This new collection critically examines the new global policy of 'good governance'. This catchphrase of aid policy and development thinking has been the subject of too little analysis to date. This book redresses the balance. It places the prefix 'good', and exactly what that means, under the microscope and examines the impact of neoliberal governance in a wide range of countries and territories, including Chile, Russia, Argentina and Indonesia.

The contributions cover a wide range of territories - Argentina, Russia, the Ukraine, Indonesia and Taiwan The book will be the first to call into question the idea of 'good governance' and exactly what that implies The editors have a good track record and have been widely published in the area Book should be of great appeal to all international and development economists

This Handbook investigates all types of 'member owned' organizations, whether consumer co-operatives, agricultural and producer co-operatives, or worker co-operatives among many others. The chapters reflect the latest academic research and thinking on each topic, as well as reporting the relevant policy debates.

The book examines the well-established field of ‘law and development’ and asks whether the concept of development and discourses on law and development have outlived their usefulness. The contributors ask whether instead of these amorphous and contested concepts we should focus upon social injustices such as patriarchy, impoverishment, human rights violations, the exploitation of indigenous peoples, and global heating? If we abandoned the idea of development, would we end up adopting another, equally problematic term to replace a concept which, for all its flaws, serves as a commonly understood shorthand? The contributors analyse the links between conventional academic approaches to law and development, neoliberal governance and activism through historical and contemporary case studies. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of development, international law, international economic law, governance and politics and international relations.

"By making use of a wide range of in-depth case studies from various developing countries and post-communist states, this book analyzes the causes and effects of neoliberal restructuring and the process of depolitization that went with it. The contributors critically examine the contradictory nature of good governance and the consequences that have been seen to go with it." "This important book provides a contribution to the literature on good governance. It will provide and interesting read for those with an interest in economics and development studies as well as being useful to policy makers and non-governmental organizations."--BOOK JACKET.

After a decade of implementation, SAPs policies had horrific economic and social consequences. The policy framework was successful only at its neoliberal goals to diminish government size and integrate developing countries into the liberal global economy. The notion of good governance was born in reaction to this failed agenda. In the view of the IFIs, the failure of SAPs to generate economic growth was not because of a flawed policy but due to bad governance that severely impeded successful implementation in low-income countries. Since the late 1980s, therefore, the notion of “good governance” as a new and sole recipe for development was devised and continues to drive international development policy and practice. Following the 1997 Asian financial crises and the uproar against the IMF's structural adjustment prescriptions, the IFIs shifted gears, turning the rhetoric of development policy to what SAPs were not and failed to achieve. Poverty reduction was placed as top agenda of a new development policy framework, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), launched in 1999. After more than a decade, however, poverty in absolute terms continues to rise in developing countries and global income and wealth inequality widened, further worsened by the global financial crisis. Moreover, it became clear that the change of development approach has been mainly in rhetoric. In practice, there is little evidence showing a genuine shift away from neoliberal principles. In what ways are PRPSs different from SAPs? Is there a real change in development principles, policies and practices? What is the future of neoliberal development policies given the crisis of neoliberalism? What is the future of good governance in its current free market-based fashion? This paper seeks to answer these questions by examining the policy paradigms -- SAPs and PRSPs -- promoted under the rubric of good governance in poor countries. It critically examines the “free market” neoliberal dogma that underlies development policy, the ideological change and continuity, and the future of good governance as a recipe for development. It argues that the new consensus on good governance rest on “re-branding and re-spinning new progressive outfits for old liberal policy”, constituting “the best ideological shell of neoliberalism today.”

The world development institutions commonly present 'urban governance' as an antidote to the so-called 'urbanisation of poverty' and 'parasitic urbanism' in Africa. Governance for Pro-Poor Urban Development is a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the meaning, nature, and effects of 'urban governance' in theory and in practice, with a focus on Ghana, a country widely regarded as an island of good governance in the sub region. The book illustrates how diverse groups experience urban governance differently and contextualizes how this experience has worsened social differentiation in cities. This book will be of great interest to students, teachers, and researchers in development studies, and highly relevant to anyone with an interest in urban studies, geography, political economy, sociology, and African studies.