Which Values for Our Time

Daniel S. Hamilton

Are we facing a crisis of values? In recent years various thinkers have argued that we face the end of truth (both metaphysical and scientific), the end of beauty, the end of history—even the end of man. Societal and historical ruptures, discontinuities, and radical innovations can be both cause and consequence of such thinking. Do we truly face a general crisis of meaning? Do we have the means, the tools to overcome it? Can we fathom other values able to bridge the seemingly disconnected cognitive, ethical- political, and aesthetic domains, and possibly reveal affinities between what Plato once termed the True, the Good, and the Beautiful? On the occasion of its 50th Anniversary, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation asked leading thinkers to address these questions. The result is a rich interdisciplinary examination, with contributions from Robert Kagan, Patrick Nerhot, Jean Petitot, Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara, Zenon Pylyshyn, Jerrold Levinson, Joseph Margolis, John Keane, David Gordon, and Jean-Pierre Dupuy.

• Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9780978882167
• Publication Date: Oct 2007
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

The Governor's Solution

Todd Moss

Reliance on natural resource revenues, particularly oil, is often associated with bad governance, corruption, and poverty. Worried about the effect of oil on Alaska, Governor Jay Hammond had a simple yet revolutionary idea: let citizens have a direct stake. The Governor's Solution features his firsthand account that describes, with brutal honesty and piercing humor, the birth of the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend, which has been paid to each resident every year since 1982.Thirty years later, Hammond's vision is still influencing oil policies throughout the world. This reader, part of the Center for Global Development's Oil-to-Cash initiative, includes recent scholarly work examining Alaska's experience and how other oil-rich societies, particularly Iraq, might apply some of the lessons. It is as a powerful reminder that the combination of new ideas and determined individuals can make a tremendous difference—even in issues as seemingly complex and intractable as fighting the oil curse.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781933286709
• Publication Date: Nov 2012
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

The Rebirth of Education

Lant Pritchett

Despite great progress around the world in getting more kids into schools, too many leave without even the most basic skills. In India's rural Andhra Pradesh, for instance, only about one in twenty children in fifth grade can perform basic arithmetic.The problem is that schooling is not the same as learning. In The Rebirth of Education, Lant Pritchett uses two metaphors from nature to explain why. The first draws on Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom's book about the difference between centralized and decentralized organizations, The Starfish and the Spider. Schools systems tend be centralized and suffer from the limitations inherent in top-down designs. The second metaphor is the concept of isomorphic mimicry. Pritchett argues that many developing countries superficially imitate systems that were successful in other nations— much as a nonpoisonous snake mimics the look of a poisonous one.Pritchett argues that the solution is to allow functional systems to evolve locally out of an environment pressured for success. Such an ecosystem needs to be open to variety and experimentation, locally operated, and flexibly financed. The only main cost is ceding control; the reward would be the rebirth of education suited for today's world.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781933286778
• Publication Date: Oct 2013
• Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Commonwealth Guidelines for the Treatment of Victims of Crime

The victims of crime are sometimes overlooked when reforming the criminal justice systems of countries. These guidelines set out best practice in this area.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9780850927252
• Publication Date: Jan 2003
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Oil to Cash

Todd Moss

What should a country do if it suddenly discovers oil and gas? How should it spend the subsequent cash windfall? How can it protect against corruption? How can citizens truly benefit from national wealth? With many of the world's poorest and most fragile states suddenly joining the ranks of oil and gas producers, these are pressing policy questions. Oil to Cash explores one option that may help avoid the so-called resource curse: just give the money directly to citizens. A universal, transparent, and regular cash transfer would not only provide a concrete benefit to regular people, but would also create powerful incentives for citizens to hold their government accountable. Oil to Cash details how and where this idea could work and how policymakers can learn from the experiences with cash transfers in places like Mexico, Mongolia, and Alaska.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781933286693
• Publication Date: Jun 2015
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

17 Big Bets for a Better World

Stig Tackmann

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9788793229549
• Publication Date: Sep 2016
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Social Policies in Grenada

Patsy Lewis

This paper assesses developments in social policy approaches and delivery in Grenada, including the economic strategies pursued and their effects on social policy, particularly in respect of children. It looks at the challenges faced by governments and presents a brief case study of Hurricane Ivan.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781849290258
• Publication Date: Nov 2010
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Anticipatory Social Protection

Marilyn Waring

This publication will help policy-makers and development practitioners to make informed decisions about programme design and delivery so that beneficiaries' access to and participation in social protection mechanisms are fully realised.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781849290951
• Publication Date: Oct 2013
• Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Youth and Development in Africa

Report of a youth seminar that brought together experts in the field of youth organisation and training in Commonwealth Africa to share ideas and experiences. The seminar considered the problem of transition from a traditional to a modern society, and how to equip young people with the skills, attitudes and opportunities to make the transference.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9780850920239
• Publication Date: Jan 1970
• Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days