also includes comprehensive development-related statistics for 152 countries.
Books received in 2004
Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP)
Humanitarian Action: Improving monitoring to enhance accountability and learning
ALNAP Annual Review
London: ODI, 2003, ISBN: 0 85003 632 1, 216 pp.
This book provides an overview of how evaluations performed in 2003, drawing out some common findings. These findings suggest that the humanitarian sector is becoming more effective at delivering basic services. However, the sector has been less successful in putting into practice its rhetorical commitment to a rights-based approach to humanitarian relief. This review aims to provide a common basis for developing shared agendas and approaches so that current shortcomings in humanitarian action can be better addressed in the future.
Afshar, Haleh and Deborah Eade (eds.)
Development, Women, and War: Feminist Perspectives
Oxford: Oxfam GB, 2004, ISBN: 0 85598 487 2, 385 pp.
This volume offers an overview of different feminist approaches to peace building and conflict resolution, and puts forward concrete policy measures to achieve these ends. With discussions of long-running conflicts in Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, contributors argue for the need to understand the underlying gendered power relations and the dynamics of social change in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Antrobus, Peggy
The Global Women’s Movement: Origins, Issues and Strategies
London: Zed Books, ISBN: 1 84277 017 9, 210 pp.
Part of Zed’s ‘Global Issues in a Changing World’ series, this book analyses the spread and consolidation of the women’s movement in the North and the South over the past 30 years. Drawing on her long experience of feminist activism, the author sets women's movements in their changing national and global contexts. Some of the questions she explores include how far women have gone in the struggle against gender inequality, the challenges confronting women’s movements, and how these can be addressed.
Baumgarten, Ruedi and Ruedi Högger, (eds.)
In Search of Sustainable Livelihood Systems: Managing Resources and Change
London: Sage Publications, 2004, ISBN: 0 7619 9808 X, 396 pp.
Adopting a holistic approach to rural livelihood systems, this volume maintains that a livelihood system embraces not only the economic conditions for physical subsistence, but also the elements that provide material continuity and cultural meaning to communal life. The book highlights the survival strategies of rural families and explores a wide range of rural livelihood systems, mostly in India.
Berg-Schlosser, Dirk and Norbert Kersting, (eds.)
Poverty and Democracy: Self-Help and Political Participation in Third World Cities
London: Zed Books, 2003, ISBN: 1 8427 7205 8, 237 pp.
This book examines the intersection between poverty and democracy from the perspective of shantytown dwellers in Brazil, Chile, Ivory Coast, and Kenya. Through the use of surveys, the contributors attempt to capture the view of the urban poor on matters regarding membership in interest groups and political parties, attitudes towards democracy, and questions of trust and representation. An interesting finding is that the poor engage in politics as a way of escaping their poverty.
Bourdieu, Pierre
Firing Back: Against the Tyranny of the Market 2
London: Verso, 2004, ISBN: 1 85984 658 0, 96 pp.
In this collection of essays, Bourdieu dissects the claims of neo-liberalism, and calls for an international social movement capable of forming a counterforce to capitalist globalisation.
Burnell, Peter and Oliver Morrissey, (eds.)
Foreign Aid in the New Global Economy
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2004, ISBN: 1 84376 280 3, 656 pp.
The understanding of the role of aid as an instrument of economic, social, and political change has undergone significant transformation over the past 50 years. This volume brings together major contributions to the analysis of aid written from the 1970s to the present. The collection, structured around key issues and debates, is intended as a reference work for policy makers and practitioners.
Carothers, Thomas
Critical Mission: Essays on Democracy Promotion
Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004, ISBN: 0 87003 209 7, 300 pp.
The wars in Afghansitan and Iraq have placed the question of external involvement in establishing democracy to the forefront of the international agenda. Written by a leading authority on the promotion of democracy, this collection brings together some of Carothers’s best known and most widely cited essays, organised around four themes: the role of democracy promotion in US foreign policy; the key elements of democracy aid; the state of democracy in the world; and the push by the current US administration to promote democracy in the Middle East.
Center for Development and Human Rights
The Right to Develop: A Primer
With an Introduction by Stephen Marks, Harvard University
Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, 2004, ISBN: 0 7619 3212 7, 294 pp.
This book introduces the concept of the Right to Development (RTD), a rights-based approach that seeks to integrate the norms and principles of human rights with policies to promote development. The first part of the volume traces the origins and evolution of RTD, focusing in particular on rights related to food, education, health, and women’s rights. The second part of the book addresses RTD in the Indian context.
Chakraborti, Rajagopal Dhar
The Greying of India: Population Ageing in the Context of Asia
New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2004, ISBN: 81 7829 279 3, 470 pp.
A rapid transition from high to relatively low mortality and fertility rates has altered the age composition of India’s population. The country’s elderly population has grown considerably, and this book argues that there is an urgent need for policies that protect older people against various risks and allow them to maintain as much economic independence as possible without disturbing intergenerational balances.
Dale, Reidar
Evaluating Development Programmes and Projects
New Delhi: sage Publications, 2004 (2nd ed.), ISBN: 0 7619 3310 7, 212 pp.
Now in its second edition, this book looks at the focus, scope, and methodology of the evaluation of development programmes and projects. Written from a practice-oriented perspective, the book offers a general conceptual and analytical framework of evaluation, emphasises organisational questions and issues of capacity building, and assesses the proper application of various evaluation tools.
Devas, Nick, with Philip Amis, Jo Beall, Ursula Grant, Diana Mitlin, Fiona Nunan, and Carole Rakodi
Urban Governance, Voice and Poverty in the Developing World
London: Earthscan, ISBN: 1 85383 993 0, 224 pp.
This book focuses on relationship between urban governance and urban poverty. Looking at ten cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the authors find that the trends towards decentralisation and democratisation can offer new opportunities for the poor to influence the decisions that affect them. The book provides insights and examples that may be of relevance to other cities, and outlines policy implications for national and local governments, NGOs, and donor agencies.
Donini, Antonio, Norah Niland, and Karin Wermester (eds.)
Nation-Building Unravelled? Aid, Peace and Justice in Afghanistan
Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2003, ISBN: 1 56549 180 7, 256 pp.
With contributions from practitioners directly involved in the Afghan crisis, this book examines the challenges and opportunities involved in responding to conflict, injustice, and insecurity. The Afghanistan experience is used as illustration of the way in which emerging international ‘ordering’ practices are affecting the role and policy of international organisations, their interaction with national authorities and local communities, and their ability to generate just and sustainable social outcomes.
Dunkley, Graham
Free Trade: Myth, Reality and Alternatives
London: Zed Books, 2004, ISBN: 1 85649 863 8, 265 pp.
Part of Zed’s ‘Global Issues’ series, this book argues that the uncritical embrace of free trade is problematic because it assumes that this has universal and unequivocal benefits for all people and countries, when in reality these benefits are more limited and contingent. The author calls for more interventionist, self-reliant trade policies that view development in more holistic terms.
Englund, Harri and Francis B. Nyamnjoh, (eds.)
Rights and the Politics of Recognition in Africa
London: Zed Books, ISBN: 1 84277 283 X, 290 pp.
This book asks what the study of Africa can contribute to understanding the ‘politics of recognition’, understood in terms of identity politics and the self-image of those seeking recognition. Contributors examine the consequences of introducing liberal institutions to African realities, and how Africans’ ways of claiming rights may challenge what they consider to be dominant Western ideas and institutions.
Farazmand, Ali (ed.)
Administrative Reform in Developing Nations
Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002, ISBN: 0 275 97212 7, 270 pp.
In the context of globalisation and under pressure from international financial institutions (IFIs), developing and transition countries have undertaken significant reforms to streamline their public sector and promote a private, corporate-driven marketplace. However, as the fallacies embedded in marketplace ideology become more apparent, some countries are now adopting an approach to administrative reform that takes more account issues of equity, fairness, and market failure. This book is illustrated by examples from several countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern and Southern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Fung, Archon and Erik Olin Wright, (eds.)
Deepening democracy: Institutional innovations in empowered participatory governance
London: Verso Books, 2003, ISBN: 1 85984 466 9, 224 pp.
Available at: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/Deepening.pdf
Part of the Real Utopias Project, this volume explores four contemporary cases in which the principles of a deliberative democracy have been at least partially instituted, namely participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre; school-decentralisation councils and community-policing councils in Chicago; stakeholder councils in environmental protection and habitat management; and decentralised governance structures in Kerala.
Gardner, Judith and Judy El Bushra, (eds.)
Somalia – The Untold Story: The War Through the Eyes of Somali Women
London: Pluto Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 7453 2208 5, 257 pp.
In this edited volume, women from Somalia write and talk about the war that devastated their country in the 1990s. They explain the changes and opportunities that the war brought to their lives, and how they coped with them. Key themes include sexual violence as a weapon of war; changing roles in the family; and women’s efforts to promote peace and post-war reconstruction.
Gibson, Edward, (ed.)
Federalism: Latin America in Comparative Perspective
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 8018 7424 6, 392 pp.
Seeking to advance theoretical and empirical understanding of federal systems, this volume addresses the question of how and when federal institutions matter in terms of policy making and democratic practice. Contributions include case studies on four such systems in Latin America - Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela - and analyse their experiences in dealing with issues including the formation and evolution of federal structures, democratisation, electoral representation, and economic reform.
Gresh, Alain and Dominique Vidal
The New A-Z of the Middle East
London: I.B. Tauris, 2004, ISBN: 1 86064 326 4, 464 pp.
This guide offers an overview of the various social, religious, and economic trends, political events, and leading personalities that have shaped the Middle East. The book covers the political issues that have affected the region since the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the current crisis in Iraq, and the status of political Islam throughout the region.
Hamdi, Nabeel
Small Change: About the art and practice and the limits of planning in cities
London: Earthscan, ISBN: 1 84407 005 0, 184 pp.
This book celebrates the creativity, spontaneity, and ingenuity of the ‘informal city’, and the long-term, large-scale effectiveness of immediate, small-scale actions. As slum dwellers organise to address common problems, the author examines the potential of small innovations in bringing about lasting change. The book provides successful ‘scale-up’ examples from both the North and the South.
Hutt, Michael (ed.)
Himalayan ‘People’s War’: Nepal’s Maoist Rebellion
London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2004, ISBN: 1 85065 722 X, 322 pp.
In 1996, a Maoist insurgency erupted in Nepal, calling for the overthrow of the political establishment and the abolition of the monarchy. This book provides the historical and socio-political context to this civil war, and examines recent peace-making efforts.
Ibrahim, Jibin
Democratic Transition in Anglophone West Africa
Dakar: CODESRIA, 2003, ISBN: 2 86978 122 9, 88 pp.
This study analyses democratic transition in the five countries of Anglophone West Africa, identifying some of the main regional trends and specificities. The author highlights issues such as the rise of a militarised security state; the increase in public corruption; the battle for deepening democracy between civil society and the state; and the growing disengagement between elections and political choice. He then discusses the case of Ghana as an acceptable regional model, and Liberia as a failed one.
Ismael, Tareq Y. and Jacqueline S. Ismael
The Iraqi predicament: people in the quagmire of power politics
London: Pluto Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 7453 2149 6, 271 pp.
This book on the role of Iraq in world politics provides an analysis of Saddam Hussein’s regime and of his influence in the Middle East. The authors also explore the impact that the UN, economic sanctions, and war have had on the Iraqi population and on related humanitarian issues, arguing that the country’s internal welfare system essentially collapsed after the Gulf War in the early 1990s.
Jawara, Fotoumata and Aileen Kwa
Behind the scenes at the WTO: The Real World of International Trade Negotiations: Lessons from Cancun
London: Zed Books, 2004 (updated edition), ISBN: 1 84277 311 9, 330 pp.
Based on in-depth interviews with Geneva-based missions to the WTO and WTO Secretariat staff members, the authors argue that not all WTO member countries are equal, that decisions remain shrouded in secrecy and are often made without the full approval of developing countries, and that US and EU delegations frequently resort to illegitimate pressures and inducements to bring delegations from poorer countries into their fold.
Juma, Monica Kathina and Astri Suhrke, (eds.)
Eroding Local Capacity: International Humanitarian Action in Africa
Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute, 2003, ISBN: 91 7106 502 4, 205 pp.
This book offers a critical examination of the interplay among international and local actors involved in humanitarian action in Africa. Despite the consensus that local capacity for humanitarian action needs to be strengthened, the results so far have been poor, and in some cases local capacity is overwhelmed by the presence of international aid. Drawing on cases from East Africa and the Horn, the book looks at institutional capacity in the public and private sector, as well as at the legal and social norms of humanitarian action.
Karagiannis, Nathalie
Avoiding Responsibility: The Politics and Discourse of European Development Policy
London: Pluto Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 7453 2189 5, 195 pp.
This book analyses three key terms of European development discourse: ‘responsibility’, ‘efficiency’, and ‘giving’. Situating these in the context of European post-colonial politics, the author argues that European policy has shifted from accepting responsibility for colonialism to the widespread view that the former colonies are responsible for their own fate.
Kaufman, Robert and Joan Nelson, (eds.)
Crucial Needs, Weak Incentives: Social Sector Reform, Democratization and Globalization in Latin America
Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 8018 8082 3, 550 pp.
This book looks at the politics of health and education reform in Latin America in the 1990s. Contributors analyse the political processes through which reforms in these two sectors were brought about, diluted, or blocked. Through case studies and comparative essays, they examine the principal actors in the ‘reform story’, their preferences and power resources, and the ways in which their choices and interactions were shaped by national and international structures and institutions.
Kessides, Ioannis N.
Reforming Infrastructure: Privatization, Regulation, and Competition
A World Bank Policy Research Report
Washington, DC and New York, NY: World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 8213 5070 6, 306 pp.
Since the 1980s, many governments have attempted to implement far-reaching reforms—including restructuring, privatisation, and the establishment of new approaches to regulation—to improve the quality of their infrastructure. Exploring the challenges involved in such massive policy changes for developing and transition economies, this volume also addresses some of the distributional consequences of such reforms for poor households and marginalised groups. The book draws on a range of international experiences and empirical studies to make recommendations on the direction of future reforms and research to improve infrastructure performance.
Krumm, Kathie and Homie Kharas (eds.)
East Asia Integrates: A Trade Policy Agenda for Shared Growth
Washington, DC and New York, NY: World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 8213 5514 7, 202 pp.
Strategic rethinking of development in East Asia following the 1997-1998 crisis and China’s accession to the WTO have led policy makers to seek to establish a coherent set of economic policies that deliver stability, growth, and regional integration. This volume provides strategies to promote trade, both globally and regionally, and discusses domestic policies that could maximise the impact of trade flows on development and distribute the gains from trade more widely.
Mathur, Kanchan
Countering Gender Violence: Initiatives Towards Collective Action in Rajasthan
New Delhi: Sage Publications, ISBN: 0 7619 3245 3, 380 pp.
Based on the experiences of rural women in Rajasthan, this book analyses gender violence as the product of the social, cultural, and economic norms within which gender power relations are embedded, and calls for ways in which such dynamics can be altered to better protect women. The book examines the role played by NGOs in breaking the silence surrounding this issue and offers a critical assessment of the Women’s Development Programme of the Government of Rajasthan.
McCarthy, Julie
Enacting Participatory Development: Theater-Based Techniques
London: Earthscan, 2004, ISBN: 1 84407 111 1, 151 pp.
This comprehensive sourcebook advocates the use of theatre in participatory development as a way for groups to discover their goals and aspirations, and to develop strategies to improve their lives. The book presents exercises that can be used at all stages of participatory workshops, with explanations and commentaries from experienced practitioners. The author also contextualises theatre for development practice within current debates on empowerment and participation, and offers case studies as illustrations.
Mebrahtu, Esther
Putting Policy into Practice: Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation in Ethiopia
Oxford: INTRAC, 2004, ISBN: 1 897748 82 5, 236 pp.
This study explores attempts by eight international NGOs to use participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) systems to strengthen local participation in rural interventions in Ethiopia. The author uses an approach based on agency and structure to assess the extent to which both actors and their choices and structural constraints determine organisational behaviour. While the study concludes that organisational change is largely determined by structural considerations, staff discretion and ‘agency’ can be critical levers for innovation.
Millet, Damien and Eric Toussaint
Who Owes Who?
London: Zed Books, 2004, ISBN: 1 84277 427 1, 200 pp.
This comprehensive guide to the debt crisis explains how poor countries have become so heavily indebted, and how they may escape the web in which they are trapped. The authors lay out the moral, political, economic, legal, and environmental arguments for the wholesale cancellation of debt, and reply to some of the most commonly raised objections.
Montero, Alfred P. and David J. Samuels, (eds.)
Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America
Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 268 02559 2, 309 pp.
While decentralisation has been a key element in the transformation of Latin American states since the 1980s, the process has been uneven even within countries. With specific reference to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela, contributors focus on the political determinants of decentralisation, arguing that political choices and political institutions have played a major role in explaining the variation in the form, degree, and success of decentralisation in Latin America.
Montgomery, John D. and Dennis A. Rondinelli, (eds.)
Beyond Reconstruction in Afghanistan: Lessons from Development Experience
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, ISBN: 1 4039 6511 0, 240 pp.
This book provides an analysis of the attempts at nation building in a country that has been devastated by more than a century of conflict. Placing the current crisis in Afghansitan in its historical context, the contributors call attention to the limitations of ambitious state-building projects, focusing on the interaction of the goals of external and domestic actors, and highlighting the paramount need to understand the internal environment and the needs of the society receiving assistance.
Oxhorn, Philip, Andrew Selee, and Joseph Tulchin, (eds.)
Decentralization, Democratic Governance, and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective: Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, ISBN: 0 8018 7919 1, 351 pp.
This volume analyses the relationship between decentralisation and democratisation at both the intermediate and the local level of government, in particular how decentralisation is transforming the nature of state-society relations. The book presents case studies on Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and South Africa.
Polet, François and CETRI (eds.)
Globalizing Resistance: The State of the Struggle
London: Pluto Press in association with the Tricontinental Centre (CENTRI), 2004, ISBN: 07453 2355 3, 328 pp.
With contributions from writers and activists from around the world, this book analyses the movement against neo-liberal globalisation from an international perspective. Contributors look at contemporary struggles against capitalism, privatisation, and social exclusion, examine what such resistance has achieved so far, and discuss the challenges ahead. The World Social Forums of Porto Alegre and Mumbai are highlighted as important sites for exchanging ideas and forging a common agenda.
Rai, Shirin M., (ed.)
Mainstreaming Gender, Democratizing the State? Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003, ISBN: 0 7190 5978 X, 320 pp.
Contributors explore the relevance of national systems for the advancement of women, appropriate mechanisms for facilitating gender mainstreaming, and the ways in which ‘interests of women’ are represented in state policy-making structures. Case studies from Central and Eastern Europe, the Nordic countries, and Uganda are used to assess the extent to which global strategies for the advancement of women have been absorbed at the national level, with examples also drawn from Australia, Lebanon, and South Korea. See also Shirin M. Rai (2000) International Perspectives on Gender and Democratization, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rieff, David
A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002, ISBN: 0 684 80977 X, 384 pp.
Rieff argues that humanitarian organisations work in an ever more violent and dangerous world in which they are often betrayed and manipulated, and have themselves increasingly lost sight of their purpose. Civil wars and ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the 1990s showed that humanitarian aid can only do so much to alleviate suffering, and sometimes can cause more harm than good. The author draws on first-hand accounts to maintain that humanitarian organisations have moved away from their founding principle of political neutrality and have slowly lost their independence. For a full review, see Development in Practice 15(1):122-3.
Rutter, Jill
Supporting Refugee Children in 21st Century Britain: A Compendium of Essential Information
Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books, 2003 (2nd ed.), ISBN: 1 85856 292 9, 312 pp.
In this updated edition, Rutter incorporates the most recent changes in legislation affecting refugee children and discusses developments in educational practice for refugee communities that have proved effective in promoting their learning. The book also provides background information on over 30 major refugee groups in the UK.
Scheyvens, Regina and Donovan Storey (eds.)
Development Fieldwork: A Practical Guide
London: Sage Publications, 2003, ISBN: 0 7619 4890 2, 265 pp.
This book introduces the basics of research design and methodology; provides suggestions on selecting the most appropriate research methods; offers ‘hands on’ advice; and addresses some of the key challenges facing development researchers in the field. The book draws on a diverse set of fieldwork experiences and uses case studies to illustrate key issues.
Schirch, Lisa
Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding
Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2004, ISBN: 1 56549 194 7, 224 pp.
While examples of peace building often centre on negotiations and formal problem-solving efforts, this book highlights the importance of symbolic tools and non-verbal ritual acts – such as shaking hands or sharing a meal – in bringing adversaries together. Drawing on examples from around the world, the author argues that ritual assists in solving complex, deep-rooted conflicts and helps transform worldviews, identities, and relationships.
Terry, Fiona
Condemned to Repeat? The Paradox of Humanitarian Action
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002, ISBN: 0 8014 8796 X, 304 pp.
The author, the former head of the French section of Médecins sans Frontières, argues that humanitarian organisations often fail to alleviate suffering, and may even exacerbate it, because of their short-sightedness. Terry maintains that agencies deploy aid often without taking the wider political context into account and without investigating or considering the ramifications of their aid. Drawing from case studies of refugee camps in the DRC, Honduras, Pakistan, and Thailand, she shows how aid for refugees may end up in the hands of the combatants.
World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization
A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All
Geneva: ILO, 2004, ISBN: 92 2 115426 2, 190 pp.
This report calls for an ‘urgent rethink’ of current policies and institutions of global governance to better harness the potential benefits of globalisation, and to make it more fair and inclusive. The report calls for fairer rules of international trade, investment, finance, and migration; the promotion of core labour rights; and renewed efforts to raise human capabilities to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
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