The capability approach and the praxis of development

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Phil Williams

"The late Professor Phil Williams, who died whilst this book was in production, explores the cross currents of a fractured sensibility that challenge our policy makers in the Assembly Government. Most quoted, of course, is the divide between north and south. Yet he concludes that the distance between them is largely psychological, simply because their peoples so seldom meet. In respect of other divides, for instance between the poorer communities of Wales and those that are more prosperous, the physical distance is often very small. Without being fully conscious of such divisions we will have no chance of addressing them."--BOOK JACKET.

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Richard A. Wilson

"The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to deal with the human rights violations of apartheid during the years 1960-1994. However, as Wilson shows, the TRC's restorative justice approach to healing the nation did not always serve the needs of communities at a local level. Based on extended anthropological fieldwork, this book illustrates the impact of the TRC in urban African communities in the Johannesburg area. While a religious constituency largely embraced the Commission's religious-redemptive language of reconciliation, Wilson argues that the TRC had little effect on popular ideas of justice as retribution. This provocative study deepens our understanding of post-apartheid South Africa and the use of human rights discourse. It ends on a call for more cautious and realistic expectations about what human rights institutions can achieve in democratizing countries."--Jacket.

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Norman Solomon, Reese Erlich

The acclaimed political analyst offers an examination of the arguments for and against war with Iraq, and exposes the alliance between the news media and the Bush administration.

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Omar H. Ali

"Historically, most black voters in the United States have aligned themselves with one of the two major parties: the Republican Party from the time of the Civil War to the New Deal and, since the New Deal - and especially since the height of the modern civil rights movement - the Democratic Party. However, as In the Balance of Power convincingly demonstrates, African Americans have long been part of independent political movements and have used third parties to advance some of the most important changes in the United States, notably the abolition of slavery, the extension of voting rights, and the enforcement of civil rights." "In the Balance of Power presents a history and analysis of African American third-party movements that can help us better understand the growing diversity among black voters today."--Jacket.