Introduction: Information, Knowledge and Power

The idea that ‘knowledge itself is power’ is not new; but at the global level, this dictum is now truer than ever, as a result of rapid advances in information technology in the North. Increasingly, knowledge (including the capacity to create it) is becoming a key economic input which, at the extreme, supersedes land, capital and labour in importance. The revolution in information technology and communications has direct implications for the South and for development studies: not only in obvious ways (e.g. in the generation of statistics and satellite images); but also in less predictable ways, notably the emergence of participatory methods for data collection and analysis. Participatory techniques, just like changes in more conventional sources of information, are in part a result of – and dependent on – the international communications revolution. Innovation in information is not intrinsically bad, but it is driven by the North and by northern agendas. Drawing together work carried out at IDS and elsewhere, this Bulletin explores the implications of this change for development. It focuses on the ways in which information is – or is not – used in decision-makingwhich affects development policy, planning and practice

Greeley Among Others: An American Poetics in Context

Robert Greeley's writing career now spans almost half a century. His lasting friendship with Charles Olson led, in the mid-fifties, to his involvement with the ‘Black Mountain School’ of poets. Scholars find it convenient to sustain this association even though Greeley’s ‘open form' poetry has never fitted easily into such categories: the tenets of his poetics emerged, gradually, from more heterogeneous origins. The purpose of this account is to examine the complexities of Greeley’s response to those writers who, by his own admission, guided his poetic development. Such relationships offer an interesting context for the investigation of his resolutely idiosyncratic poetics. To demonstrate this, the study focusses on seven other American poets: Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, Hart Crane, William Carlos Williams, Louis Zukofsky, Charles Olson and Robert Duncan. They make a diverse company, yet each has been important to the evolution of a highly sophisticated poetic idiom. A prolific letter-writer, Greeley’s lengthy correspondence with Charles Olson (published in 9 volumes so far and still incomplete) and the unpublished (hitherto largely unexamined) letters found among the papers of recipients have been rich source material. Interviews with Greeley himself, including one conducted by the author in August 1994, were equally helpful in establishing what, and how, each writer contributed to the development of his poetics

El reasentamiento como instrumento de protección para niños refugiados

Es necesario garantizar que las iniciativas nuevas y las ya existentes para reasentar a niños refugiados en situación de riesgo, incluidos los niños no acompañados, tengan más capacidad para cubrir sus necesidades de protección únicas en el contexto mundial actual

Livelihood Adaptation, Public Action and Civil Society: A Review of the Literature

The political dimensions of sustainable livelihoods are explored here, drawing on the livelihood adaptation literature in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on adaptation to short-term shocks and the negative consequences of longer-term change in livelihood strategies. Relationships of social exclusion, in particular gendered relationships with the state, formal and informal civil society, are found to be key in determining the effects of interventions into livelihood systems for different stakeholders. The very different configurations of public action, civil society and community involvement in reinforcing livelihood activities are compared, to see whether there are useful lessons to be transferred between the regions. The complexity of these relationships and the importance of societal differences between the two regions indicate that no single model offers an optimum relationship between the state and civil society in livelihood adaptation. However, many policy initiatives are advocated for Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of their success in India, without considering differences in formal and informal institutional arrangements. Attention needs to be paid to these underlying institutional arrangements, and to the outcomes of public or social action on livelihood activities for different stakeholders

The World Distribution of Household Wealth

There has been much recent research on the world distribution of income, but also growing recognition of the importance of other contributions to well-being, including those of household wealth. Wealth is important in providing security and opportunity, particularly in poorer countries that lack full social safety nets and adequate facilities for borrowing and lending. We find, however, that it is precisely in the latter countries where household wealth is the lowest, both in absolute and relative terms. Globally, wealth is more concentrated than income both on an individual and national basis. Roughly 30 per cent of world wealth is found in each of North America, Europe, and the rich Asian-Pacific countries. These areas account for virtually all of the world?s top 1 per cent of wealth holders. On an official exchange rate basis India accounts for about a quarter of the adults in the bottom three global wealth deciles while China provides about a third of those in the fourth to eighth deciles. If current growth trends continue, India, China and the transition countries will move up in the global distribution, and the lower deciles will be increasingly dominated by countries in Africa, Latin American and poor parts of the Asian-Pacific region. Thus wealth may continue to be lowest in areas where it is needed the most.wealth, net worth, personal assets, wealth inequality, households, balance sheets, portfolios

Public Institutions, People, and Famine Mitigation

Summary Taking the specific example of famine induced by the shock of drought, this article explores institutional barriers to linking relief and development within a four stage framework of preparedness, mitigation, relief and rehabilitation. At national level, institutional constraints are the rock on which the good intentions implicit in linking relief and development founder, in both government structures and donor agencies. At local level, households, communities and civil society institutions are also under increasing stress. Building on the principle of subsidiarity, the greatest opportunities for overcoming constraints and building on strengths are at the intermediate, or meso level. Resumé Les institutions publiques, les populations, et l'aide d'urgence de la famine Cet article, qui prend comme point de départ la famine causée par l'impact de la sécheresse, explore les barrières institutionnelles qui empêchent d'allier l'aide d'urgence au développement au sein d'une structure quadripartite de préparation, d'atténuation, d'aide d'urgence et de réhabilitation. Au niveau national, les contraintes institutionnelles sont le récif sur lequel viennent s'écraser les bonnes intentions qui se manifestent dans le désir des structures gouvernementales et des agences donatrices de lier l'aide d'urgence au développement. Au niveau local, les ménages, les communautés et les institutions de la société civile font face à des contraintes de plus en plus sévères. Si l'on respecte le principe de la subsidiarité, les meilleures possibilités de vaincre ces contraintes et de bâtir sur des fondations existantes se perçoivent au niveau intermédiaire, dit “meso”. Resumen Las instituciones publicas, la gente y la mitigación del hambre Con el ejemplo específico del hambre ocasionada por la sequía repentina, este artículo explora las barreras institucionales para la integración entre asistencia y desarrollo dentro del marco de las cuatro etapas de preparación, mitigación, asistencia y rehabilitación. A nivel nacional, las limitaciones institucionales representan una barrera contra la cual chocan todas las buenas intenciones implícitas en el proceso de integración, tanto en estructuras gubernamentales como en agencias asistenciales. A nivel local, familias, comunidades y estructuras sociales sufren una presión constante. Partiendo del principio de subsidiariedad, las mejores oportunidades para superar limitaciones y reforzar los puntos positivos se encuentran en el nivel intermedio

Food Security: Let them Eat Information

Insufficient information to predict famine was widely seen to be a central reason for the failure of national governments and the international donor community to prevent famines in Africa in the mid 1980s. Since then, there have been substantial improvements in the development of purpose-built information systems to predict famine. Many new famine early warning systems (EWS) have been set up, but the goal of famine prevention remains elusive. At least in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, the information now provided is not being used adequately to trigger timely and appropriate response.European Research Council (ERC

Drama: A Comparative Analysis of Individual Narratives

In a narrative inquiry, five educators who taught college in prison share stories about working in this non-traditional learning environment that is often dangerous and frustrating. From the tension between the prison\u27s emphasis on social control and the educators\u27 concern for democratic classrooms, three broad themes emerged: working in borderlands, negotiating power relations, and making personal transformations. Large intact segments from transcripts of participant interviews form a dramatic text that illuminates how a selected group of educators made meaning of their experience teaching college courses to incarcerated students. A comparative analysis presented in a one act play brings together the individual participant voices to tell a collective story, which has meaning in the context of a shared emotional experience