The Companion To Development Studies

The Companion to Development Studies contains over a hundred chapters written by leading international experts within the field to provide a concise and authoritative overview of the key theoretical and practical issues dominating contemporary development studies. Covering a wide range of disciplines the book is divided into ten sections, each prefaced by a section introduction written by the editors. The sections cover: the nature of development, theories and strategies of development, globalization and development, rural development, urbanization and development, environment and development, gender, health and education, the political economy of violence and insecurity, and governance and development. This third edition has been extensively updated and contains 45 new contributions from leading authorities, dealing with pressing contemporary issues such as race and development, ethics and development, BRICs and development, global financial crisis, the knowledge based economy and digital divide, food security, GM crops, comparative urbanism, cities and crime, energy, water hydropolitics, climate change, disability, fragile states, global war on terror, ethnic conflict, legal rights to development, ecosystems services for development, just to name a few. Existing chapters have been thoroughly revised to include cutting-edge developments, and to present updated further reading and websites. The Companion to Development Studies presents concise overviews providing a gateway to further reading and a flexible resource for teaching and learning. It has established a role as essential reading for all students of development studies, as well as those in cognate areas of geography, international relations, politics, sociology, anthropology and economics.

The Companion to Development Studies is an essential one-stop reference for anyone with an interest in development studies. Over 100 international experts have been brought together to present a comprehensive overview of the key theoretical and practical issues dominating contemporary development studies. Building on the success of the first edition, the second edition of the Companion has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new chapters on a range of topics, including ageing, culture and development, corruption and development and global terrorism. Each chapter summarises current debates and provides guidance for further reading and research. The Companion to Development Studies is indispensable for students of development studies at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate and beyond, in departments of development studies, geography, politics, international relations, sociology, social anthropology and economics.

The Companion to Development Studies is an essential one-stop reference for anyone with an interest in development studies. Over 100 international experts have been brought together to present a comprehensive overview of the key theoretical and practical issues dominating contemporary development studies. Building on the success of the first edition, the second edition of the Companion has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new chapters on a range of topics, including ageing, culture and development, corruption and development and global terrorism. Each chapter summarises current debates and provides guidance for further reading and research. The Companion to Development Studies is indispensable for students of development studies at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate and beyond, in departments of development studies, geography, politics, international relations, sociology, social anthropology and economics.

'The Companion to Development Studies' is an essential one-stop reference for anyone with an interest in development studies. The editors of this new volume have brought together an impressive range of international experts in the field to present an interdisciplinary and comprehensive overview of contemporary development studies. With more than one hundred chapters dealing with both theory and practice, 'The Companion' is an accessible guide for students and a direct route into the key issues of development studies. Divided into ten sections covering all the important areas in the field, including gender, violence and insecurity, environment, and agents of development, this timely new text provides easy-to-use summaries of all the major issues encountered in this fast-changing area.

If handbooks can be inspiring, this is it! Like a true companion, it takes in its stride conversations both big and small. Its entries do not just present an international and multidisciplinary mix, but true to life they work on several different scales. And, importantly, the book makes its authority evident. For it is like an extended website, but with all the added advantages of an encyclopaedia that actually tells you about the authors and the sources on which they have drawn. The resulting compilation is highly intelligent, thoughtful and above all usable. Dame Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge, UK The Elgar Companion to Development Studies is a major production in the development studies field, authored by a star-studded cast of contributors. With 136 entries covering a vast range of topics, it should quickly establish itself as a leading work of reference. We should all feel indebted to David Clark, who has successfully brought this substantial publishing project to completion. John Toye, University of Oxford, UK This is a most comprehensive handbook on development studies. It brings together a wide, varied array of carefully crafted summaries of 136 key topics in development by an international cast of well-respected academics and other experts in respective areas of study. The handbook is heavily interdisciplinary, organically combining economic, political, historical, social, cultural, institutional, ethical, and human aspects of development. While the wide range of entries might appear as a simple glossary listing or an encyclopedic collection, each of the 136 entries offers more depth and discussion than the average handbook. . . . Viewed in this light, this companion is highly likely to become known as a leading reference work on the topic. Highly recommended. Ismael Hossein-Zadeh, Choice The Elgar Companion to Development Studies is an innovative and unique reference book that includes original contributions covering development economics as well as development studies broadly defined. This major new Companion brings together an international panel of experts from varying backgrounds who discuss theoretical, ethical and practical issues relating to economic, social, cultural, institutional, political and human aspects of development in poor countries. It also includes a selection of intellectual biographies of leading development thinkers. While the Companion is organised along the lines of an encyclopaedia, each of its 136 entries provide more depth and discussion than the average reference book. Its entries are also extremely diverse: they draw on different social science disciplines, incorporate various mixes of theoretical and applied work, embrace a variety of methodologies and represent different views of the world. The Elgar Companion to Development Studies will therefore appeal to students, scholars, researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the filed of development as well as the interested layman.

Doing Development Research is a comprehensive introduction to research in development studies, that provides thorough training for anyone carrying out research in developing countries. It brings together experts with extensive experience of overseas research, presenting an interdisciplinary guide to the core methodologies. Informed by years of research experience, Doing Development Research draws together many strands of action research and participatory methods, demonstrating their diverse applications and showing how they interrelate. The text provides: · an account of the theoretical approaches that underlie development work · an explanation of the practical issues involved in planning development research · a systematic overview of information and data collecting methods in three sub-sections: · methods of social research and associated forms of analysis · using existing knowledge and records · disseminating findings/research Using clear and uncomplicated language – illustrated with appropriate learning features throughout - the text guides the researcher through the choice of appropriate methods, the implementation of the research, and the communication of the findings to a range of audiences. This is the essential A-Z of development research.

Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.

While the possibility of producing a de-colonized, postcolonial knowledge in development studies became a subject of considerable debate in the 1990s, there has been little dialogue between postcolonialism and development. However, the need for development studies that is postcolonial in theory and practice is now increasingly acknowledged. This means recognizing the significance of language and representation, the power of development discourse and its material effects on the lives of people subject to development policies. It also means acknowledging the already postcolonial world of development in which contemporary reworkings of theory and practice, such as grassroots and participatory development, indigenous knowledge and global resistance movements, inform postcolonial theory. Postcolonialism and Development explains, reviews and critically evaluates recent debates about postcolonial approaches and their implications for development studies. By outlining contemporary theoretical debates and examining their implications for how the developing world is thought about, written about and engaged with in policy terms, this book unpacks the difficult, complex and important aspects of the relationship between postcolonial approaches and development studies, making them accessible, interesting and relevant to both students and researchers. Each chapter builds an understanding of postcolonial approaches, their historical divergences from development studies and more recent convergences around issues such as discourses of development, knowledge, and power and agency within development. Up-to-date illustrations and examples from across the regions of the world bring to life important theoretical and conceptual issues. This topical book outlines an agenda for theory and practice within postcolonial development studies and illustrates how, while postcolonialism and development pose significant mutual challenges, both are potentially enriched by each others insights and approaches.