Search

Towards an Actor-oriented Perspective on Human Rights

Published by: IDS

This paper argues that rights are shaped through actual struggles informed by people's own understandings of what they are justly entitled to. Examining rights from the perspective of actual struggles makes it possible for analysis to transcend accepted normative parameters of human rights debates, question established conceptual categories and expand the range of claims that are validated as rights.

Making Spaces, Changing Places: Situating Participation in Development

Published by: IDS

Around the world, there has been growing interest in ways to enhance public involvement in governance, and with it the quality and legitimacy of democratic decision-making.

Citizenship and the Boundaries of the Acknowledged Community: Identity, Affiliation and Exclusion

Published by: IDS

The study of citizenship began as the study of political rights and democratic governance within Western politics and philosophy. Today however, it encompasses a broader sociological perspective highlighting that a universally shared concept of citizenship is further away from practical articulation and understandings of the concept than ever.

Bargaining and Legal Change: Toward Gender Equality in India’s Inheritance Laws

Published by: IDS

This paper outlines an analytic framework for understanding legal change, using as an illustration the process by which India's inheritance laws (in particular the Hindu Succession Act (HSA) of 1956) have moved toward gender equality.

Co-producing Citizen Security: The Citizen-Police Liaison Committee in Karachi

Published by: IDS

Beginning in 1989, the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has become an important component of policing in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. Rooted in the business community, and dependent largely on private donations and on the volunteer labour of business people, it has taken on core police intelligence functions.

Confronting Civil War: A Comparative Study of Household Assets Management in Southern Sudan

Published by: IDS

This paper examines the assets management strategies adopted by households exposed to prolonged civil war. The paper is based on fieldwork conducted in Bahr el Ghazal region, southern Sudan in 2000-1.

Realizing Rights: Transforming Approaches to Sexual Reproductive Wellbeing

Sexual and reproductive wellbeing has gained recognition as a basic right, enshrined in international law. Yet reality on the ground is different, as society, health programmes and aid agencies are all entrenched in old ways. Fundamental shifts in thinking and practice are needed to realize these rights and transform these realities.

The Concept of the ‘World Economic Triangle’: Global Governance Patterns and Options for Regions

Published by: IDS

This study investigates the scope of action open to regions in the world economy. Approaches concerned with the growing importance of 'regions in the global economy' seldom address the issue of altered global rule systems and governance structures. Instead, they focus on the challenges 'inside' regions, for example, the growing need for local networking among actors as a means of developing endogenous technological competence.

Achieving Education For All: How Much Does Money Matter?

Published by: IDS

This paper explores the extent to which differences in the resources allocated to education explain differences in educational access and performance across countries. The cross-country regression analysis presented in the paper shows that the link between education outcomes and public education expenditure is weak.

Export Horticulture and Poverty in Kenya

Published by: IDS

This paper reports the results of a household survey in Kenya undertaken explicitly to compare the incomes of households involved in export horticulture with those which are not.