Introduction: Communities and their future; Four methods for thinking ahead; Why the methods are useful; Participation; Getting ready: team preparations; Selection participants; Monitoring; Facilitating the methods step by step; Facilitation skills and tips.

Pan de vida: Explorando la presencia de la Eucaristía en nuestras vidas, el padre Louis J. Cameli examina la creciente secularización de nuestra cultura y el descenso de la asistencia a la misa dominical, reflexionando profundamente sobre el papel que tiene la Eucaristía en la vida católica. Por lo mismo, el padre Cameli nos comparte su “autobiografía eucarística”, un relato muy personal y conmovedor sobre el rol de la Eucaristía en su vida, desde la niñez hasta la edad adulta. Después de relatar su “autobiografía eucarística”, el padre Cameli va más allá de su experiencia personal para meditar sobre lo que Jesús quiso entregarnos al darnos la Eucaristía, y lo hace colocándonos frente a las cuestiones importantes planteadas por Jesús y sus discípulos en el relato del capítulo sexto del evangelio según san Juan. A partir de allí, el padre Cameli se enfoca en el significado de la Eucaristía en la vida moderna, explorando cuestiones fundamentales de la vida humana como la vida y la muerte, la violencia, y la misma sexualidad con el lente de la Eucaristía. A lo largo de la exposición, los lectores encontrarán preguntas que les invitan y ayudan a hacer su propia reflexión y a compartirla con otras personas.

Cooperatives are found everywhere, doing all kinds of things. They are critical elements in the economies of a large number of countries around the world, large and small. Their affairs are carried out by elected leadership that runs the gamut from the illiterate to the scholarly. Their membership is made up of people of all socio-economic backgrounds. It is those members who, through their support and their needs, determine the successes and failures of cooperatives. But cooperatives as a popular movement will also be judged in other ways. A judgment will be made on the totality of their impact: local, national, and international. People will ask about how they helped ameliorate the economic and social problems of the dispossessed. But they will also inquire about their influence on economic systems, whether these were made more humane, egalitarian, and inclusive in their benefits because of cooperative principles and practices. Their impact on the international order will be judged collectively by how they contributed more than resolutions to peace, to justice, and to human inclusiveness. This volume provides snapshot views of the cooperative movement in all its diversity. The only single source one can consult to find so much information on the different kinds of cooperatives, significant figures, including philosophers, pioneers, officials, and leaders, and the situation in a large number of countries. With a list of acronyms, an extensive chronology, appendixes, and a comprehensive bibliography.

This book compares the successes and failures of the development and growth processes of Argentina and Brazil. It provides important insights into the different performances of these economies through a series of comparative essays written by Argentinian and Brazilian economists. In the last 60 years Argentina and Brazil have both undergone a dramatic process of urbanization and industrialization. While there are similarities between the two, each country has dealt with the side effects in a different manner. In this insightful book, Argentinean and Brazilian economists expertly analyze their country's experiences with processes of industrialization, the performance of the agricultural and service sectors, the impact of foreign investments, the distribution of income, the roles of the state and the privatization experience, and inflationary and stabilization experiences. The contrast of the two emerging countries addressing these challenges will offer students, economists and other social scientists significant new insights into the economic development process. Many of the articles will also appeal to individuals in multinational corporations and banks that have to deal with emerging market economies.

This book reviews the prevalence and variants of consumer subsidies found in the developing world and the effectiveness of these subsidies for the poor. It places consumer subsidies in a broader social protection framework and compares them with poverty-focused programmes in other sectors using a common metric. It concludes that the most common subsidy instruments perform poorly in comparison with most other transfer mechanisms. Alternative consumption and connection subsidy mechanisms show more promise, especially when combined with complementary non-price approaches to making utility services accessible and affordable to poor households. The many factors contributing to those outcomes are dissected, identifying those that can be controlled and used to improve performance.