This article contributes to debates about ethical and methodological dilemmas experienced in international development studies. It departs from a research experience based on a longitudinal study, the Reality Check Approach, that puts intimacy, immersion and consensus at its core. These concepts...

Sen’s capability approach emphasizes the importance of freedom and choice in leading the life that one values. In the capability approach, a person converts the vector of commodities into functionings. This conversion depends upon personal, social and environmental factors. These...

This article examines the development of civil society in Russia. We argue that cultural and societal norms, which developed during the Soviet period, have continued to shape civil society arrangements in the post-Soviet period. We examine how parallel to recent changes in Russia’s...

This study discusses the relationship between poverty and vulnerability. It investigates how vulnerability can be integrated into the livelihood framework for poverty alleviation and vulnerability mitigation, as well as the development of adaptive livelihood mechanisms to combat increased risk...

In recent years, there has been a surge in hydropower projects in the North-east part of India, constructed under the aegis of the national state. Foregrounding this fact, our article conceptualizes North-east India as a ‘region’ that is not only physiographic in nature but also...

This article addresses how far international rights charters and the rights claims they give rise to act as levers for development through a discussion of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified rights Convention of recent times. It recognizes the seminal importance...

The study examines the relationship between human capital and economic growth by using a cross sectional sample of 106 countries to calculate an average over the period 2002–08. Sensitivity analysis on the core model found that the results are robust in terms of inclusion of relevant...

State failure is both a key cause and symptom of underdevelopment in Africa. This article provides a geopolitical perspective on the reasons for state failure in Africa, and offers the following solutions to dealing with this phenomenon. First, local and external actors should prioritize state...

PurposeThis article investigates the impact of the growth of the share of various government expenditure programmes in the GDP on economic growth in developing countries while taking into consideration the major issue of potential simultaneity.FindingsBased on data from the World Bank and using...

The current approach to peacebuilding is to focus on the specific building blocks of the process. However, such attention and building blocks are to date largely isolated from each other in their planning, analysis, implementation and measures for success with regard to contributing to overall...