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Contemporary Military Reserves: Between the Civilian and Military Worlds (Cass Military Studies)
by Eyal Ben-Ari Vincent ConnellyThis book offers a comparative study of military reserves in contemporary democracies. A combination of budgetary pressures, new missions and emerging military roles during the past three decades has led the armed forces of democracies to rethink the training and use of reserve forces. Moreover, reservists have become central to the armed forces as part of moves towards "total" or "comprehensive" defense. Despite this, a scholarly bias towards studying regulars and conscripts means that reservists and reserve soldiers continue to receive only marginal attention. This volume fills that lacuna through a series of country studies examining how best to understand the peculiarities of reservist service. In contrast to regulars and conscripts, reservists are marked by their dual management of civilian and military careers, different family dynamics, diverse motivations and commitment to the armed forces, the material and non-material incentives they are offered, and their place in the political sphere. This volume suggests two frames to make sense of such differences: first, it looks at reservists as "transmigrants" traveling between the military and civilian worlds; and, second, it analyzes the multiple informal "contracts" and negotiations that bind them to the military. All the chapters adopt these conceptualizations, granting the volume a common focus and integrative frame. The volume will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, civil-military relations, sociology and International Relations.
Contemporary Military Reserves: Between the Civilian and Military Worlds (Cass Military Studies)
by Eyal Ben-Ari Vincent ConnellyThis book offers a comparative study of military reserves in contemporary democracies. A combination of budgetary pressures, new missions and emerging military roles during the past three decades has led the armed forces of democracies to rethink the training and use of reserve forces. Moreover, reservists have become central to the armed forces as part of moves towards "total" or "comprehensive" defense. Despite this, a scholarly bias towards studying regulars and conscripts means that reservists and reserve soldiers continue to receive only marginal attention. This volume fills that lacuna through a series of country studies examining how best to understand the peculiarities of reservist service. In contrast to regulars and conscripts, reservists are marked by their dual management of civilian and military careers, different family dynamics, diverse motivations and commitment to the armed forces, the material and non-material incentives they are offered, and their place in the political sphere. This volume suggests two frames to make sense of such differences: first, it looks at reservists as "transmigrants" traveling between the military and civilian worlds; and, second, it analyzes the multiple informal "contracts" and negotiations that bind them to the military. All the chapters adopt these conceptualizations, granting the volume a common focus and integrative frame. The volume will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, civil-military relations, sociology and International Relations.
Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach (Advances in Computational Economics #1)
by David Ben-AriehComputational economics has been at the forefront in stimulating the de velopment of mathematical methodologies for the analysis and solution of complex, large-scale problems. The past decade, in particular, has witnessed a dramatic growth of interest in this area. Supported by the increasing avail ability of data and advances in computer architectures, the scale and scope of problems that can now be handled are unveiling new horizons in both theoretical modeling and policy analysis. Accompanying the activity in computational economics is a need for the unification, documentation, and presentation of fundamental methodologies for use by both researchers and practitioners. This volume aims to make a contribution in this direction. The focus of this book is on network economics. Physical networks are pervasive in today's society, be they in the form of transportation networks, telecommunication networks, energy pipelines, electric power networks, etc. Mathematical networks, on the other hand, may be used to represent not only physical networks but also interactions among economic agents. In many applications, the network representation of an economic equilibrium problem may be abstract in that the nodes of the network need not corre spond to locations in space and the links of the network to trade or travel routes.
Landscapes of Lifelong Learning Policies across Europe: Comparative Case Studies (Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning)
by Sebastiano Benasso Dejana Bouillet Tiago Neves Marcelo Parreira do AmaralThis open access book explores different landscapes of Lifelong Learning policies (LLP), producing case-based examinations of their institutional, discursive, and relational dimensions. Across Europe, young people develop their life courses amidst diverse living conditions and are confronted with a variety of institutional and structural arrangements that impact on their opportunities in education and labour. Considering the relevance of LLP in shaping those opportunities, the chapters draw from multi-level, mixed-methods research and offer original insights on the interplay of discourses and governance patterns in the processes of policy-making and deliverance. The book yields noteworthy insights into the widely differing realities across the European landscape, and also into the diverging ways young people deal with and actively participate in LLP.
Macroeconomics: An Introduction to the Non-Walrasian Approach
by Jean-Pascal Benassy"Macroeconomics" builds a number of macroeconomic models applying the non-Walrasian methodology. The literature on the subject has grown so rapidly in recent years that it would be unreasonable to try to give an exhaustive account of all existing models in the field. We have thus chosen to present here some models that cover as large a number of questions as possible within a simple and unified framework. We also want to bridge the gap with traditional macroeconomics while extending the analysis on various points, which be investigated by purposely making each time the simplest possible assumptions about the formation of the various prices (or, when needed, expectations) involved. This will allow us to demonstrate in a straightforward manner the synthetic qualities of the theory, both by making a natural synthesis with traditional macroeconomics, where similar simple assumptions are made, and by treating a large number of topics while using throughout a very unified macroframework.
Macroeconomics: An Introduction to the Non-Walrasian Approach
by Jean-Pascal BenassyMacroeconomics: An Introduction to the Non-Walrasian Approach provides the approach to macroeconomic theory based on the non-Walrasian method. This book presents the microeconomic concepts that can be applied in a simple and relevant manner to the fundamental topics of macroeconomic theory.Organized into five parts encompassing 14 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the fundamental concepts, describing the functioning of nonclearing markets, the role of expectations, the setting of prices by decentralized agents, and the derivation of optimal demand and supplies. This text then studies various non-Walrasian equilibrium concepts. Other chapters compare the classical and Keynesian theories of unemployment in the framework of a model. This book discusses as well the asymmetric price flexibility into the basic model. The final chapter deals with a dynamic model with explicit expectations, which allows a comparison of the employment effects of various expectations schemes and their realism.This book is a valuable resource for economists.
Debating Procreation: Is It Wrong to Reproduce? (Debating Ethics)
by David Benatar David WassermanWhile procreation is ubiquitous, attention to the ethical issues involved in creating children is relatively rare. In Debating Procreation, David Benatar and David Wasserman take opposing views on this important question. David Benatar argues for the anti-natalist view that it is always wrong to bring new people into existence. He argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm and that even if it were not always so, the risk of serious harm is sufficiently great to make procreation wrong. In addition to these "philanthropic" arguments, he advances the "misanthropic" one that because humans are so defective and cause vast amounts of harm, it is wrong to create more of them. David Wasserman defends procreation against the anti-natalist challenge. He outlines a variety of moderate pro-natalist positions, which all see procreation as often permissible but never required. After criticizing the main anti-natalist arguments, he reviews those pronatalist positions. He argues that constraints on procreation are best understood in terms of the role morality of prospective parents, considers different views of that role morality, and argues for one that imposes only limited constraints based on the well-being of the future child. He then argues that the expected good of a future child and of the parent-child relationship can provide a strong justification for procreation in the face of expected adversities without giving individuals any moral reason to procreate
The Origins of Jeffersonian Commercial Policy and Diplomacy (Studies In Modern History Ser.)
by Doron S. Ben-Atar Heidi Mehrkens
Drugs: America's Holy War
by Arthur BenavieUsing the best scientific evidence, Drugs: America's Holy War explores the impact and cost of America’s "War on Drugs" – both in tax spending and in human terms. Is it possible that US drug policies are helping to proliferate, not prevent, a multitude of social ills including: homicide, property crime, the spread of AIDS, the contamination of drugs, the erosion of civil liberties, the punishment of thousands of non-violent people, the corruption of public officials, and the spending of billions of tax dollars in an attempt to prevent certain drugs from entering the country? In this controversial new book, award-winning economist Arthur Benavie analyzes the research findings and argues that an end to the war on drugs, much as we ended alcohol prohibition, would yield enormous international benefits, destroy dangerous and illegal drug cartels, and allow the American government to refocus its attention on public well-being.
Drugs: America's Holy War
by Arthur BenavieUsing the best scientific evidence, Drugs: America's Holy War explores the impact and cost of America’s "War on Drugs" – both in tax spending and in human terms. Is it possible that US drug policies are helping to proliferate, not prevent, a multitude of social ills including: homicide, property crime, the spread of AIDS, the contamination of drugs, the erosion of civil liberties, the punishment of thousands of non-violent people, the corruption of public officials, and the spending of billions of tax dollars in an attempt to prevent certain drugs from entering the country? In this controversial new book, award-winning economist Arthur Benavie analyzes the research findings and argues that an end to the war on drugs, much as we ended alcohol prohibition, would yield enormous international benefits, destroy dangerous and illegal drug cartels, and allow the American government to refocus its attention on public well-being.
War By Agreement: A Contractarian Ethics of War
by Yitzhak Benbaji Daniel StatmanWar by Agreement presents a new theory on the ethics of war. It shows that wars can be morally justified at both the ad bellum level (the political decision to go to war) and the in bello level (its actual conduct by the military)by accepting a contractarian account of the rules governing war. According to this account, the rules of war are anchored in a mutually beneficial and fair agreement between the relevant players - the purpose of which is to promote peace and to reduce the horrors of war. The book relies on the long social contract tradition and illustrates its fruitfulness in understanding and developing the morality and the law of war.
Reevaluating Evaluation: A Special Issue of peabody Journal of Education
by Camilla Benbow James Guthrie Jason Walton Michele ThompsonIn the context of the evolution of education program evaluation and the current emphasis on scientific precision, this special issue presents several of the challenges to program evaluation that scholars are facing today. In addition, it shares recent insights and experiences that will contribute to continued improvement of program evaluation and responds to the call for more exactness without losing sight of the lessons learned from evaluation over the past several decades. The eight papers address five main areas: evaluation design, instrumentation, implementation, politics, and analysis. As a whole, this issue is designed shed light on the five issues, as well as provide information useful for those interested in increasing the rigor of education research to increase the ability to improve schools.
China's International Projection in the Xi Jinping Era: An Economic Perspective (SpringerBriefs in Economics)
by Lorenzo Bencivelli Flavia TonelliThis book illustrates the current state of China’s economic and trade relations from the perspective from different countries in the Xi Jinping era. The content is divided into five parts, the first of which traces the development of the Chinese economy starting with the reforms of the 1980s. The second part notes some distinctive elements of China’s positioning in the global economy, while the third describes the state of relations between the United States and China under the Trump presidency. The fourth part focuses on diplomatic and economic equilibria in East Asia, Central and Southern Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. In turn, the last part addresses relations between China and various European countries. Given its scope, the book is a must-read for economists, policymakers and professionals from around the globe, interested in a better understanding of China’s economic prospects in the Xi Jinping era.
Education Finance, Equality, and Equity (Education, Equity, Economy #5)
by Iris BenDavid-HadarThis volume revisits educational equality and equity issues, especially, in education finance-related topics consisting of 15 chapters and organized in two parts. The first part of the volume entitled “Education Finance”, focuses on equity aspects of resource allocation and its influence on education. The second part, entitled “Educational Equality and Equity”, focuses on the conceptualization, and the measurements of educational inequity, and inequality with special emphasis on the cost of inequality. The field of education finance has been significantly influencing policy-makers in many countries in recent years. This volume is focused on equity and equality in education finance in an international frame. This book would be of interest to (1) scholars at the fields of education finance, economics of education, and educational policy, (2) graduate students at the course of school finance or economics of education, and (3) local and global policy makers at the fields of education policy, and education finance.
Parteiensysteme in Zentralamerika: Typologien und Erklärungsfaktoren (Politische Organisation und Repräsentation in Amerika #7)
by Petra Bendel1. 1 Fragestellung Die vorliegende Studie fragt nach den Ursachen :fiir die Ausprägung der ganz unterschiedlichen Strukturen in den Parteiensystemen der Länder Zen 1 . tralamerikas: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua und Costa Rica Den vier erstgenannten Ländern, die demselben geographischen area an gehören, kann ein hohes Maß an Gemeinsamkeit hinsichtlich ihrer histori schen Entwicklung, ihrer geographischen, wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und poli 2 tischen Struktur unterstellt werden . Sie verfügen über eine gemeinsame Kolonialgeschichte (Rausch 1983) und erlangten zusammen die Unabhängig keit von Spanien. Alle zentralamerikanischen Länder erlebten gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts grundlegende wirtschaftliche, politische und gesellschaftli che Umstrukturierungen im Zeichen der sogenannten Liberalen Revolution, die eine Anhindung an den Weltmarkt und eine starke und dauerhafte Durch dringung der einheimischen Wirtschaft durch ausländisches Kapital nach sich zogen3. In allen vier Ländern kam es nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg zu einer dynamischen Wirtschaftsentwicklung, die bis in die siebziger Jahre anhielt; nicht zuletzt im Rahmen des Gemeinsamen Zentralamerikanischen Marktes 4 (MCCA) erfolgte eine Diversifizierung und Modernisierung der Wirt schaftsstrukturen, die tiefgreifende Veränderungen in der sozialen Struktur zur Folge hatten. Die achtziger und neunziger Jahre standen in allen Ländern im Zeichen der Wirtschaftskrise, auf welche die Regierungen mit der Durch führung von Strukturanpassungsprogrammen reagierten. Hinsichtlich der politischen Entwicklung waren Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala und Nica- Zentralamerika wird in historisch-politischer Hinsicht definiert.
Evolving Partnerships: A Guide to Working with Business for Greater Social Change
by Jem BendellBy bringing together their respective competencies and resources for the greater good, governments, business, civil society and multilateral agencies have been seeking innovative ways to work together to respond to the myriad global challenges of our time: the impact of climate change; human security; the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases; the generation of new investment, entrepreneurship and employment; and financing for development. The appetite for such partnerships appears strong. Over 90% of corporate executives responding to a World Economic Forum survey felt that future partnerships between business, government and civil society would play either a major role or some role in addressing key development challenges. This trend will only be increased by the Western financial crisis and the retreat of the state from many areas of societal concern. In the last 15 years, many new partnerships have been formed, and many new people exposed to partnership ways of working. There have been remarkable successes, but also a range of concerns about effectiveness and accountability. Partnerships can work, but can they work better? Many practitioners are now asking how they can achieve a greater scale of impact to match the magnitude of the social and environmental challenges we face. When considering how to equip their organization or programme with the necessary skills to engage with companies in new ways, many leaders of NGOs or UN agencies hire staff from the private sector. Although such staff exchanges are important, it is not sufficient to rely on private-sector staff to develop and implement strategic forms of engagement. Rather, engaging business for social change is a specialism in itself. This book seeks to distil some of the author's 15 years of experience and key learnings on the advanced strategic planning of partnerships for people who work within civil society or public-sector organizations and who already partner with companies. Much of the research focus to date has been on operational issues, rather than on the strategic challenge of evolving partnerships to achieve a greater scale of impact. Rather than helping the reader with moving on from partnerships, this guidebook is intended to help with moving up to a greater scale of impact. The author identifies three generations in the evolution of cross-sector partnering and draws insights from the latest biological evolutionary theory on how complex systems can sustain themselves over time, translating this into a method for understanding and assessing partnering practice. Evolving Partnerships provides a rich and accessible mix of commentary, boxes for clarification, and 11 exercises to help the reader evolve partnering to achieve a wider level of impact – a level that responds to the scale, depth and urgency of the challenges we face today. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on partnerships and a key architect of global partnerships, including the Marine Stewardship Council, Evolving Partnerships will be essential reading for all those involved in cross-sectoral partnerships.
Evolving Partnerships: A Guide to Working with Business for Greater Social Change
by Jem BendellBy bringing together their respective competencies and resources for the greater good, governments, business, civil society and multilateral agencies have been seeking innovative ways to work together to respond to the myriad global challenges of our time: the impact of climate change; human security; the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases; the generation of new investment, entrepreneurship and employment; and financing for development. The appetite for such partnerships appears strong. Over 90% of corporate executives responding to a World Economic Forum survey felt that future partnerships between business, government and civil society would play either a major role or some role in addressing key development challenges. This trend will only be increased by the Western financial crisis and the retreat of the state from many areas of societal concern. In the last 15 years, many new partnerships have been formed, and many new people exposed to partnership ways of working. There have been remarkable successes, but also a range of concerns about effectiveness and accountability. Partnerships can work, but can they work better? Many practitioners are now asking how they can achieve a greater scale of impact to match the magnitude of the social and environmental challenges we face. When considering how to equip their organization or programme with the necessary skills to engage with companies in new ways, many leaders of NGOs or UN agencies hire staff from the private sector. Although such staff exchanges are important, it is not sufficient to rely on private-sector staff to develop and implement strategic forms of engagement. Rather, engaging business for social change is a specialism in itself. This book seeks to distil some of the author's 15 years of experience and key learnings on the advanced strategic planning of partnerships for people who work within civil society or public-sector organizations and who already partner with companies. Much of the research focus to date has been on operational issues, rather than on the strategic challenge of evolving partnerships to achieve a greater scale of impact. Rather than helping the reader with moving on from partnerships, this guidebook is intended to help with moving up to a greater scale of impact. The author identifies three generations in the evolution of cross-sector partnering and draws insights from the latest biological evolutionary theory on how complex systems can sustain themselves over time, translating this into a method for understanding and assessing partnering practice. Evolving Partnerships provides a rich and accessible mix of commentary, boxes for clarification, and 11 exercises to help the reader evolve partnering to achieve a wider level of impact – a level that responds to the scale, depth and urgency of the challenges we face today. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on partnerships and a key architect of global partnerships, including the Marine Stewardship Council, Evolving Partnerships will be essential reading for all those involved in cross-sectoral partnerships.
Terms for Endearment: Business, NGOs and Sustainable Development
by Jem BendellBusiness and NGOs are seen by many to be locked in a perpetual war of values and ideologies. What this book demonstrates is that the war has moved on. Many companies are now engaging with their stakeholders – even those with which they have traditionally had antagonistic relationships – as part of their strategies for improved social and environmental performance. With contributions from an outstanding and diverse group of experts from business, consultancy, research institutes, NGOs and academia, Terms for Endearment investigates the how and why of these new collaborations and provides concrete examples of business working with stakeholder pressure for sustainable development. The book forcibly argues the notion of organizations of civil society setting the standards for business behaviour in the 21st century. For those companies that choose not to pursue high standards of social and environmental performance, confrontation with NGOs must be expected, with negative consequences for sales, costs and social capital, i.e. the bottom line. Terms for Endearment therefore presents business with both a threat and opportunity as we move closer to establishing a social basis for global economic activity.
Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos
by Jem Bendell Rupert Read‘Deep adaptation’ refers to the personal and collective changes that might help us to prepare for – and live with – a climate-influenced breakdown or collapse of our societies. It is a framework for responding to the terrifying realization of increasing disruption by committing ourselves to reducing suffering while saving more of society and the natural world. This is the first book to show how professionals across different sectors are beginning to incorporate the acceptance of likely or unfolding societal breakdown into their work and lives. They do not assume that our current economic, social and political systems can be made resilient in the face of climate change but, instead, they demonstrate the caring and creative ways that people are responding to the most difficult realization with which humanity may ever have to come to terms. Edited by the originator of the concept of deep adaptation, Jem Bendell, and a leading climate activist and strategist, Rupert Read, this book is the essential introduction to the concept, practice and emerging global movement of Deep Adaptation to climate chaos.
FDI, Regionalism, Government Policy and Endogenous Growth: A Comparative Study of the ASEAN-5 Economies, with Development Policy Implications for the Least Developed Countries
by Anthony Bende-NabendePublished in 1999, this text investigates whether FDI caused spill over effects which have led to the economic growth of the ASEAN-5 economies, and if that it so, whether the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement (APTA) had a significant effect in attracting FDI to the region. It takes into account the different levels of economic development of the countries under analysis. The results from the structural (static) model suggest that FDI has stimulated economic growth through the human factors followed by technology transfer, international trade, and learning by doing, and that the formation of APTA had a lagged influence on FDI inflows into the advantage of the more developed member countries and the disadvantage of the less developed countries. Those from the multiplier (dynamic) effects analysis demonstrate that whereas the impact is immediate in the more developed, politically stable and foreign investment friendly economies, there is a time lag in those economies which are less developed and more hostile to FDI. The analysis presents an empirical comparison of how the level of economic development affects the interaction of FDI, regionalism and economic growth.
FDI, Regionalism, Government Policy and Endogenous Growth: A Comparative Study of the ASEAN-5 Economies, with Development Policy Implications for the Least Developed Countries
by Anthony Bende-NabendePublished in 1999, this text investigates whether FDI caused spill over effects which have led to the economic growth of the ASEAN-5 economies, and if that it so, whether the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement (APTA) had a significant effect in attracting FDI to the region. It takes into account the different levels of economic development of the countries under analysis. The results from the structural (static) model suggest that FDI has stimulated economic growth through the human factors followed by technology transfer, international trade, and learning by doing, and that the formation of APTA had a lagged influence on FDI inflows into the advantage of the more developed member countries and the disadvantage of the less developed countries. Those from the multiplier (dynamic) effects analysis demonstrate that whereas the impact is immediate in the more developed, politically stable and foreign investment friendly economies, there is a time lag in those economies which are less developed and more hostile to FDI. The analysis presents an empirical comparison of how the level of economic development affects the interaction of FDI, regionalism and economic growth.
Globalisation, FDI, Regional Integration and Sustainable Development: Theory, Evidence and Policy (Routledge Revivals)
by Anthony Bende-NabendeThis title was first published in 2002: Anthony Bende-Nabende focuses on the ongoing globalization process, which has sparked an unprecedented world-wide debate. He provides a one-stop centre for a balanced coverage of the theoretical, empirical and policy issues linking globalization with foreign direct investment, regional economic integration, and economic growth and sustainable development. This stimulating book comprehensively explores the theoretical and empirical literature inter-linking the aforementioned factors from the anti-globalization activists’ viewpoint, and from the pro-globalization proponents’ perspective. It proposes policies that individual countries should pursue, based on the recognition that globalization generates both positive and negative effects. These comprise policies required to maximise the economic benefits globalization may generate, and those that aim to eliminate or at least minimize the negative development-oriented effects globalization may engender and, hence, to propel sustainable development. The book will be an essential guide for students, academics and those involved in international economics, environmental studies, international relations, and growth and development studies.
Globalisation, FDI, Regional Integration and Sustainable Development: Theory, Evidence and Policy (Routledge Revivals)
by Anthony Bende-NabendeThis title was first published in 2002: Anthony Bende-Nabende focuses on the ongoing globalization process, which has sparked an unprecedented world-wide debate. He provides a one-stop centre for a balanced coverage of the theoretical, empirical and policy issues linking globalization with foreign direct investment, regional economic integration, and economic growth and sustainable development. This stimulating book comprehensively explores the theoretical and empirical literature inter-linking the aforementioned factors from the anti-globalization activists’ viewpoint, and from the pro-globalization proponents’ perspective. It proposes policies that individual countries should pursue, based on the recognition that globalization generates both positive and negative effects. These comprise policies required to maximise the economic benefits globalization may generate, and those that aim to eliminate or at least minimize the negative development-oriented effects globalization may engender and, hence, to propel sustainable development. The book will be an essential guide for students, academics and those involved in international economics, environmental studies, international relations, and growth and development studies.
Politisch-ökonomische Konfliktlinien im sich wandelnden Wohlfahrtsstaat: Positionierung deutscher Interessenverbände von 2000 bis 2014
by Benedikt BenderIn der sozialwissenschaftlichen Literatur werden unterschiedliche Thesen zur Rolle von Interessenverbänden in Bezug auf Reformprozesse gemacht. Benedikt Bender testet in der vorliegenden Studie diese Thesen, indem die Positionierung von Gewerkschaften und Unternehmerverbänden zu gesellschaftspolitisch umstrittenen Reformdebatten analysiert werden. Der zentrale Befund ist, dass es sich um eine Koexistenz von strukturellen und strategischen Interessen der Organisationen handelt, die umso moderater wurden, je mehr institutionelle Austauschprozesse wie Tarifverhandlungen vorhanden sind.
Social Protection in Developing Countries: Reforming Systems (Routledge Explorations in Development Studies)
by Katja Bender Markus Kaltenborn Christian PfleidererProviding universal access to social protection and health systems for all members of society, including the poor and vulnerable, is increasingly considered crucial to international development debates. This is the first book to explore from an interdisciplinary and global perspective the reforms of social protection systems introduced in recent years by many governments of low and middle-income countries. Although a growing body of literature has been concerned with the design and impact of social protection, less attention has been directed towards analyzing and explaining these reform processes themselves. Through case studies of African, Asian, and Latin American countries, this book examines the ‘global phenomenon’ of recent social protection reforms in low and middle-income areas, and how it differs across countries both in terms of scope and speed of institutional change. Exploring the major domestic and international factors affecting the political feasibility of social protection reform, the book outlines the successes and failures of recent reform initiatives. This invaluable book combines contributions from both academics and practitioner experts to give students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of social security, economics, law and political science an in-depth understanding of political reform processes in developing countries.