Egalitarian Development Research Articles

Trends in out-of-pocket health expenditure inequality in Turkey under comprehensive health reforms

The success of Turkey's inclusive health policies has served as a strategic tool for building progressivity and improving social welfare. The objective of this study is to examine the inequality trend in out of pocket (OOP) health expenditures in Turkey. Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute's Household Budget Survey conducted in 2015 and 2019 were used to measure inequalities in OOP total health, pharmaceutical and hospital expenditure variables across socioeconomic status. Decomposition analysis was conducted to identify the factors contributing to inequalities. The study findings demonstrate that OOP health expenditure is higher among the poor in Turkey. Evidence suggests that in Turkey inequalities in OOP health expenditures continue to persist. The results show that OOP health, pharmaceutical, and hospital expenditures increased from 2015 to 2019. The inequality index and curve approaches reveal that the pro-rich distribution of OOP health expenditures is remarkable from 2015 to 2019. The burden of OOP pharmaceutical and hospital services expenditures stands on the shoulders of poor households. Progressive universalism is essential to achieve poverty alleviation strategies and reduce inequality for egalitarian development.

Performing a global learning crisis: citizen-led assessments, social accountability, and directing democracy

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes how the citizen-led assessment (CLA), which measures and publicises learning levels in education, triggers bottom-up reform. Drawing on science studies and political theory, the paper examines the performative effects of the CLA in Kenya, showing how it (1) produces a crisis by projecting poor learning outcomes, (2) mobilises feelings to spur action, and (3) enacts a global education reform strategy. The paper discusses how the performance of the CLA’s egalitarian politics foregrounds human actors while backgrounding the work of the sociotechnical practices that script their actions. Moreover, the analysis reveals a paradox, highlighting how the CLA projects educational inequality as the pre-political backdrop for egalitarian development, locating efforts to empower citizens within a knowledge-power nexus of global educational governance. The paper calls for closer scrutiny of how social accountability tools choreograph education reforms by protecting the sociotechnical mechanisms that project inequalities, and the manner these practices direct democracy.

Red Capitalism and Neoliberal Authoritarianism

Abstract The rise of the brics block has contributed to the emergence of a “multiplex world”. This shift in power dynamics has revealed the crisis of the existing liberal international order, a relative decline in the U.S. power, and a gradual transition towards a post-American order. This article examines the dynamics of Sino-mena relations in a “multiplex world” where both the U.S. and the mena states have chosen “The Look East” policy. The U.S.-China geopolitical rivalry explains a shift in the U.S. foreign policy from the Middle East toward the Far East. The Middle East’s “Look East Policy”, however, is largely due to the needs for an alternative global partner. This article examines three pillars of the Sino-mena relations: the first pillar pertains to a broad category of energy, trade, investment, arms deal, security and geostrategic significance. The second pillar is centred around the Chinese policy of no military intervention and respecting the state sovereignty. The third pillar is pertinent to the “Chinese Model of Development” and what it means for the mena. It examines whether such relations might consolidate autocratic capitalism and neoliberalism without democracy and, or benefit mena civil societies’ quest for a grassroots and egalitarian development and democracy.

„Gut Weekend. Das Wochenende ohne Männer“? Zur Inszenierung von Geschlechterrollen im Magazin „Die Bühne“

In the 1920s, the weekend became a central part of the growing consumer and leisure culture. The media, especially films and magazines such as “Die Bühne” were important mediators of the emerging weekend culture. “Die Bühne” popularised the weekend as a time of possible experimentation with new social roles. This contribution focuses on how gender relations were negotiated in articles about the weekend in the 1920s and 1930s and what forms of sexuality and relationship were presented here: Were these understood as temporary, corresponding to the ideal of a fast-paced existence in the modern metropolis? Did they represent alternative concepts of apossible egalitarian development or was it about the establishment of the heteronormative nuclear family? Particular attention will be paid to the analysis of the visual elements, as they seem to challenge the more traditional ideas often conveyed in the texts and provide more diverse offers of identification.

THEORETICAL BASIS OF LONG-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH

The study summarized the theoretical and methodological foundations of long-term economic growth. Five main approaches to the analysis and interpretation of the problems of long-term economic growth and qualitative systemic changes are considered, namely, the neoclassical theory of growth, the new theory of growth, the theory of the real business cycle, the new institutional economics, and the theory of sustainable development. Based on the results of the analysis, the content of the theories is disclosed, and signs and main factors of growth are identified. Further scientific research made it possible to form a list of methods for interpreting long-term growth, which included the concepts of egalitarian development, democratic development, innovative development, digital transformations, green economy, circular economy, and inclusive development. Based on the results of the essential analysis of theories and methods, the logics of the development of the theoretical basis was rebuilt and the basic concepts were systematized. It was found that in accordance with modern approaches, the active role of the state and the need to strengthen the institutional foundations of economic activity as the basis for ensuring the efficiency of the financial system and free competition and the creation of autonomous incentive mechanisms for strict observance of the institutional order by all subjects of economic relations are actualized. It is on such foundations that the concepts of sustainability develop, the methodological basis of which is differentiated depending on the focus. The content of the main theoretical and methodological concepts (approaches) of long-term economic growth and systemic transformations is of perspective importance, and due to a vision designed for the future, it becomes possible to understand much better the potential opportunities and possible threats to economic development at the macro-, meso- and microlevels. Keywords: economic growth, theories, concepts, sustainable development, green economy, inclusive development

Nutritional status of socioeconomically disadvantaged children below 5 years: A cross‐sectional study from Kerala, India

AbstractUndernutrition among children under the age of five remains untracked in India. One in five children are undernourished even in Kerala, a developed south Indian state well known for its egalitarian development. The aim of this paper is to understand the social, economic, and political dimensions of undernutrition among children of age 6–60 months belonging to low socioeconomic households in Kerala. 468 children (50% girls) were surveyed. The prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting among the study children were 25.6%, 24.4%, and 14.4%, respectively. Acute illnesses, underweight of mothers, low standard of living, and not utilizing Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Public Distribution System (PDS) increased the risk of children being undernourished. The study found that children below 5 years from low socioeconomic strata had a higher risk of being undernourished, proving the vicious cycle of poverty and undernutrition. The association between the nutritional statuses of mothers and children indicates the vulnerability of multiple members from poor households to be malnourished. The utilization of ICDS and PDS was found to improve nutritional status and hence, the state has to ensure that the benefits of these initiatives are reaching the neediest in adequate quantity and quality.

Evolution of irreversible somatic differentiation.

A key innovation emerging in complex animals is irreversible somatic differentiation: daughters of a vegetative cell perform a vegetative function as well, thus, forming a somatic lineage that can no longer be directly involved in reproduction. Primitive species use a different strategy: vegetative and reproductive tasks are separated in time rather than in space. Starting from such a strategy, how is it possible to evolve life forms which use some of their cells exclusively for vegetative functions? Here, we develop an evolutionary model of development of a simple multicellular organism and find that three components are necessary for the evolution of irreversible somatic differentiation: (i) costly cell differentiation, (ii) vegetative cells that significantly improve the organism's performance even if present in small numbers, and (iii) large enough organism size. Our findings demonstrate how an egalitarian development typical for loose cell colonies can evolve into germ-soma differentiation dominating metazoans.

The Rhetoric of Foreign Aid and the Need for International Trade: Challenges and Possibilities for Developing Nations. A Critical Perspective

This paper attempts to critically examine foreign aids by donor nations and agencies to the developing nations, and at the same time, examine international trade to show that the latter is better off. The study utilized dependency theory of underdevelopment to analyze why foreign aids have not being a spring board for development in developing nations. The paper found out that foreign aids over the years have not engendered development because of the conditionalities attached to such aids which come in the form of grants, loans, assistance etc. These further keep developing nations down as it is difficult to find examples of unequivocal success from receipt of official foreign aids. The reasons are not far-fetched. Since the 1940’s when official foreign aids started flowing, the motive seems to satisfy the donor interests and has little or nothing to do with egalitarian development and poverty reduction in developing nations. In view of this, international trade is far better to the developing nations, and same should be encouraged despite their disadvantaged position in global capitalist equation. The paper concluded that despite the fact that globalization and neo-liberalism favour the owners of big Corporations, mostly in advanced countries of the world, developing countries can still make some gains from international trade by looking inwards, rather than relying on foreign aids which have not been contributing in alleviating poverty and inequalities, but used to reward military and political allies and to promote private enterprise and unequal free trade.

Psychological inertia in adolescence: Sexist attitudes and cognitive and social strategies that hinder gender equality

This work analyses sexist attitudes, cognitive strategies and social attitudes in young people between 12 and 16 years of age, attending secondary education. The objective is to identify the psychological inertia that hinders a change in the behaviour patterns of young people who discriminate against women. We explore the presence of significant differences in the variables under study according to gender; we analyze the relationship between sexist attitudes and cognitive and social strategies; and we explore whether the variable, “gender”, can predict cognitive and social strategies and attitudes that impede the shift towards a more egalitarian treatment of women. We analyze sexist attitudes and cognitive and social strategies that encourage the inertia of psychological inaction in 1034 high school students. Two instruments were used to evaluate the variables under study: 1. ISA-Adolescents. Inventory of Ambivalent Sexism for Adolescents; 2. AECS. Questionnaire on Social Cognitive Strategies and Attitudes. The results show that these young people do not present cognitive and social strategies that make such change difficult. We verify that men do have sexist attitudes to a greater extent than women, and we show that gender can predict the psychological inertia that makes the change in sexist behaviour patterns more difficult. In the same way, we have observed significant correlations between the variables under study. This work stresses the need to incorporate educational measures that favour an egalitarian, cognitive and socio-emotional development in both regulated education and alternative educational programmes.

WORLD RELIGIONS AND THE NEW AFRICAN UNION - A CRITICAL INTERROGATION...OR: A PROLEGOMENON TO AN ECONOMICS OF RELIGION

In this essay I attempt to examine the place of the world religions (that is religion qua religion) in the context of the ongoing effort toward African Renaissance and Development. This kind of analysis becomes imperative in the light of the efforts of African Religions Leaders to be relevant to contemporary African visions for development, revival and survival in the global environment, as is witnessed in the recent visit of these leaders to the President of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, who is also the current Chairman of the new African Union (the proposed replacement for the Organization of Africa Unity) in October, 2002, asking to be consulted on matters of concern to Africa and to be involved in the development process. In the light of the above, numerous questions come to mind: (a) Given the history of the world religions (especially Christianity and Islam) in Africa and the world, can religion now be a partner for progress, development, unity and peace? (b) To what extent has the posturing of unity among diverse religions and their leadership been reflected in the declamations of the leaders in their different domains, especially in their canvassing for followership and supremacy in socio-political and economic domains for adherence and supremacy over the minds and pockets of their followers? Put differently, do these leaders now teach the sanctity of all religions and equality of all the paths to the Supreme Being? (c) Whose interest are the leaders canvassing on the international African forum? And, (d) In the face of secularism and democratic waves sweeping the world, can undemocratic institutions be instruments for democratic and egalitarian development?

Caring and curing by leadership design

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings In a qualitative descriptive case study of the Mayo Clinic leadership, the authors identified four intentional characteristics of the multi-specialty group practice structure and culture that organically facilitate the development of leaders with the qualities required for the mission. The four characteristics are patient-centered organizational design, collaborative leadership structure, egalitarian leader selection process and team-based development system. The authors conclude that organization culture and design are important foundations of leadership development. Leadership development cannot be separated from the context and culture of organizational design. Mayo Clinic’s organizational and governance systems are designed to develop culturally aligned leaders, build social capital, grow employee engagement, foster collaboration, nurture collegiality and engender trust. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

From Disposable to Empowered: Rearticulating Labor in Sri Lankan Apparel Factories

This paper engages the dis/articulations perspective to analyze everyday processes of upgrading in the Sri Lankan apparel industry Using feminist ethnographic methods that see management discourses as tools of interpellation that partially configure systems of power, I examine how managers are rearticulating worker subjectivities, restructuring the labor process to organize consent, and selectively mobilizing ‘Sri Lankan’ culture to legitimate a shift to flexible production. I argue that value is not only produced through interfirm or firm–state relations, but is also determined by the labor process as it is shaped by legacies of colonialism, persisting hierarchies, and the everyday reproduction of social difference. This research suggests that upgrading cannot be reduced to an economic logic and that it does not guarantee sustained global competitiveness or more egalitarian development. These findings call for more attention to be paid to the ways in which upgrading is a complex process of disarticulation and rearticulation that is occurring through an embodied, global labor-management process.

Innovation system for sustainability in developing countries: the renewable energy sector in Bolivia

The paper describes the main ideas surrounding the topic of innovation for sustainability in developing countries. Innovation is a crucial element to foster sustainability as well as an egalitarian development. The work illustrates that sustainable development is possible by exploiting local potential and traditional knowledge in order to achieve at the same time economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability. In order to prove such an assumption a specific case study is described: The renewable energy sector in Bolivia. The case study analyses several dimensions of the innovation process in developing countries such as technological transfer, diffusion and adaptation, social dimension and development issues. The Bolivian case showed that it is possible to foster sustainability and local entrepreneurship by triggering the endogenous energies embedded in territories and traditional knowledge.

Twilight of ‘state capitalism’ in formerly ‘socialist’ Arab states

During the 1950s and 1960s, Egypt and Syria were characterised as ‘state capitalist’. The main pillars of these socioeconomic structures were radical land reform, far-reaching nationalisation, and heavy-handed state intervention. During the ‘state capitalist’ period, the Egyptian and Syrian states took upon themselves the challenge of initiating an internally induced and independent path to economic development, mitigating foreign dominance, and alleviating the economic impediments that existed during the post-colonial period. By controlling the means of production through its tight control of the state apparatus, the state capitalist class in either country assumed the role of the agent of investment. It also promoted state-led and import-substituting investment that, on the one hand, built the economy's productive capacity and, on the other hand, promoted developmental and socially responsible outcomes. Nevertheless, since the working class did not assume political representation and participation in the new state apparatus, the whole process of egalitarian development was gradually reversed in the subsequent period. As of the early 1970s, the state capitalist class in both Egypt and Syria introduced market-friendly economic reforms that paved the way for the socioeconomic structure to transform from ‘state capitalism’ to private capitalism. This article seeks to explore the twilight of ‘state capitalism’ in the subsequent period of economic liberalisation and the accompanying reversal of socially responsible economic policies. By adopting a political economy approach, it considers economic, social, and political factors that explain the reasons behind this transformation, in general, and the change in the social alliance of the state capitalist class that shaped a new agent of investment, in particular. With the certitude of hindsight, this article argues that the market-friendly economic reforms generated anti-developmental outcomes that aggravated social hardships and inevitably ignited the political uprisings in 2011. This article concludes that there is much to gain, in both economic and social terms, from reverting to the previous macroeconomic strategies enacted during the ‘state capitalist’ period.

Revisiting the Politics of Class in Urban Development: Evidence from the Study of the Social Dynamics of Economic Performance

We contribute to a revised politics of class in urban development by drawing on recent theoretical work on class tensions and inequalities as a barrier to more egalitarian and sustainable economic development. We provide evidence from an empirical study of the social dynamics of economic performance in the city of Kingston, Ontario, to argue that class politics is a key dimension of social dynamics in this unusually segmented and spatially segregated Canadian city. Our findings suggest that poor economic performance can be understood through a class lens in two ways. First, “creative class” economic development strategies and growth machine politics perpetuate economic stagnancy because they fail to confront underlying class inequalities. Second, the absence of collaborative and socially inclusive leadership—a contributor to poor economic performance—emerges when local institutional leaders fail to find common ground over social problems. We conclude with questions about how policymakers can alleviate class divides for better economic performance as well as contribute to the new debates in the literature on class and urban development.

Are Full Employment and Social Cohesion Possible Under Financialization?

Unemployment and unequal income distribution were singled out by J.M. Keynes, in the General Theory, as major faults of capitalist economies. This paper argues that there is a negative relationship between financialization and unemployment. In particular, we develop a simple Post Keyneian/Kaleckian model and explore distribution as well as institutional channels through which financialization might have negatively affected the employment performance of capitalist economies, undermining the social cohesion and egalitarian development. Furthermore, we argue that in the face of financialization full employment is likely to be attainable under the institutionalization of an Employer of Last Resort (hereafter ELR) policy strategy.

Tenencia segura, servicios y hábitat. Experiencias asiáticas

Este artículo hace una breve presentación de tres proyectos en Asia, que se constituyen como alternativas capaces de suministrar un desarrollo equitativo para gente que habitaba en asentamientos precarios; representan innovaciones sociales, institucionales y urbanísticas. El valor de las propuestas radica en su modestia, pues tratan de responder a situaciones difíciles con realismo. Se identificaron algunos denominadores comunes para que estos proyectos resultaran exitosos: la tenencia y seguridad de la tierra, los esfuerzos que se han hecho para incorporar a los inquilinos informales en las redes de la infraestructura urbana y la vivienda que en muchas soluciones se presta para un mejoramiento continuo e incremental. Los ejemplos aportan lecciones que pueden contribuir a solucionar problemas de escasez, calidad de vivienda y hábitat para familias de estratos bajos y marginados. Pueden servir como referencia y modelo para los gobiernos, el sector privado y la sociedad civil interesada en la construcción de una ciudad sostenible. Soluciones y conceptos aplicados en otras partes del mundo pueden llegar a ser relevantes para América Latina y Colombia.

Globalization and the Transition to Egalitarian Development

The single most important fact about the contemporary pattern of global economic integration is that it is being guided by a predominant commitment to neoliberal economic policies. Considering both the global North and South, this paper examines three basic problems resulting from neoliberal globalization: the expansion of the reserve army of labor (the Marx problem); increased financial instability and corresponding fluctuations in aggregate demand (the Keynes problem); and a diminishing capacity for governments to promote stability and norms of social solidarity (the Polanyi problem). The paper advances an alternative egalitarian policy approach for the contemporary era, guided by the writings of Keith Griffin.

Nordic Modernity: Origins, Trajectories and Prospects

Nordic modernity is often understood in terms of enlightened and progressive welfare politics and social equality. There is a more or less implicit connotation to images of a social democratic model. The aim of this article is twofold: to discuss the historical preconditions and construction of that model of progressive politics, and to discuss its relevance today and its future prospects. Concerning the first aim, the argument is that there is nothing historically predetermined of a progressive development path. Nordic modernity should not be understood as teleology or as given by a natural state of egalitarian peasant communities. Historically, all the Nordic societies except Iceland were under authoritarian or absolute rule. However, there were factors underpinning a more progressive and egalitarian development in the North, in particular the strength of the peasant freeholders and of the urban middle classes. The argument in this article is that these forces finally broke through in the 1930s as a response to the Great Depression. Everywhere in Norden redgreen Social Democratic-Farmers’ Party reform coalitions emerged in attempts to cope with the economic crisis, and extreme political alternatives were marginalized. The Social Democrats were, with the exception of Iceland, the larger party in the coalitions. In that sense there is a Scandinavian Sonderweg .

Towards a solution to violence in Burundi: a case for political and economic liberalisation

The causes of violence in Burundi are complex and go beyond the alleged ‘age-old’ animosities between the Hutu and the Tutsi. In the short run, it may be impossible to eradicate conflicts; but it is imperative to transform conflicts into non-violent ‘shocks of ideas’ between rival parties, which must refocus their energy at finding a negotiated settlement. This article posits that the solution to violence must revolve around political and economic liberalisation aimed at (1) eradicating the tradition of using the state for oppression and accumulation; (2) achieving egalitarian development; and (3) protecting the rights of all citizens.