Two authors who have been leaders of the "social quality approach" that emerged in European social policy circles in the 1990s, and two authors who have worked with the "human development" and "human security" approaches that emerged in international development policy circles in the 1980s and...

Leadership is a matter that social scientists often are ambivalent about, but is important in knife-edge' situations and when people choose direction within wide-open possibilities. "Good leaders" need contexts that stimulate and discipline them, good "followers"/ collaborators, and ability to...

What interpretation of human flourishing, what ideas of value does capitalism in practice embody and promote? To address this question the paper clarifies first that "capitalism" must be understood as more than merely a system of private property and markets. It contains "the prerogative of...

Dependence on biomass, especially wood, to meet domestic energy needs raises several socio-environmental concerns. In contrast, cattle manure, which may be used to generate biogas, is considered a cleaner and cheaper source of energy. Despite the existence of several initiatives to promote...

This study examines the impact of weather variations on food consumption in rural Uganda. The paper relies on two-period panel data (2005/06-2009/10) combined with data on rainfall, number of rainy days and maximum and minimum temperatures. We find that higher temperatures have an adverse effect...

In June 2011, the Government of Ethiopia rolled out a pilot Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) scheme. This paper assesses scheme uptake. We examine whether the scheme is inclusive, the role of health status in inducing enrolment and the effect of the quality of health care on uptake. By...

This paper focuses on poverty in the MENA region and whether it can be alleviated by intergenerational support within and across households. Intergenerational relations are mediated through several institutions. The most prominent of these are households, state, civil society and market....