Human Underdevelopment Research Articles

A Political Economy of Public Policymaking and Underdevelopment in Postcolonial African States: A Marxian Perspective

Debates over who makes public policy in postcolonial African states are lengthy, spanning from 1960s until now, even as such debates prompt pernicious human underdevelopment in this region. Driven by these unfinished debates’ impervious outcomes - the impoverishment of postcolonial Africans, this paper uses the Marxian political economy perspective to determine the mischievous insights arising from these debates, which prod irrational policymaking. It argues that, although policymaking is par excellence the impeccable and inescapable normal government activity and an important political instrument for exerting exhilarating or doldrums societies, it is fraught with inequitably precarious, intricate and dispute-prone processes for mobilising, distributing and allocating resources in societies. Consequently, the paper examines this activity’s shortcomings, not only through the cognitive capacities or incapacities of government officials, but through subjective irrational groups’ interests. Using the rational-comprehensive theory of policymaking, it concludes that, even as policymaking is estranged by malicious contestations through soft or hard power from competing forces with undemocratic claims over rights and resources, the Marxian political economy perspective and rational-comprehensive model can dependably ensure the region’s equitable development rather than underdevelopment.

Human development and underdevelopment in Brazil

This paper analyzes Brazilian human development profile. The data base was the level of human development comparative performance in Brazilian towns. Also, a logit model with panel data was estimated, aiming at identifying the elements which have some effect on the likelihood of a town to remain or to be inserted in the vicious circle of human underdevelopment over time. The study results pointed out improvements in the human development profile in Brazil, since the number of developed towns increased and there was a reduction in the number of towns which belonged to the human underdevelopment circle.

Redefining Poverty and Its Measurement: An Islamic Political Economy Perspectives

Islamic economists have always taken the position on the intrinsic capability of poverty alleviation in the Islamic economic model. The poverty, in economics and social sciences, is taken in the context of economic deprivation. Among the multitudinous meanings of poverty, generally it is defined as the lack of income, human underdevelopment, social exclusion, ill being, unsustainable livelihood, lack of basic needs, vulnerability and relative deprivation, while multifarious methodologies like head count ratio, poverty gap ratio, income gap ratio and Sen index are used to measure the poverty. The poverty in the developed countries mostly is identified relative to the average level of income as compared to developing countries which usually define it on the grounds of absolute standard of living. Islamic model clearly addresses poverty in number of ways and even considers it as a threat to faith and recommends alleviating it through different tools like zakat, which is the negative rate of return on savings. The tools prescribed in Islam for counteracting poverty are designed on different conceptual grounds to conventional poverty reduction tools, similarly Islam’s conceptually constructed understanding on: lack of income, human underdevelopment, social exclusion, ill being, unsustainable livelihood, lack of basic needs, vulnerability and relative deprivation differs in its context and in its intrinsic intellectual positioning to the conventional interpretation of these concepts. Inductively therefore, Islam’s idea of, ‘what is poverty?’ and ‘How it can be measured’, is distinct and different to the general perception of poverty. This paper objectively examines the subjective meaning of poverty within Islam, through analysing the intellectual rigour on poverty in the transcendental sources of Islam along with the conceptual construction of Al Ghazali’s work on happiness. It further applies the uniform principles of maqasid al shariah (objectives of Islamic law) and nisab (standard for Zakat to be liable) in an attempt to develop the understanding of monetary measures, which can be used to identify ‘poor and needy’ within an economy. The results should provide the basic argument for the distinction on Islamic concept of poverty and a framework in which such definition can translate into the categorisation of ‘poor’ within an economy; along with some foundational understanding of Islamic value approach on monetary measurement of poverty.

The Human Resource function contribution to human development in South Africa

Orientation: This article discusses the extent to which human under-development in South Africa and the consequent societal problems of poverty and inequality are addressed by the work of HR practitioners. Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to provide empirical evidence of the appropriateness of current HR practice in South African socio-economic conditions and to make suggestions for improvement. Motivation for the study: Societal problems caused by human under-development are impacting more and more on organisations in South Africa. It is currently not known to what extent and in what way HR work contributes to the improvement of this situation. Research design and method: An interpretive approach was adopted. Qualitative methods within a basic qualitative study strategy were used, including interviewing and a focus group. A sample of 50 individual HR practitioners at various organisational levels was interviewed. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Main findings: Societal problems caused by human under-development impact tremendously on the daily work of HR practitioners. Many HR practitioners do play an Employee Advocate role within the workplace but do not see this role as extending further to any degree. Some role models of more strategic responses were found. Practical/managerial implications: HR practitioners would better fulfil their mandate to work for the success of their organisation if they took pro-active steps to accelerate human development outside their organisations. Contribution/value-add: Empirical evidence is presented to support efforts to broaden the focus of HR work to human development. This linkage has not previously been researched.

Access to Polytechnic Education and Distance Learning in Ghana: The Enrollment Factor at Takoradi Polytechnic

This study aimed to investigate the enrollment factor at the polytechnics in Ghana. Secondary data was obtained from the admissions office of Takoradi polytechnic. Frequencies were used to analyze the data. The finding showed that a lot of the polytechnic applicants do not get access to polytechnic institutions due to physical space limitation. The denial of these qualified applicant access to pursue degrees of their choices contribute to both human underdevelopment and country underdevelopment. The study suggests distance learning centers at the district levels in Ghana as alternative mode to increase enrollment at the polytechnics and contribute immensely to the human resource development of Ghana.

Meeting the Institutional Challenges of the Millennium Development Goals

Aleksandr Shkolnikov and John D. Sullivan suggest the ways countries could meet their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) commitments with a focus on the strategies and tactics that would allow countries to reduce poverty and human underdevelopment for decades. They argue that this path needs to go through the private sector – especially local business communities. They suggest that small businesses that make up the private sector should be regarded as engines, rather than recipients, of MDG reforms.

Beyond access to medical care. Pursuit of health and prevention of ills.

This essay expands the public discourse on reform of health care. It examines the meaning of health, societal requirements for attaining health and preventing ills, and values and goals to guide health policy reform. The essay suggests a universal model of health and development in human societies, according to which levels of health and of human development and levels of ill health and of human underdevelopment tend to reflect, and to vary with, the extent to which people can meet their intrinsic needs in the context of the social, economic, and political institutions of their societies and the dominant values that shape these institutions and their dynamics. It applies this model to an examination of health in the United States and reveals that the extent to which people can realize their intrinsic needs is limited and that their health and development are, consequently, unsatisfactory. The essay also examines implications of this analysis for policy development and advocates transformations of our social, economic, political, and cultural institutions in ways conducive to the fulfillment of everyone's intrinsic human needs. This could be achieved by enacting an Economic Bill of Rights in line with President Roosevelt's proposals and the standards of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Books reviewed

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