Argues that the traditional conceptualization of agrarian reform is too limiting and suggests ways in which the economic and political focus of such reforms may be broadened. Highlights the importance of reforms in the redistribution of property as a means of reducing poverty in rural societies.

A systematic investigation of the connection between civil society and political change in Asia - change toward open, participatory, and accountable politics. Its findings suggest that the link between a vibrant civil society and democracy is indeterminate: certain civil society organizations support democracy; thers could undermine it.

At the start of each decade the World Development Report focuses on poverty reduction. The World Development Report, now in its twenty-third edition, proposes an empowerment-security-opportunity framework of action to reduce poverty in the first decades of the twenty-first century. It views poverty as a multidimensional phenonmenon arising out of complex interactions between assets, markets, and institutions. This Report shows how the experience of poverty reduction in the last fifteen years has been remarkably diverse and how this experience has provided useful lessons as well as warnings against simplistic universal policies and interventions. It shows how current global trends present extraordinary opportunities for poverty reduction but also cause extraordinary risks, including growing inequality, marginalization, and social explosions. The World Development Report 2000/2001 explores the challenge of managing these risks in order to make the most of the opportunities for poverty reduction.

The journal aims to showcase the best of Melbourne University's postgraduate community research, and to provide a forum for graduate students to present their work in an engaging and interesting style to a broader audience beyond their departmental peers. Through publishing a diverse range of postgraduate research, Traffic seeks to facilitate a sense of cohesiveness in the postgraduate community and to counter its fragmentation.

This book focuses on land and disaster governance in Asian countries. The Asian region has become increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, including floods, cyclones, storms, earthquakes, drought, typhoons and tsunamis. Further, as a result of unsustainable changes being made in patterns of land use, catchment and coastal zones, increasing population density, migration patterns, and the spread of consumer culture across countries, the impact of natural disasters has increased manifold. The book addresses two major concerns in this field. Firstly, it discusses topics intended to raise awareness among all stakeholders of the critical aspects of disaster management in the context of Asia. Secondly, it calls upon policymakers, researchers, academics, practitioners, private enterprises and civil society organizations, as well as all those who have been, are and will be affected by natural disasters to search for innovative and novel approaches to reducing risk and managing disasters.

We live in a time of human paradoxes. Scientific knowledge has reached a level of sophistication that permits understanding of the most arcane phenomena and yet religious fundamentalism dominates in many parts of the world. We witness the emergence of a civil, liberal constitutionalism in many regions of the world and yet ethnic violence threatens the lives and dignity of millions. And we live in a time of rapid economic and technological advance and yet several billions of people live in persistent debilitating poverty. In this book, Daniel Little dissects these paradoxes offering the clearest perspective on how best to approach international development.Using both empirical and philosophical approaches, Little provides a schematic acquaintance with the most important facts about global development at the turn of the twentieth century. In doing so, he explores what appear to be the most relevant moral principles and insights that ought to be invoked as we consider these facts and then draws conclusions about what sorts of values and goals ought to guide economic development in the twenty-first century.

The theme of this book is that economic growth is key, but institutions and other national and subnational attributes matter as well. They are critical to explaining differences in social development and poverty reduction across countries and subnational areas that cannot be accounted for by growth alone. The book concludes that a more complete strategy needs to consider various institutional factors at the national and subnational levels to achieve rapid and sustained poverty reduction. Indeed, paying attention to these factors will benefit both growth and poverty reduction.

Social movements have played a vital role in Indian politics since well before the inception of India as a new nation in 1947. During the Nehruvian era, from Independence to Nehru's death in 1964, poverty alleviation was a foundational standard against which policy proposals and political claims were measured; at this time, movement activism was directly accountable to this state discourse. However, the role of social movements in India has shifted during the last several decades to accompany a changed political focus—from state to market and from reigning ideologies of secularism to credos of religious nationalism. In the first volume to focus on poverty and class in its analysis of social movements, a group of leading India scholars shows how social movements have had to change because poverty reduction no longer serves its earlier role as a political template. Nonetheless, particular sectors of social movement politics remain the holding vessels for India's egalitarian conscience. With distinctive chapters on gender, lower castes, environment, the Hindu Right, Kerala, labor, farmers, and biotechnology, Social Movements in India will be attractive to students and researchers in many different disciplines. Contributions by: Amita Baviskar, Anuradha Chakravarty, Vivek Chibber, Gopal Guru, Patrick Heller, Ron Herring, Mary John, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Neema Kudva, Gail Omvedt, Raka Ray, and Tanika Sarkar.

This book delves into the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe to provide insight into how it facilitated the delivery of housing for low-income urban households. It highlights the politics of land reforms and the power of community engagement in housing development in urban areas. Prior to the FTLRP, the Zimbabwean governments had never embraced popular modes of housing production as key factors in urban development. In the area of low-income housing, informal housing schemes have always been treated with apathy and indifference. This left the conventional mode of housing production to be the only legitimate means to house low-income households despite its shortcomings. However, the onset of the FTLRP in 2000 resulted in homeless urban households grasping the opportunity to invade farms for housing development. Through the lenses of Marxism and Neoliberalism, this book analyses housing schemes that emerged and the overall impact of the FTLRP on housing and land delivery in Harare. This analysis is based on empirical evidence obtained from key informants and household surveys conducted in Harare. The authors argue that the FTLRP provided a platform for innovativeness by households, supported by the unpronounced national urban vision and prowess of the political leadership. Hence the success of these housing schemes can be measured by acquisition of land which guarantees households access to the city. However, some of these housing schemes pose challenges – key among them being lack of infrastructure. The book concludes by presenting a new model for effective delivery of land and housing for the urban poor. This is envisaged as a useful policy tool for urban planners, housing experts, land economists, urban and regional geographers, as well as sociologists, political scientists and social workers engaged in public administration of land and housing.