Rights-Based Approaches to Development: Exploring the Potential and Pitfalls - Hardcover

9781565492837: Rights-Based Approaches to Development: Exploring the Potential and Pitfalls

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565492838 ISBN 13: 9781565492837

Publisher: Kumarian Press, 2009

This specific ISBN edition is currently not available.

* Comprehensive summary and case studies of major of rights-based approach to development
* Arranged in point/counterpoint format

The associations between human rights and the work of development activists didn’t receive widespread attention from international development agencies until the mid to late 1990s. The most visible sign that attitudes were changing occurred when the UN held its World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995. From that point on, rights became a stated objective of most agencies, regardless of the level of effort they actually spent in incorporating these ideas into their activities.

Now, over a decade after that crucial turning point, Rights-Based Approaches to Development reflects on the effect of the development community’s major shift in focus from market-based frameworks to a rights-based one. Contributors, both academics and practitioners, reflect on their experience with rights-based development activities. They draw out the current debates, theoretical and practical concerns and achievements, and larger implications about poverty and the relationship between citizens and the state. With powerful insights into where the development community has been and where it needs to go, Rights-Based Approaches to Development is critical to understanding the role of social justice in the context of development.

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About the Author

Diana Mitlin is an economist and social development specialist and works both at the International Institute for Environment and Development and the Institute for Development Policy and Management (University of Manchester). Her major focus is on issues of urban poverty reduction, in particular in the area of secure tenure, basic services and housing. Her work has explored a number of themes related to the contribution of civil society to addressing issues related to poverty and inequality. For the last ten years, she has worked with Shack/Slum Dwellers International. Recent publications include Empowering Squatter Citizen (2004, with David Satterthwaite) and Confronting the Crisis in Urban Poverty (2006, with Lucy Stevens and Stuart Coupe).

Review

Hickey and Mitlin have gathered together a stellar group of thinkers and activists to challenge and enrich our understanding of the all-important nexus between development and human rights. This is a fascinating book that deserves to be widely-read. --Michael Edwards, University of Manchester

A timely reminder of why rights matter. It brings together critical reflection on existing rights-based discourse and practice with insights into what is needed to make rights real. --Andrea Cornwall, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

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