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41. Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human Rights, and Investor Protections

Author:
Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Land-based investments can create significant grievances for local individuals or communities, and host governments seeking to address those grievances must navigate a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This report, funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development, focuses on practical solutions for governments confronting grievances that arise from large-scale investments in agricultural or forestry projects. The report considers such solutions in the context of governments’ legal obligations, particularly those imposed by international investment law, international human rights law, and investor-state contracts. Understanding the implications of this diverse range of legal obligations is particularly important in light of investors’ growing recourse to international investment arbitration, which can expose a government to liability under an international investment treaty for actions that may be in the best interest of a country and its citizens. Analyzing such obligations is a useful first step for a government seeking to protect its citizens against the negative impacts of land-based investments.
Topic:
International Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

42. A Post-2015 Local Governance Agenda

Author:
Jameson Boex
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The role of local governance within global development is approaching an important inflection point. To the extent that local governments function as effective platforms for collective local decision-making and as effective mechanisms for promoting the collective interests of their constituents, local governments are ideal partners for achieving development success. Moreover, regardless of the mechanism or type of decentralization or “localization” that is ultimately chosen, in the end, we cannot ignore the vertical governance mechanisms and multilevel service delivery mechanisms that are needed to ensure the effective delivery of public services at the local level.
Topic:
Governance, International Development, Services, and Decentralization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43. Pathways to 'The future we want': global civil society and the post-2015 development agenda

Author:
Luara Lopes
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
Luara Lopes examines the main processes of the current international development agenda; including the review of the Millennium Development Goals, the negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the construction of a new, post-2015 global framework.
Topic:
Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals, International Development, and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

44. Pathways to 'The future we want': socio-environmental indicators

Author:
José Veiga
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
José Eli da Veiga critically examines the socioeconomic measures already established, like the GDP and the Human Development Index (HDI). The author contextualizes the creation of such measures and points out the limits of those, which can measure the economic performance of a given society, but are not intended to measure welfare and sustainability. With a keen eye, Eli da Veiga addresses the major issues related to the development and adoption of new indicators, selecting four emerging indicators to be examined in detail. These indexes – all created by renowned international institutions – seek to overcome the notion of wealth based on the production of commodities and on physical capital and propose a narrative of progress that is more compatible with the 21st century, focusing on people’s quality of life and on environmental sustainability.
Topic:
International Political Economy, Political and institutional effectiveness, and International Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

45. The G20 needs a growth strategy

Author:
Mike Callaghan
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
In this Lowy Institute Policy Brief, Director of the G20 Studies Centre Mike Callaghan AM argues that the G20 needs to develop a comprehensive growth strategy to lift global growth and create jobs. Callaghan outlines the steps required to develop such a strategy by the Brisbane G20 Summit.
Topic:
International Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

46. In Search of The 21st Century Developmental State

Author:
Peter B. Evans
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Abstract:
What role for the developmental state in the 21st century? What state structures and political institutions will best equip nations trying to enter the ranks of "developed" countries? I offer two interconnected propositions. The first stresses continuity: the "developmental state" will continue to play a crucial a role in economic growth and social transformation in the 21st century, just as it did in the latter half of the 20th century. The second is more radical: successful 21st century developmental states will have to depart fundamentally from existing models of the developmental state in order to achieve success. Growth strategies focused primarily on traditional capital accumulation will no longer suffice. State-society ties can no longer be focused narrowly on relations with capitalist elites.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Capitalism, International Development, and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus