This paper looks at thottam farmers, the elite in selected villages in Coimbatore district in 1981/2 and 1996. These were relatively small operators in the regional economy, but strong in the villages, where they exerted tight control over those beneath them in the village hierarchy. They were...

This paper looks at agricultural labourers in villages in Coimbatore district in 1981/2 and in 1996. It focuses on Chakkiliyans, the lowest status and most numerous Scheduled Caste group. It shows that while their position had barely changed over the decades prior to 1981/2, between 1981/2 and...

The paper analyses the economic policies of the Fujimori government in Peru, 1990-2000. It explores the extent to which such policies represented a return to Peru's historical dependence on the primary sector. In so far as it is a return to the past, are there lessons to be learnt from history?

Income distribution is extremely important for development, since it influences the cohesion of society, determines the extent of poverty for any given average per capita income and the poverty-reducing effects of growth, and even affects people's health. The paper reviews the connections...

This paper explores the links between economic growth and human development, identifying two chains, one from economic growth to human development, and the other, conversely, from human development to economic growth. The various links in each chain are explored, together with a review of some...

This paper analyses the 'root' causes of complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) on the basis of studies conducted in a UNU/WIDER project on social and economic causes of CHEs; and identifies policies that appear relevant to the prevention of conflict. The paper regards horizontal inequality...

While there is worldwide agreement on poverty reduction as an overriding goal of development policy, there is little agreement on the definition of poverty. The paper reviews four approaches to the definition and measurement of poverty - the monetary, capability, social exclusion and...

This paper analyses major global economic influences on violent self-determination movements, distinguishing between those influences which affect the basic causes of violent SDMs from those that help sustain and finance such movements. While globalisation has been associated with economic...

The founders of the UN created no effective institutions for world economic and social governance, nor for protecting the poor at a world level. They are needed because: neither markets nor national governments fully take into account what happens beyond their borders - for example pollution of...

This paper explores the connections between democracy, peace and development in three cases of recent history - Uganda, Kenya and Sri Lanka. It is shown that there are no simple and universal relationships. The experience of all three countries shows that democratic institutions are not...