Search results for "Development studies"

Not only peasants: the myth of continuity in the irrigation communities of Valencia, Spain, in the medieval and early modern periods

2017

AbstractThe Horta of Valencia is a large irrigated area managed by eight communities of landowners. Traditionally, it was considered that these communities were composed of peasants, that they were self-managed and self-governed, and that they had remained immutable over time. However, the historical evidence shows that this is not true for pre-modern times. This article examines a possible Islamic origin of these institutions, the rupture caused by the Christian conquest of Valencia in the thirteenth century, the structure of the communities, and the social diversity of their members within the framework of feudalism. We conclude that irrigation communities cannot be used as examples of in…

The Lure of Katanga Copper : Tanganyika Concessions Limited and the Anatomy of Mining and Mine Exploration 1899–1906

2016

This article provides a rare opportunity to follow the inception of mining and mine exploration economy in the first years of the European presence in colonial Zambia and Katanga as seen through the eyes of prospectors and mining experts working for the London-based company Tanganyika Concessions Limited. It draws on company records as well as the personal records of the early company employees who worked in North Western Rhodesia and adjoining Katanga until 1906. The most thought-provoking documents include diaries, letters and photographs, which depict the organisation and processes of early mining work, modes of mine exploration, and relations within the first mining communities and betw…

STATE BUILDING, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER REGIME IN NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA, c. 1944–75

2016

AbstractCombining a set of grey literature and primary sources, this article analyses the rise and fall of the sultanate of Awsa, northeastern Ethiopia, between 1944 and 1975. Ali Mirah exploited the typical repertoires of a frontier regime to consolidate a semi-independent Muslim chiefdom at the fringes of the Christian empire of Ethiopia. Foreign investors in commercial agriculture provided the sultanate and its counterparts within the Ethiopian state with tangible and intangible resources that shaped the quest for statecraft in the Lower Awash Valley.

Toward a holistic understanding of pastoralism

2021

Pastoralism is globally significant in social, environmental, and economic terms. However, it experiences crises rooted in misconceptions and poor interdisciplinary understanding, while being largely overlooked in international sustainability forums and agendas. Here, we propose a transdisciplinary research approach to understand pastoralist transitions using (1) social, economic, and environmental dimensions, (2) diverse geographic contexts and scales to capture emerging properties, allowing for cross-system comparisons, and (3) timescales from the distant past to the present. We provide specific guidelines to develop indicators for this approach, within a social-ecological resilience anal…

Economic crisis and educational crisis : looking ahead

1986

The worldwide economic crisis has now been with us for a good ten years and, for many countries, the end of the tunnel is not yet in sight and is probably a long way off. So what kind of crisis is this, that can continue for so long, given the fact that, etymologically, the term denotes a brief, crucial moment when the outcome of a troubled situation is decided, for better or for worse? Infelicitous as the term commonly used to describe the present state of the world economy may be, it is none the less true that what is designated as a crisis encompasses a historical phase in which economic growth is lower than in the preceding phase and the problems bound up with certain economic trends (i…

Inflation shocks and income inequality

2019

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of inflationary shocks on inequality, using data of selected countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Design/methodology/approach Inflationary shocks were measured as deviations from core inflation, based on a genetic algorithm. Bayesian quantile regression was used to estimate the impact of inflationary shocks in different levels of inequality. Findings The results showed that inflationary shocks substantially affect countries with higher levels of inequality, thus suggesting that the detrimental impact of inflation is exacerbated by the high division of classes in a country. Originality/value The study contributes t…

The European Union as a normal international actor: an analysis of the EU Global Strategy

2019

For a long time, the European Union (EU) has been described by many scholars and policymakers as a civilian and a normative power. This article argues that these concepts do not accurately capture the foreign policy behaviour of the EU as prescribed in the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS). It first situates EU identity and role played in international relations within role strain theory. Then, it notes that the EU has difficulties fulfilling duties connected with its international identity and role. The second part of the article uses three indicators to examine whether the EU is pursuing ‘normal’ international actor status or not, drawing on the Strategy and relevant literature to do …

Debates on European Integration. A Reader

2007

Europe as Empire: The Nature of the Enlarged European Union

2007

Microfinance beyond self-employment: Evidence for firms in Bulgaria

2017

This paper provides new evidence on the impact of microfinance on job creation beyond self-employment. We examine wage-employment effects for a typical program in Eastern Europe with average loan sizes that are considerably above what has been studied so far. We apply propensity score matching extended by a difference-in-differences estimator to panel data from an individual-lending program to firms in Bulgaria. Our results indicate that microcredit has very positive effects on job creation. Participating firms have on average 2.5 (or 33 percent) more employees two years after receiving a microcredit than matched non-participants. This strong effect seems to be related to a certain loan siz…