Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development. By Ian Scoones. Agrarian Change and Peasant Studies Series, 2015. 168 pp. Warwickshire: Practical Action Publishing. Price: $76.42 (Hardcover) and $9.99 (kindle)

Abstract

A well-known saying by Jeff Corwin, ‘The natural resources we’ve depended on, if the places where they exist are not stable, our livelihood and our health are put at risk’ is inspired for writing this book review. A book on Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development is a long-term work of Ian Scoones, co-director of the ESRC STEPS Centre at Sussex. In this book, key concepts are the extended livelihoods approach advocated, which argues for close attention to the local and the particular, appreciating the complexity of people in places. Based on critical agrarian studies, the book presents new questions and four dimensions of a new politics of livelihoods, such as interests, individuals, knowledge, and ecology. In 1990, Ian Scoones aimed to bring this argument about the importance of livelihood approaches in development to a wider audience and encourage debate and discussion.