Editor’s Note

This issue addresses some of the core philosophical, conceptual, and programmatic issues around social development approaches toward improving human well-being.

Various forms of conflict, such as war, saw the displacement of nearly 40 million people during this decade. The inhuman treatments the displaced suffer are horrific, and the scale of violence perpetrated on them remains muted under the current divisions of socio-political power distribution globally. Women and children suffer the most. Corbin and Omona present several approaches based on social development for post-conflict development of populations in northern Uganda. They describe the use of dialogue groups as a community-based social development strategy to improve livelihood and connection among community members alongside achieving significant reductions in gender-based violence.

Zhan addresses some of the most devastating consequences of student loan burdens among the youth in the United States. It is well-known that problems that reduce capacity-building among the youth in any nation will weaken national capacity at all fronts, including economic and political fronts. The ­article ­examines the relationship between student loan debt and financial hardship among young adults, and also the differences in experiences with student loan debt and financial hardship between whites and minority students. The effects of student loan burden extend over a number of aspects of wealth-building over the life course of minorities. The article contributes toward policy-based approaches to social development.

Gad presents a detailed account of the effects of various educational levels by gender on economic growth in two Arab countries, Jordan and Egypt, respectively, using time series data. While there are several studies on the effect of education in developing countries, such studies are few and far between in the Arab world, especially in Jordan and Egypt. The impact of educational levels on economic growth is of special interest to social development scholars because of its focus on human capital. The positive and significant effects of female education on ­economic growth are noteworthy.

Mohan’s article on development is a critique of several issues regarding the scope and direction of social development, and its relationship with capitalism. He questions the contributions of many a stalwart owing to a hiatus that he discerns between theory and practice. He identifies such concerns, which, he believes, ­perpetuate counter-development.

Sobantu highlights the suitability and applicability of social development approaches for improving housing conditions of the poor in South Africa. Adhering to a longstanding definition of social development as a strategy to divert the fruits of economic development toward human well-being, he attempts to ­delineate a conceptual space for housing development.

Vijayan K. Pillai

Editor, SDI