R. Carr-Hill - Böcker

Sub-Saharan Africa is at the centre of the debate about development. However, much of the argument is based on very poor data, so that we actually know very little. Much of what is presented is based on extrapolation from World Bank data on economic growth.;The purpose of this book is to present a critical examination of the data which is available to comment upon the state of human welfare. In the first part of the book the author demonstrates the importance of first defining the components of human welfare independently of economic growth. The second part of the book is constituted by an examination of the data that is available. Separate chapters consider food, fuel and water, health and education, and then three cross-cutting issues: urbanization, women and human rights. The final part of the book considers the problem of developing a system of social statistics which will reflect the state of human and social welfare.

This volume argues that the present pattern of development, based on everlasting economic growth, is completely unsatisfactory from a welfare point of view. It threatens ecological catastrophe while perpetuating poverty. Roy Carr-Hill and John Lintott propose an alternative policy framework based explicitly on welfare and suggest where cuts in consumption, working hours and ecological risks might be made most usefully.

The uniqueness of the book is not only in the care with which the data is examined but also in the emphasis upon interpreting data within a framework oriented towards the monitoring of the satisfaction of basic human needs.