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Since it emerged as a major policy paradigm almost two decades ago, the human development approach has gained increasing degrees of legitimacy within national and international policy circles. However, severe challenges continue to hinder the progress of human development — challenges that appear to render the standard repertoire of policy instruments rather ineffective.
This book focuses on one such challenge: that of the pervasive unevenness of human development across categories such as ethnicity and religion. While human development inequalities across class (and to some extent, gender) are well- recognized, the other dimensions are less so. How significant are they? How can they be addressed? To explore this question, the book proposes a reformulation of the concept of human development using three key notions: structural inequality; difference; and agency. This framework is then used to explore human development and post-colonial South Asia, which, with its plethora of complex social cleavages, offers an important context for problematic. The explorations suggest that human development differentials emanate from larger patterns of politicization of difference, embedded in historically engendered structures of social power. If so, then who are likely to be the most critical agents for transforming these structures? How should we understand the relationship between human development and social power?
Written accessibly and lucidly, this book will be of interest to students and researchers in development studies, political economy, political science, public policy, governance, security studies, human rights, social and religious studies and South Asia.
ISBN - 9780415775526
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Pages : 192
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