Institute of Development Studies

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1998: Volume 29

The Bank, The State and Development

Volume 29 Number 2 May 1998 Edited by: Alison Evans and Mick Moore

When the 1997 World Development Report was released it was widely perceived that there had been a substantial shift in the public position of the World Bank in relation to the role of government in development. Generally this has been seen as a change from a state-sceptical to a state-friendly stance. In this Bulletin, European aid and development professionals critically examine the significant contribution that the WDR97 makes to the debate about the role of government in development. They explore the 'strategy' advocated by the Report's authors of 'matching role to capability'; adapting what governments do, and how they do it, to their capability. In doing so they address two main sets of issues: the validity of the views of the role of the state in development contained in WDR97, and the process by which the WDR97 was produced, involving questions about the role f the World Bank itself.

Poverty and Social Exclusion in North and South

Volume 29 Number 1 January 1998 Edited by: Arjan de Haan and Simon Maxwell

This issue of the Bulletin forms one of the first attempts to ask how relevant is the new writing on social exclusion that has been largely in and about the North, to the large body of work on poverty and poverty reduction in the South. The contributors explore the usefulness of this concept that explains in particular the institutional processes by which the poor are excluded from participating in society. They argue that the new thinking on social exclusion promises the beginning of a fertile dialogue between North and South:; that the debate in the North does offer new lessons for the South, and, conversely, that there are insights from the South that will enrich debate in the North.

1997: Volume 28

Community Based Sustainable Development: Consensus or Conflict?

Volume 28 Number 4 October 1997 Edited by: Melissa Leach, Robin Mearns and Ian Scoones

'Community-based sustainable development' has become a central approach to rural development and natural resource management. But this emerging consensus tends to overlook both ecological variability, and the potential for conflict within local communities. These factors point to the importance of local institutions in managing environmental conditions and risk, influencing who has access to and control over resources, and arbitrating contested resource claims. With contributions based on new research in India, Ghana and South Africa, this Bulletin shows how an approach based on the notion of 'environmental entitlements' can assist in practical efforts to achieve community-based sustainable development.

Tactics and Trade-offs: Revisiting the Links Between Gender and Poverty

Volume 28 Number 3 July 1997 Edited by: Naila Kabeer

This Bulletin brings together a range of contributions analysing the interaction between gender and poverty from different disciplinary perspectives. Given the relevance of cultural context in defining the meaning of both gender and poverty, empirical case studies from different parts of the world are used to explore local constructions of the inter-relationship in order to move beyond the global generalisations which continue to dominate policy discussions. Contributions also reflect on the 'gender sub-texts' of the various official and grassroots discourses on poverty and on the political sub-texts of their discourses on gender and poverty. Who is defining these different agendas and whose reality really does count?

Urban Poverty: A New Research Agenda

Volume 28 Number 2 May 1997 Edited by: Arjan de Haan

The developing world is urbanising fast, and urban poverty is on the increase. By 2025, it is estimated that 57% of the population in less developed countries will be living in urban areas. This Bulletin focuses on trends in urban poverty, and the challenges these present. It discusses concepts, the scale, and nature of urban poverty. It looks at the role of migration: do the migrants increase or decrease poverty in urban areas? Finally, it analyses the experience of poverty alleviation programmes in the fields of urban social development, infrastructure and employment creation. The focus is not just on developing countries. Poverty exists in Europe, too, and some of the articles draw attention to the problems nearer to home, comparing lessons on how to alleviate poverty.