Social Policy in a Development Context: Introduction

Both the contemporary normative discourse and the emerging consensus on development insists on putting in place social institutions (including states) that are developmental (in that they sustain high rates of growth and the structural transformation of economies), that are socially inclusive and that are sanctioned by democratic processes that fully respect the human rights of all citizens. Such an understanding can be surmised from the many resolutions of major international conferences of the 1990s and is reflected at the national level in struggles for democracy, equity and the clamour for bringing development back onto the economic policy agenda. On a more theoretical level, this understanding of development has been succinctly stated by Amartya Sen (1999) in his Development as Freedom in which he argues that economic development, equity and democracy are mutually constitutive.

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1. Thandika Mkandawire

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1. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Switzerland Thandika Mkandawire ( Director ) ( Director )

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Mkandawire, T. (2004). Social Policy in a Development Context: Introduction. In: Mkandawire, T. (eds) Social Policy in a Development Context. Social Policy in a Development Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523975_1

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