This book contains a number of papers presented at a workshop organised by the World Bank in 1997 on the theme of 'Social Capital: Integrating the Economist's and the Sociologist's Perspectives'. The concept of 'social capital' is considered through a number of theoretical and empirical studies which discuss its analytical foundations, as well as institutional and statistical analyses of the concept. It includes the classic 1987 article by the late James Coleman, 'Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital', which formed the basis for the development of social capital as an organising concept in the social sciences.
Critically assessing meanings of the term "public", this book situates the emergence and expansion of "public services" within market-based forms of production and consumption. It highlights the potential for making public services more progressive within market societies, but underscores their ongoing capture by private interests and emphasises the inherent limits of reform within a "bourgeois public sphere". The author explores opportunities for more expansive forms of non-marketized public services, examining emerging debates on the theory and practice of equitable, participatory and sustainable forms of publicness that go beyond mere ownership. The book then asks how we can build a robust international "pro-public" movement that juggles universal needs with local context. With a focus on essential public services such as water, electricity and health, the text is global in its scope and written for a broad audience. It will be useful for those interested in social and public policy, public services and public administration, political theory, economic geography, social movements, sustainability and development.
International relations (IR) traditionally theorises the social relationships between different peoples. In so doing, it ignores the ecological bases to life - the ground upon which we walk, the all-encompassing bind of nature. In the current climate of environmental degradation, international relations as a theory must in turn be altered. By broadening the term 'relations' to include this ecological framework, international relations can be approached from a changed perspective. In this book, Susan Board uses a Foucauldian model of power to expand the boundaries of international relations. She argues that 'relations' can include other people or animals, and are not exclusively between states. Such a perspective acts to denaturalise the marginalization of women, animals and indigenous peoples and hence expand the constrained discipline of IR. By rethinking international relations to put ecological foundations first, we are pushed to think and act with consideration of the long-term sustainability of the global environment; an ecological focus reminds us of our interdependence with our environment and all our neighbours. The book raises conceptual and methodological issues that go directly to the heart of current critical engagements within the discipline of IR. As such it will be of great interest to students and researchers in IR, environmental politics and political theory.
This title was first published in 2002: Tracing global shifts in development thinking through to national-level policy making in India and its local-scale implications, Sarah Jewitt investigates the practical value of radical populist and eco-feminist alternatives to more mainstream forms of development. Using detailed empirical data on forests and agriculture from two adivasi (tribal) villages in India, she takes a micro-political ecology approach to examine inter- and intra-community (especially gender) variations in environmental knowledge, resource management strategies and development aspirations. Critiquing the adoption of romanticized eco-feminist discourse in policymaking, Jewitt studies the Jharkhand region of Bihar, India, to determine women’s contribution to environmental degradation and how the implementation of environmentally-oriented development initiatives affects their daily lives. She also examines the populist concern about the displacement of traditional agro-ecological practices by modern techniques, and illustrates the need to understand local people’s socio-cultural beliefs and aspirations as well as their technical knowledge when seeking to promote more appropriate development.
Aimed at policy-makers and practitioners, this work looks at how local and indigenous communities can maintain the balance between their societies and their forest environments when faced with increasing external pressures, rising populations and growing demands for basic needs and cash. While efforts by governments or coporations to restore and manage forest environments are often non-existent or ineffective, there frequently exists, within communities who depend on forests, a wealth of knowledge about rational land use and environmental protection.
Presenting the historical, socioeconomic, political, and security conditions experienced by three peasant communities, Colombian Peasants in the Neoliberal Age provides readers with the most up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of Colombia's peasants currently available. Nazih F. Richani examines their adaptive strategies and resistance to subsumption processes and the prospects for the sustainability of their modes of production, culture, and livelihood. In addition, he explores each communities' level of agency that has allowed them to respond to the encroachments of rentier economy by devising adaptive strategies and building collaborative networks, forging new partners at the national, regional, and global levels. These findings are timely given the historic change in Colombia's leadership as represented by President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and a leftist leader, and his vice president Francia Elena Marquez, an Afro-Colombian woman activist. The Petro administration offers an exceptional opportunity for radical policy change toward national development, particularly towards peasants and agrarian issues. The research undertaken in this book holds the potential to enrich political discussions and inform new policies.