A Decade of Human Development

The literatures on Macroeconomics and Human development and capabilities have been described as constituting “two different worlds” that never intersect despite the importance of macroeconomics for human development (Nayyar [2012]. “Macroeconomics and Human Development.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 13 (1): 7–30.). This paper explores the barriers that keep the two worlds apart in policy making. It considers the case of national strategies for one is implementing UN Agenda 2030 (better known as the SDGs) with a commitment to equity and inclusion; the majority of which rely on social protection and neglect macroeconomic policies. This paper proposes four systemic barriers in the policy making processes: institutional silos and gaps, informational deficits, ideology, and interests. We highlight how these barriers play out in mutually reinforcing ways to construct resilient barriers: narrowly defined mandates of central banks and other economic agencies are reinforced by ideological commitments and the influence of vested interests to neglect inclusion, equity and sustainable development as policy objectives, and in policy research agendas. This in turn creates a vicious circle of information deficits with respect to policy alternatives. The paper discusses how these barriers play out differently in different policy making contexts for different stakeholders.

The Mahbub ul Haq Memorial Lectures, established by the Human Development and Capabilities Association and the Journal of Human Development with the generous support of the Taylor and Francis Group...

This longitudinal evaluation of gender inequalities and economic growth addresses key questions in the evolving debate over the character of gender differentiation and the goals of womens empowerment. These questions include: 1) whether the impact of strategies of economic growth served to enhance or undermine the status of women; 2) whether changes in the status of women were accompanied by significant changes in gender inequality; and 3) the implications for existing debates. Section I reviews several sets of literature pertinent to the questions using three general approaches: modernization-neoclassical women in development and gender and development. Section II presents the data and methods used in the evaluation. The research assessed the contending interpretations reviewed in the first section by combining another set of cross-sectional and longitudinal data on womens status and inequalities between men and women with other existing indicators. Section III discusses the results in the following order: 1) cross-sectional patterns in womens status; 2) trends in womens status; 3) cross-sectional patterns in inequality between men and women; 4) trends in inequality between men and women; and 5) conclusion. Finally section IV presents an overall discussion of the findings of the whole longitudinal evaluation.

"Who Matters at the World Bank? Bureaucrats, Policy Change, and Public Sector Governance." Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2

(2000). Out of the Box: Rethinking the governance of international financial markets. Journal of Human Development: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 145-157.

Despite international healthcare charters supporting the principle that children should be listened to during healthcare encounters, children still struggle to have their views heard in healthcare. The aim of this study was to understand children’s and young people’s views of expressing their views and having those views heard in Australian healthcare. Child-centred qualitative research was the methodology employed and “Draw, write and tell” methods [Angell et al. (2015). “‘Draw, Write and Tell’: A Literature Review and Methodological Development on the ‘Draw and Write’ Research Method.” Journal of Early Childhood Research 13 (1): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X14538592] were used to collect data from twenty children and young people between the ages of 7 and 18 years. An inductive qualitative content analysis identified a process whereby children move from a place of dependence towards independence and developing capability in having a voice in their own healthcare. Drawing on work from Brando, Nico [(2020). “Children's Abilities, Freedom, and the Process of Capability-Formation.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 21 (3): 249–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2020.1767547], it was identified that this process relied on the existence of development opportunities (zones of proximal development) and the conversion factors of time, health professional relationships, communication, teamwork and family support. Identifying this process is an important step in understanding how health professionals can support children to develop capability to have a voice in their healthcare. This is the first known study to use a capability approach to examine how children develop their voices and move from dependence towards independence in healthcare.

A newly published study shows using smartphones before the age of 13 could damage children's mental health. So much so, that researchers are now calling for global protections, SAN (Straight Arrow News) reported July 21. The study was published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. Researchers with the nonprofit Sapien Labs found that smartphone use by children younger than 13 could be linked to higher rates of suicidal thoughts, poorer emotional regulation, lower self‐worth and detachment from reality. The study also found that this was especially true for girls. Specifically, the negative mental health symptoms strongly linked to earlier smartphone usage include not just suicidal thoughts and detachment from reality but also aggression and even hallucinations. In addition to lower self‐worth, earlier smartphone ownership was also linked to diminished self‐image and confidence and lower emotional resilience among females and lower stability, calmness and empathy among males. The study also found the impacts compounded — meaning, the younger the smartphone user was, the worse their mental health and well‐being were likely to be. Researchers say that this could be because smartphone use exposes them to social media and cyberbullying at earlier ages, while also being linked to sleep disruption and poor family relationships.

L'objectif des auteurs de cet article est double. Il s'agit d'une part de presenter une etude exploratoire sur les tendances actuelles temoignant de l'emergence d'un nouvel activisme non gouvernemental dans le champ de l'education et d'autre part de dresser un cadre analytique afin d'evaluer l'importance de cet activisme, en elaborant des concepts bases sur les recherches ayant porte sur les nouveaux mouvements sociaux et les debats theoriques actuels a propos de la societe civile mondiale.

As we mark the anniversary of the publication of the 2030 Agenda mid-term report, the world’s nations stand at a crossroads. While off-track in achieving most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), multiple crises have further exposed deep inequalities and vulnerabilities in the current dominant approach centred on economic growth and resource allocations. In this editorial paper, scholars of the human development and capability association and editors of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, express our deep concern at the lack of progress towards the SDGs. We argue for prioritising human development rather than economic growth and for putting human agency at the centre of development policy. This agency-centric approach includes the implementation of feedback systems for assessing human development progress through broader grassroots participation and relies critically on strengthening state capacities, safeguarding human rights, and promoting democracy.

This special issue of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities focuses on two areas of substantial and growing importance to the human development and capability approach: disability and health. The research on disability, health and the capability approach has been diverse in the topics it covers, and the conceptual frameworks and methodologies it uses, beginning over a decade and a half ago in health (Ruger 1998) and more than a decade ago in disability (Baylies 2002).1 We are pleased to share a set of articles in these two areas. The first set of articles focuses on disability, while the second set of articles focuses on health and the health capability paradigm (HCP), in particular.

This thesis is concerned with the operationalisation of the Capability Approach (CA) in order to obtain quantitative measures of Human Development in various domains. It consists of three essays that quantify well-being, poverty and female empowerment in the space. The first essay applies the methodology developed by Krishnakumar (Journal of Human Development 2007) for operationalizing the CA using structural equation latent variable modelling, for estimating and analyzing basic capabilities in the knowledge and living conditions domains for Bolivian children. The second essay extends this model-based approach for measuring deprivation in the functioning-capability space, in the presence of multiple-dimensions and multiple-indicators. Finally, the third essay proposes a structural model for measuring female empowerment in a capability perspective, using the intra-household gender dynamics literature as the theoretical support. These three key contributions show the importance of going beyond descriptive measures to adequately target the most vulnerable groups.

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities (2013) A Multi-disciplinary Journal for People-centered Development, ‘Special issue on the capability approach and sustainability’, F. Rauschmayer and ...

Emeritus Professor Colin Hindley of the Institute of Education, University of London died on 12 May following surgery for lung cancer, aged 76. He will be remembered by many colleagues not only for his research on child development and individual differences but also for his personal support to individuals and organisations concerned with child development, both in this country and abroad. He was a founding Committee Member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development and Advisory Editor for the Journal of Human Development . His work as a founding member of the Association of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines from 1958 onwards ensured its strong interdisciplinary base and a highly productive future. Perhaps even more significantly, many would wish to emphasise his particularly distinguished contribution as the founding Psychology Editor of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines from 1959–1969. In recognition of his long service to the Association at so many levels, he was made an Honorary Member on his retirement.