United States Development Assistance Policy: The Domestic Politics of Foreign Economic Aid. By Vernon W. Ruttan. Baltimore, MD and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Pp.xxiv + 657. £54. ISBN 0 8018 5051 7 India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. By Jean Dreze and...

Through the experience of 30 rural migrants to Hanoi, this paper reconstructs their livelihood histories, linking the experience of our migrant subjects with wider transformations in Vietnam's economy and society. We argue for an 'everyday' political economy that recognises the fluid connections...

Using the experiences of first and second generation migrants from three villages in Thailand, we “personalize” the middle income trap, seeking to understand how and why migrants with growing levels of education and human capital remain rooted to their natal villages. Agrarian change is such...

In the second of two review papers on the World Bank’s series of World Development Reports (WDRs; 1978 to 2000/2001) we track some key themes and issues: North and South; state, market and civil society; and people, participation and values. Identifying clear trajectories in the series is...

This is the first of two surveys of the World Development Report series. Here we focus on the discursive strategies adopted by the Reports. We begin by setting the Reports within the wider milieu of development theory and practice. Behind the pragmatic, problem-solving image that the Reports aim...

The 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused massive human and economic destruction. In this paper we argue that the international response to the tsunami exemplifies a shift in the way humanitarian aid is sourced and delivered, and tease out a framework for understanding the continuities...