Human Development Approach Research Articles

Violence as a Dimension of Poverty

Latin America continues to face a number of socio-economic challenges, despite being a middle-income region and the fact that it experienced alternative forms of development during the pink-tide era. The current increasing levels of poverty, inequality, violence and the harmful effects of extractive production on the environment and traditional rural communities represent a new situation at both regional and national levels. The concept of multidimensional poverty is an increasingly accepted approach to a better understanding of the characteristics and living conditions of vulnerable social groups: In these groups, violence is one of the dimensions that has received little attention so far. The paper focuses on the following questions: What is the relation between human security and human development concepts? How are violence and multidimensional poverty interconnected? What kinds of institutional and economic mechanisms sustain their complex relation? The article explores the origins of the human security and human development approaches and their relation to multidimensional poverty. The study relies on analysing academic and official government documents and papers by international organisations synthesising the evolution of the two branches. The case study of Colombia based on statistical data offers evidence about the complexity of the interconnectedness of security, human rights and development processes in different territorial, ethnic and social contexts. The analysis also reveals links between shortcomings in the institutional system and deficiencies in measuring poverty in persistent deprivation of marginalised social groups.

A Framework for a Capabilities-Based Approach to Copyright

Abstract This article highlights the importance of an analysis of copyright law from a human development perspective. Drawing on Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach, it outlines why copyright scholarship and policymaking should address human capabilities. It also explores several vital questions that a human development approach to copyright raises, including questions about the distributional effects of copyright law. It examines Mary Sue fan fiction through the lens of the Capabilities Approach to illustrate how the approach differs from the standard utilitarian approach to copyright. Furthermore, it argues that several factors associated with a country’s level of development, particularly its social, economic, and institutional contexts, affect the relationship between copyright and human capabilities. Therefore, rather than making broad generalizations about whether or not copyright law is good or bad for human development, it concludes that aspects of copyright law can enhance human development in the presence of certain other factors (such as strong indigenous industries and institutions). Conversely, aspects of copyright law can have a significant negative impact on human capabilities in certain environments, such as a weak institutional environment, or a socio-economic environment that is fraught with inequality. To illustrate this point, the article examines the issue of piracy through the lens of the Capabilities Approach.

Multidimensional measurement of poverty and its spatio-temporal dynamics in China from the perspective of development geography

Exploring the spatio-temporal dynamics of poverty is important for research on sustainable poverty reduction in China. Based on the perspective of development geography, this paper proposes a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model that combines the human development approach with the global indicator framework for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to identify the poverty-causing and the poverty-reducing factors in China. The aim is to measure the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) of China’s provinces from 2007 to 2017, and use the exploratory spatio-temporal data analysis (ESTDA) method to reveal the characteristics of the spatio-temporal dynamics of multidimensional poverty. The results show the following: (1) The poverty-causing factors in China include the high social gross dependency ratio and crop-to-disaster ratio, and the poverty-reducing factors include the high per capita GDP, per capita social security expenditure, per capita public health expenditure, number of hospitals per 10,000 people, rate of participation in the new rural cooperative medical scheme, vegetation coverage, per capita education expenditure, number of universities, per capita research and development (R&D) expenditure, and funding per capita for cultural undertakings. (2) From 2007 to 2017, provincial income poverty (IP), health poverty (HP), cultural poverty (CP), and multidimensional poverty have been significantly reduced in China, and the overall national poverty has dropped by 5.67% annually. there is a differentiation in poverty along different dimensions in certain provinces. (3) During the study period, the local spatial pattern of multidimensional poverty between provinces showed strong spatial dynamics, and a trend of increase from the eastern to the central and western regions was noted. The MPI among provinces exhibited a strong spatial dependence over time to form a pattern of decrease from northwestern and northeastern China to the surrounding areas. (4) The spatio-temporal networks of multidimensional poverty in adjacent provinces were mainly negatively correlated, with only Shaanxi and Henan, Shaanxi and Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu, Hubei and Anhui, Sichuan and Guizhou, and Hainan and Guangdong forming spatially strong cooperative poverty reduction relationships. These results have important reference value for the implementation of China’s poverty alleviation strategy.

Enhancing the capabilities of forcibly displaced people: a human development approach to conflict- and displacement-related stressors.

The mental health of individuals who have been forcibly displaced can be impacted both by war-related traumatic events and displacement-related stressors, which arise as a consequence of their migratory journey and subsequent experiences. In addition to focusing on mental disorders, there is a need to explore broader psychosocial outcomes that are important for forcibly displaced people. Our aim is to present a coherent explanatory framework to understand how both past traumatic events and ongoing stressors operating throughout forcibly displaced people's social environment can impact mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. We describe the capability approach (CA), a human development framework that foregrounds individuals' freedom to engage in forms of being and doing that are valuable to them. We consider the opportunities that the CA provides for understanding how a myriad of factors can impact forcibly displaced people, and how different forms of support can be configured to meet the needs of particular people and communities. The CA recognises that various factors can share a common putative causal mechanism in their impact on forcibly displaced people, i.e. these factors limit a person's ability to develop capabilities and their freedom to engage in valued forms of being and doing. The rights based ethos of the CA enables multisectoral and coordinated activity, which can be directed towards addressing factors across the social environment. Importantly, the CA helps to explain why particular forms of support may be more beneficial for individuals or communities at certain times compared to others. The application of the CA can help to guard against the risk that the aspirations of assessment instruments and interventions aimed at supporting forcibly displaced people are narrowly focused on addressing distress and disorders, to instead adopt a more expansive focus on forcibly displaced people's potential and the possibilities that they wish to realise.

Experiencing service learning partnership: A human development perspective of community members

Service–learning has, arguably, gained significant currency as a pedagogical and engagement mechanism within the broader discourse of universities and their role in community development. However, less emphasis has been placed on the human development dimensions of service–learning for community members, with the focus largely being on students’ experiential learning and other academic outcomes for the university. Though usually conceived as an integral part in university–community partnerships, community members’ role in the conception and implementation of service–learning initiatives is from a peripheral position. In this paper, we interrogate this lacuna by applying core tenets of the human development approach to document the experiences and perceptions of community members within a university–community service learning partnerships. From the analysis of qualitative data n = 22, we demonstrate that while service–learning enhances agency, it continues to operate within a historical context and contemporary political economy of South Africa, which obscure community members’ active participation and empowerment towards inclusive and sustainable valued outcomes.

Interferences generated on the well-being of local communities by the activity of online platforms for tourist accommodation

The tourism sector can boost the economic and social development of entire cities while simultaneously triggering critical challenges to its own sustainability. Specifically, the additional stress imposed on residential neighborhoods due to the increasing number of tourist accommodations mediated online can compromise the social sustainability of tourism. This study focuses on the city of Barcelona (Spain) to shed light on crucial aspects of the impact of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms upon the well-being of its residents. A key contribution is that this work uses for the first time in tourism the Human Scale Development approach. Among the many consequential findings, of particular interest to economists and policy-makers are the fact that there is no economic sustainability without social sustainability, and that guaranteeing social cohesion and the permanence of a fixed resident population in tourist neighborhoods is essential. One additional breakthrough is the participants’ strong viewpoint that a major roadblock to any progress is the lack of adequate regulation. In their opinion, any satisfactory legal framework should use participatory mechanisms to incorporate the neighbors’ feedback over issues that affect their lifestyle. Last, the importance of establishing cooperation mechanisms between institutions, tourists, neighbors and businesses was also forcefully emphasized.

The human development and capabilities approach as a twenty-first century ideology of globalization

ABSTRACT While many scholars have analysed neo-liberalism (i.e. market globalism) as an ideology of globalization, much less is known about alternative and emerging ideologies that challenge neoliberalism on a global scale. Addressing this gap, I critically examine the ‘human development and capabilities approach’ (HDCA) as a counter-ideology to neoliberalism promoted by the United Nations. Applying morphological discourse analysis and incorporating critical insights from recent work by Manfred Steger and Paul James, this study demonstrates how the HDCA (i.e. capabilities globalism) functions as a well-developed ideology steeped in a global imaginary. Yet, despite having multiple strengths, HDCA morphology and deployment have limited its potential global resonance. In response, I propose that an ideology committed to global human development should take more seriously four pivotal factors: state capacity, solidarity, spirituality, and the role of intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations.

A Multi-Dimensional Measure of Well-being among Youth: The Case of Palestinian Refugee Youth in Lebanon

This paper aims to develop a youth well-being index that builds on the Human Development Index and the human development approach of Amartya Sen and focuses on the well-being of young Palestinian refugees from Lebanon (PRL) and Palestinian refugees from Syria living in Lebanon (PRS). The Youth Well-being Index (YWBI) expands existing well-being measurements to cover non-nationals for the first time with a focus on young people in an attempt to develop more inclusive national and international strategies and policies. The YWBI was developed to address the specificities of refugee youth to allow international humanitarian and development agencies to compare aspects of refugee well-being across different fields and comparable countries. Using micro data from the 2015 socio-economic survey of Palestinian refugees conducted in Lebanon, the newly devised index measures well-being along various dimensions including education, health, housing, employment and access to information. The index results across sub-regions and refugee groups suggest that a richer and more holistic measure of the human development of refugee youth could be used for a more efficient and equitable targeting of scarce assistance funds.

The mechanism for ensuring the system of balanced consumption and production

The article reflects the results of integrated study about providing balanced consumption and production. It is established that to achieve sustainable economic development one of the most promising areas is to develop a mechanism for balanced consumption and production, which is based on the resource approach and the model of intersectoral balance and is an extremely complex task that requires a systematic approach and generalization of economic, social, human and environmental development in the long run, has general scientific and methodological significance and requires further research. The paper reflects the structural and logical scheme of the studying process the terminology of the balanced consumption and production in Ukraine, which takes into account globalization, information and digital transformations. The article analyzes endowment of the natural resources in the world and proves the expediency of developing a mechanism for ensuring balanced consumption and production in Ukraine. The main goals and objectives for ensuring the transition to models of balanced consumption and production in accordance with the regulatory and legal support of Ukraine. A comparative analysis of balanced consumption and production models was carried out, grouping the said models according to main characteristics. A mechanism has been developed to ensure a system of balanced consumption and production, the main principle of which is the integration of environmental, economic and social aspects of the use of natural resources, which is one of the provisions of the basic organisation of "green economy". It is substantiated that the main purpose of the mechanism developed in this study is to improve the system of natural resources management in the national economy by determining the level of balance between consumption and production by assessing economic, environmental and social indicators followed by the development of supportive or transformational policies.

A Human Development Approach to Sustainable Financial Inclusion: The Case of Microfinance in Rural Bangladesh

Human development typically refers to the set of opportunities that allow individuals to flourish in their lives. This study explores whether the provision of human development opportunities such as education and primary healthcare contributes to economic well-being among poor households who obtain microfinance loans. Using panel data from over 1,700 households in rural Bangladesh, this study analyzes the interaction effect between credit and human development opportunities. The findings suggest that when access to credit is coupled with conditions for human flourishing, household earnings are further enhanced.

Human Development, Gender and Capability Approach

This article critically reviews Human Development Report (HDR) 2019 that calls for addressing inequalities that are beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today. Inequalities result from differential exposure to opportunities and constraints during a life cycle. One way in which power relations are exhibited is through gender norms. The article discusses the advancements made in the capability approach using the gender lens and the policy framework intended to address gender inequality. It stresses the need to acknowledge and understand varied forms of data collection that enhance our understanding of underlying social processes. Finally, it discusses the case of Kerala state to understand the complex nature of human development. The state made strides in education and health, but rising inequalities, gender violence and ecological changes remain major concerns.

The Role of Creative Industries in Economic Development: The Human Factor Development Approach

In most cases economic development is measured using monetary value, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDPs), Gross National Product (GNPs), and per capita income. Economic development cannot only be associated with monetary figures. Against this aspect, creative industries are also a driving force in economic development. This paper demystifies the notion that economic development is hardly measured through art. Using the human factor development approach, this article debates the role of creative industries in economic development. This model assumes that human beings are an important component in enhancing economic development through the creative industry as it is a more sustainable approach. Sustainability is enhanced by incorporating personal and human efforts to define standards in terms of creativity, hence, contributing to sustainable economic development. Further, the article argues that the employment of human factor development to enhance economic development through creative industries is of paramount importance as it allows indigenous people to take part in the developmental process of their economies. Data were collected using a qualitative research methodology and a purposive sampling of selected art industries to establish the contribution of the creative industry to economic development.

Diversas causas, similares resultados: reevaluando los medios y fines de la política de desarrollo empleando causalidad múltiple y capacidades

La política de desarrollo, como toda política pública, está basada en una fuerte noción de causalidad. Las intervenciones son implementadas con la expectativa de que producirán ‘desarrollo’. Dos elementos resultan relevantes. En primer lugar, dada la variedad de contextos y personas involucrados en estas intervenciones, es importante estudiar los supuestos asociados a los mecanismos causales que llevan a ciertos resultados, ya que, precisamente estos resultados dependen de los supuestos. En segundo lugar, el concepto de desarrollo que influye en la política pública debe ser discutido, pues no es solo una noción descriptiva sino también normativa. Por lo tanto, ambos elementos son analizados en este artículo, con el fin de contribuir a la formulación y análisis de la política pública. Con respecto a la causalidad, se argumenta a favor de la causalidad múltiple y se propone estudiarla a partir del uso del análisis cualitativo comparado con conjuntos difusos. Respecto al concepto de desarrollo, se argumenta a favor de un acercamiento enfocado en la gente. Para ello, se propone el enfoque de desarrollo humano y de las capacidades.

Human Resources Development and Those Left Out: Contribution of Universal Policies

This paper focuses on exploring the thematic analysis of the text “Human Development Report” (United Nations, 2016) about the way universal policies can contribute to the development of all left out. This means people that belong to vulnerable groups. What are their characteristics, what are their targets, and how can they be implemented? According to the findings, universalism is the principle of the human development approach, but it is not enough. It is necessary to be translated into practice by identifying and breaking down barriers that exclude certain groups. Some universal policies need to be reoriented, since there are many disparities. Even though human development can be achieved, it does not mean that it can also be sustained. Progress may be slowed or even reversed. In such context, people must get empowered even if policies and the relevant actors fail to deliver. They will get stronger when they demand their rights, raise their voice, and seek to redress one situation. Policies should also be inclusive which involves formulating an employment – led growth strategy. This should be done with emphasis on creating productive and remunerative employment opportunities in sectors where poor people live and work, enhancing inclusion in productive resources, and under taking high-impact multidimensional interventions. The usefulness of this study lies in the fact that it provides useful information about United Nations’ efforts and policiesto help all people to develop. These efforts and policies can be compared to those of other European and international organizations such as the Council of Europe and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This helps in creating larger databases that can multiply and become indicators of relevant actions at both regional and global level.

The imperative of social sector development for achieving the goal of inclusive growth in India: an analytical study

Growth inclusiveness has remained the prime agenda of India’s economic development policy. India did experiment with trickle down approach to development for achieving the objective of income redistribution and social justice, but floundered on that by the end of fourth plan. Since then the focus is on human welfare and development approach. Indian planners targeted the removal of poverty and inequality as the goal and the fundamental element of our growth strategy. This inclusive growth model necessitates the social sector development, an approach which is an adjunct to the capability approach of human development and also ensures rapid and sustained growth. The present study intends to construct the composite index of inclusiveness for India by deploying principal component analysis. The study also examines the relationship between different components of social sector development and inclusiveness index of growth in India, using an autoregressive distributed lag model for the period of 1986–2016. The empirical results suggest that the estimated coefficients of the long-run relationship between social sector development and growth inclusiveness are significant for ‘education outlays’, ‘expenditure of water supply and sanitation’, ‘housing and urban development’, ‘welfare for marginalized class’, ‘spending on social security and welfare’ and ‘food storage and warehousing’. For the short-run coefficients ‘labour and employment’, ‘rural development’ and ‘food storage and warehousing’ are statistically significant for inclusive growth of India. The analysis reveals a tardy progress towards rendering growth inclusiveness in India.

Status of Human Development Index

What is the need for Human Development? This research paper seeks to research the reasons for the emergence of the concept of Human Development. ‘Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices’ (HDRO, 1990). The Human Development approach insists that the fundamental aim of development policy should be to expand the opportunities that people have to lead meaningful lives. Economic growth is a means towards this end, not an end in itself. Therefore, the indicators to identify the human development index were amended. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. Amartya Sen, an Indian economist who was awarded the Nobel Prize is known for his fruitful contribution to the Human Development Theory. It is interesting to note that a person who developed the Human Development Theory is a citizen of a country which has a medium Human Development whereas the countries who adopted this approach have a high or a very high Human Development Index. The researcher through this research paper seeks to analyse the status of Human Development in India and what are the reasons for its position in a comparative analysis with other countries. The researcher concludes the research with findings and suggestions.

Making the circular economy work for human development

This paper aims to re-conceptualise and advance the existing frameworks and practical applications of the circular economy (CE) towards a broader approach to development in general and, more particularly, to combine it with the approach for Human Development (HD). The CE is an alternative to the current "take, make, waste” extractive industrial model and offers a practical solution to address global and local environmental challenges, such as resource depletion, marine plastic pollution, and for staying within planetary system boundaries. Although the CE and related concepts such as cradle to cradle provide a most promising alternative to the traditional linear economy model and its impacts on the planets eco-systems, some of the CE key elements have raised debate both in the academic community and among policy makers. One of the debates concerns the missing social or human dimensions of the CE. Likewise, the HD approach lacks considerations of environmental sustainability. Drawing on both academic and grey literature and the authorsö research observations and professional experiences in the fields of promoting the CE and international development cooperation for HD, we attempt to develop an integrative conceptual framework of the CE and HD. This framework includes social-economic elements of the transformation from linear to circular economic models, combined with HD from the social sciences and development studies. We thereby complement the technological-material focused CE model that is primarily based on principles of industrial ecology and engineering. We utilize the existing ‘circular humansphereö concept to articulate the incorporation of HD into the discussion of CE. By bringing in explicit links with HD, we pursue a double aim: First, to raise awareness and understanding among the CE research community of the missing human dimension in current CE discourse, and second, to familiarise the international development community with the approaches of CE. This will advance the options for adopting CE practices in international development programmes and for the process of implementing the social SDGs concerning HD such as SDG 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10. Finally, we hope that this CE and HD framework can contribute to the resolution of environmental and developmental issues.

Transformative Energy Transition from the bottom-up: exploring the contribution of grassroots innovations in the Spanish context

Energy transition is attracting increasing attention in academic, activist and policy debate. Although there is a recognition of the urgency of achieving a more sustainable model, and a small body of scholars contend the need for a systemic transition, very little research has specifically been conducted on the changes and proposals promoted by grassroots innovations. This paper explores why energy grassroots initiatives are key spaces of interest in the process of energy transition, and proposes an exploratory characterisation of a “Transformative Energy Transition.” To this end, a qualitative analysis is carried out and a framework developed that connects ideas from socio-technical transitions theory, grassroots innovation literature and the human development approach. The results suggest five broad arguments to justify why the initiatives studied are relevant, and the paper concludes that “Transformative Energy Transition” must be aligned with values of equity, sustainability, participation and diversity.

Mapping the Terrain of Education 2018–2019: A Summary Report

This report shares the results of the Mapping the Terrain annual study which focuses on the attitudes of youths and adults around them regarding values as they relate to growth and development. The interest in values comes from the approach that as youths grow and life conditions change, so do values, and new ones are adopted as a result of people's interactions with each other and their environments. More than 25,000 participants from 14 countries were approached through local coordinators and surveyed on four main values: empathy, forgiveness, moral reasoning, and community mindedness. The results show promise on the importance of the human development approach and universal Islamic values in education in Muslim societies.

Prospect of Good Governance and Human Development in Nepal

Good governance has now become a buzzword in the political economy. It contributes to accelerating the overall development including human development. Its role in making effective delivery of social and public services is crucial. This paper analyzes the relationship between good governance and human development and its importance based on published data, documents, and theories. The concept of governance and human development emerged after the failure of economic growth based development to reduce poverty and inequality around 1980. Consequently, the UN proposed the concept of a human development approach to fulfill the voids created by past development. It is believed that the proper function of governance in terms of political, economic and administrative can create sound development. Rule of Law, participation, public accountability and responsiveness, transparency, equity and inclusion, efficiency, and decentralization are a key institutional framework for good governance. These principles are structured to perform well-functioning for the assigned goals and objectives. If the institution performs good governance, human development can easily be achieved, and ultimately, sound human development enhances good governance The prospect of good governance and sound human development for developing countries like Nepal is inevitable for economic development.