Suchergebnisse

Richards reviews 'Developments in Political Geography: A Century of Progress' edited by Ramesh Dutta Dikshit.

'...an important and timely contribution to the study of South-South economic relations. It provides a cogent and detailed analysis...'-Henock Kifle, South Letter '...provides some interesting insights into the determinants and consequences of South-South trade.'- Frances Stewart, The World Economy 'This comprehensive, incisive work....represents both historical depth and topical breadth. ....This well-written analysis makes an important contribution to development studies, including development economics and development geography.'- Georges G. Cravins, The Journal of Asian Studies These essays explore interactions between North and South and South and South in trade, technology and finance, focusing on the interests of the South, and particularly the poor. The 'conventional' neo-classical approach is shown to have many theoretical deficiences, the consequences are often harmful to Southern interests, while the poor are neglected. The author concludes that the South should adopt a bargaining approach to N-S negotiations and urges for closer South-South relations in trade, technology and finance.

This paper analyses the economic and social causes of conflict, drawing conclusions for conflict prevention. Civil wars normally occur when groups mobilize against each other, on the basis of some cultural characteristic like ethnicity or religion. It is suggested that horizontal inequalities, i.e. inequalities among groups in political, economic and social dimensions, provide the basis for inter group animosity. Policies to limit excessive horizontal inequalities are needed in all vulnerable countries.

The paper reviews international policy levers relevant to the work of CRISE. The large range of policy areas which potentially affect ethnic relations and the work of CRISE include factors that determine: political, economic and social resource access and inequalities across ethnic groups; perceptions of difference; and willingness to resolve differences peacefully. Policies relevant to these areas are primarily determined at the national level. However, these are greatly influenced by international norms emanating from the international community. Some international institutions also have a significant direct impact on policy via their own expenditures and conditionality. Most international influence over the economy and social sectors is wielded by the International Financial Institutions – with the World Bank especially important in relation to relevant distributional and sectoral policies. A range of United Nations organs contribute to the formation of norms, as well as acting in conflict-ridden situations, and influencing development policy. Bilateral donors and international NGOs have a significant direct impact in some countries. Large international corporations, responsible for massive investments, might become a powerful lever, as the movement for corporate social responsibility gains ground. Global media – the internet and television – are, of course, of increasing influence. Some academic centres and think tanks also affect the formation of global norms of policy-making.

This paper analyses the economic and social causes of conflict, drawing conclusions for conflict prevention. Civil wars normally occur when groups mobilize against each other, on the basis of some cultural characteristic like ethnicity or religion. It is suggested that horizontal inequalities, i.e. inequalities among groups in political, economic and social dimensions, provide the basis for inter group animosity. Policies to limit excessive horizontal inequalities are needed in all vulnerable countries.

This paper reviews the connections between development and security both within developing countries and globally. It interprets security as human security, and within this category focuses on political violence as an important source of insecurity. Three connections are hypothesised: that human security forms an important part of people's wellbeing and is therefore an objective of development; that lack of human security has adverse consequences on economic growth and poverty and thereby on development; and that lack of development, or imbalanced development that involves sharp horizontal inequalities, is an important cause of conflict. Evidence supporting these relationships is surveyed for developing countries. A brief overview of the current global situation suggests similar relationships obtain. Hence for both developing countries and to prevent global terrorism, it is essential to promote inclusive development. A focus on military solutions alone – the usual interpretation of 'security' – will not succeed.

To the extent that Horizontal Inequalities (HIs), or inequalities between groups in access to economic, social and political resources, are an important source of conflict, then correcting them should form a significant aspect of policy design in the post-conflict period. The paper reviews what this might mean in relation to policies towards group access to assets and incomes; to social services; and political participation. It argues that the types of policies aimed at correcting group inequalities, in fact are fairly common in ethnically divided societies, sometimes taking the form of corrections to unfair processes, and sometimes of quotas and targets. Moreover, in some cases (including Malaysia and N. Ireland) they seem to have been effective in sustaining or promoting peace. Yet, despite their importance in many post-conflict situations, they rarely form an explicit part of the post-conflict development agenda. This is illustrated in this paper by reviewing general statements about post-conflict policies, and through examining two case studies – Mozambique and Guatemala. In each of these cases, HIs were one of the sources of conflict. Yet in Mozambique these have been ignored in the post-war era, and in fact most policies have tended to accentuate them, while in Guatemala some of the peace protocols did contain provisions which would have helped correct the HIs but these mostly have not been put into effect. Political obstacles can prevent such policies being adopted, such as in Guatemala. Moreover, the policies need to be adopted with political sensitivity as they can become a source of conflict themselves, as arguably occurred in Sri Lanka.

Current thinking about development places individuals firmly at the centre of concern for analysis and policy. This paper explores why groups are important for individual welfare and social stability, and argues that horizontal inequalities (i.e. inequalities between culturally formed groups) is a very important but neglected dimension of development. Most attention is focussed on inequality between individuals. The paper recognises that groups are socially constructed and malleable, often with fluid membership. Nonetheless, group's relative performance in economic, social and political dimensions is an important source of individual welfare and can cause serious political instability. This is illustrated by nine case studies, in which horizontal inequalities have led to a range of political disturbances, in some cases modified by state action to correct the inequalities. The paper concludes by pointing to an array of actions that can be taken to correct horizontal inequalities, arguing that such policies should form an important part of development strategy, but currently do not in either economic or political conditionality.