World Debt and the Human Condition : Structural Adjustment and the Right to Development

Set against the backdrop of deteriorating living conditions for hundreds of millions of people in developing and debtor countries, this volume concentrates on the structural adjustment policies designed to facilitate debt repayment and to stabilize indebted economies and the effects these policies have on the human rights of affected peoples. Conducted by contributors from various disciplines, this analysis provides distinctive insights into the relationship between international economic decisions and human welfare.

The volume begins with general chapters on the issue of world debt; the various perceptions of debtors and creditors and the general consequences of the crisis. The specifics of the right to development are presented along with an explanation of and a rationale for this particular project on debt and human rights. The social, political, and economic consequences of the debt crisis and of the adjustment policies designed to alleviate it are presented by academic analysts as well as economists involved in dealing with poverty and equity issues at the international financial agencies. The book concludes with contributions from NGO representatives. These chapters discuss policy change and popular participation. The complex issues of debt and international economics are examined from a variety of perspectives. World Debt and the Human Condition's unifying element is a shared concern for the advancement of human dignity and the protection of the basic human rights of all those affected by the current international debt crisis and by current international economic policies and development strategies.

VED P. NANDA is Thompson G. Marsh Professor of Law and Director of the International Legal Studies Program at the University of Denver College of Law. He is the author and editor of a wide range of books, including Refugee Law and Policy (Greenwood Press, 1989). He co-edited, with George Shepherd, Human Rights and Third World Development (Greenwood, 1985). Professor Nanda has also written numerous articles for various publications.

GEORGE W. SHEPHERD is Professor and Director of the Center on Rights Development at the University of Denver. He is the author of Effective Sanctions against South Africa (Praeger, 1991) and The Trampled Grass: Tributary States and Self-Reliance in the Indian Ocean Zone of Peace (Praeger, 1987). He has co-edited Racism and the Underclass (Greenwood, 1992), Emerging Human Rights: The African Political Economy Context (Greenwood, 1990).

EILEEN McCARTHY-ARNOLDS is Assistant Editor of Africa Today and a Research Fellow at the Center on Rights Development at the University of Denver. She is a Ph.D. candidate and is a frequent contributor to Africa Today and Global Justice.