Denis Goulet (1931-2006) was a pioneer of human development theory and a founder of work on 'development ethics' as a self-conscious field that treats the ethical and value questions posed by development theory, planning, and practice. The present paper looks at aspects of Goulet's work in...

This paper analyzes the concept of identity developed by Amartya Sen in recent work, especially in the book Identity and Violence. It discusses the relationship between identity and solidarity, arguing that the former is necessary but by no means sufficient for the latter, so that, contra what...

The Gujarat pogrom of 2002 is evidence of a profound crisis in India's democracy. Samuel P. Huntington's influential thesis of the 'clash of civilizations,' according to which the world is torn between democratic western values and threatening Islamic values, gives no help in explaining the...

Should human beings who have been granted basic rights be allowed to bargain them away? In some countries, most prominently in China, special export zones exist where workers are required to give up several of their rights in order to be employed. Are there serious objections to such...

Human impacts on large-scale ecological interactions effectively confer fundamental advantages of wealth and power to some members of society and not to others. As illustrated here by reference to a 1993 cholera outbreak resulting from degradation of aquatic ecosystems, these impacts can pose...

Calls for a comprehensive income security policy are common in South Africa, frequently in the form of a basic income grant. These arguments tend to draw on two broad sets of literature that, although arguing to the same ends, are not usually combined or interrelated. First, there are analyses...

The present paper examines two currently popular approaches to ethical theory — namely, 'Expressivism' (also known as 'emotivism' and 'non-cognitivism') and contemporary forms of 'Kantianism' — and argues that neither provides a suitable foundation for the capabilities approach. Two...

Sen has suggested that it is a person's overall freedom that influences their opportunity to have valuable outcomes to their lives, and that this proves important to the whole society's development. It is also a “principal determinant of individual initiative and social effectiveness”. This...

This paper has a dual objective: it is a country case study and a policy evaluation within the background of the Interim Cooperation Framework 2004-2006, a document produced by an international delegation including the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and Inter-American...

With rapid growth in demand for water, the resource is increasingly being transferred from agriculture to cities and industries. This paper examines trends and expected future changes in sectoral water demand, which drive water transfers. It then describes alternative mechanisms for water...