Putting ‘projectized’ development in perspective

The project approach to development assistance has been attacked for its inability to make results self-sustaining. This has been attributed to a short time horizon, an inability to pick up recurrent costs, and a tendency to either by-pass or fragment local institutions and therefore to neglect the need for local capacity building. At the same time, claims have been made that projects are politically advantageous due to quick high visibility results and they are useful instruments for experimentation, social learning and capacity building. This article examines both arguments and concludes that there is a need for radical changes in project development processes, but that there should not be a rush to abandon the project as an instrument for development.     

Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Argentina. I. The extent of violence. Copenhagen Study Group

As part of a transcultural investigation of violent behaviour in Argentina and Denmark an analysis was made of the incidents involving deliberate violence as registered in the emergency wards of Hospital Fernandez and Hospital Pinero in Capital Federal Buenos Aires over a period of 13 and 17 months, respectively. In the two emergency wards a total of 281 victims of deliberate violence were observed corresponding to a rate of approximately 0.2/1000 per year in a mainly middle income area of the metropolis Buenos Aires, the catchment region of Hospital Fernandez, and 0.6/1000 per year in a mainly low income area of Buenos Aires, the catchment region of Hospital Pinero. Men aged 20-24 years and 40-49 years were found to be the most frequent victims of deliberate violence, 13% and 11%, respectively. Elderly women greater than or equal to 60 years of age were rarely found to be victims of deliberate violence (2%). Skilled and unskilled male workers were over-represented as victims of violence. Sixty-four percent of the victims were men and 29% women, 6% were boys and 0.7% girls less than or equal to 14 years of age. Twenty-one percent of the male victims and 5% of the female victims were alcohol intoxicated when arriving in the emergency ward. The incidents took place in restaurants or in the vicinity of restaurants for only 7% of the male victims, while 55% of male victims and 34% of female victims had been injured in the street, most often by non-acquainted men. Fifty-eight percent of the female victims had been subject to deliberate violence at home, in the majority of the cases beaten by their spouse. Twelve percent of the male victims and 8% of the female victims were estimated to be under the influence of drugs. The incidence of deliberate violence seems to be lower in Argentina than in Denmark. However, serious lesions appear to be considerably more frequent in male Argentinian victims compared to male Danish victims, maybe because the practice of seeking medical assistance is different in the two countries. The pattern of deliberate violence appears to be associated with socio-economic and cultural factors. Influence of alcohol does not appear to play a role that is comparable to the situation observed in Denmark. A considerably larger percentage of victims in Argentina than in Denmark had been injured in the street.     

Party as linkage

Nomination: Costs and benefits of party membership reconsidered by Wolfgang C. Müller, p.169
Reflections: Party as linkage by Richard S. Katz, p171     

Urban growth in India: Demographic and sociocultural prospects

This paper explores some of the complexities of India’s urban growth since its first post-Independence census of 1951. Two levels of analysis are pursued as they affect one another: numerical or demographic changes, on one hand, and changes in living conditions, or sociocultural trends, on the other. The general conclusion of the study is that a process of “erosion” of traditional society is occurring, but it is occurring slowly— as a population more than twice the size of the entire United States continues to live in the countryside (and to increase at about twice the U.S. growth rate). Moreover, the sociocultural change is occurring in a non-linear fashion, as much that is traditional endures along side of the modern—rather than being replaced or obliterated by it. Finally, while the growth is occurring in cities of all sizes, the intermediate, regional capitals like Hyderabad and ahmedabad—rather than the largest cities such as Bombay or Calcutta—are experiencing the most rapid growth. Jay Weinstein is a professor of sociology and faculty research fellow at Eastern Michigan University. He has also taught at the University of Iowa (1972–77) and Georgia Institute of Technology (1977–86). He has been involved in comparative development studies for over twenty years, beginning with his Ph.D. fieldwork in India in 1971. His current interests include Canadian Studies and Eastern Europe. He visited Bulgaria in February–March, 1991 as a member of a U.S. Information Agency Citizen Exchange Project.