Viewpoint

With the ruefully anticipated breakdown of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala as the central issue, this article debates the decommissioning of large dams in India. Drawing on other examples of dam breakdown and decommissioning cases from India and the USA, the author argues that dams that have failed to deliver on their promises or are in an unsafe condition should be selectively decommissioned.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2013.772563

This paper discusses the discourse of “development” and its effects. It argues that there are good reasons for giving up the concept of development and replacing it with various other concepts. Practices that aim at improving the human condition need not be identified with the term “development”. Numerous practices which have not improved the human condition have been carried out in the name of “development”. These should not be seen as an abuse of a positive concept, but as linked to certain Eurocentric, depoliticising, and authoritarian implications of the concept of “development”.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2013.752792

Very little is known about the ecology of the refugee parenting experience in pre-resettlement contexts. This article presents research that is part of a larger study seeking to explain why refugee parents are appearing in the South Australian child protection system. In particular, the research highlights the need for parenting education as an early intervention.

Microfinance practices were originally developed in offline contexts. Modern microfinance practices were based on development models for the financial and social empowerment of the poorest of poor in developing countries. Several of these practices drew from existing traditions of money lending within local communities that were reformed to be in sync with rural development and the empowerment of the underprivileged individual.

The past 30 years have seen a proliferation in the use of the phrase ‘civil society' linked to international aid, resulting in the creation of official donor ‘civil society departments’. At the same time there has been growing understanding that international development has become commercialised into the ‘aid industry'. The result is an explosion of ‘aided', globalised and tamed civil society at the expense of the naturally occurring, local, less predictable and more politicised‘unaided' variety.

This article reviews some of the main arguments advanced by scholars operating at the interface of religion and development. It then seeks to expand the current literature on religion and development to include more ‘uncomfortable’ subject matter, such as homosexuality and discrimination. Using the 1995 Zimbabwe Book Fair as a case study, the author argues that international religious NGOs engaged in evangelical activity must show greater attention to the contexts in which they operate. In particular, they must take an explicit stand against homophobia and discrimination.

The medicinal plant sector is on the increase in many developing countries. Despite this, the existing supply chain is unable to improve the livelihoods of the gatherers. This article considers Gram Mooligai Company Limited (GMCL), the first community-based enterprise active in the herbal sector. GMCL promotes a more equitable sharing of benefits in the sector, while also aiming for a more sustainable use of natural resources.

This is the text of a talk given at a conference for Publishing for Social Change in Oxford. It explores the effect of literature on political consciousness.

Religious faith has always had an intense but uneasy relationship with development. Donors are currently seeking greater engagement with faith-based organisations (FBOs). This positive shift needs careful consideration. Faith can be a powerful – but flammable – fuel for change. FBOs are highly diverse and complex. Donors therefore need to handle them with understanding and care. This article outlines both the major concerns about faith in development and also the potential ‘value-added’ of FBOs.

This short contribution provides a brief history, touching on some of the key trends and turning points in ActionAid's education work, and it documents the evolution of the relationship between ActionAid and governments. The story of ActionAid is illustrative in many ways of wider changes in the NGO sector since the early 1970s.