Featuring definitions, theoretical debates, coverage of social development practice, and discussion of future challenges, this key new text introduces students to all aspects of Social Development studies

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 1. Defining Social Development Approaches to Definition Towards a Definition 2. The History of Social Development The Idea of Development The Critique of the Standard Model The Origins of Social Development Practice The Role of the International Agencies Reactions against Statism and the Renewal of Social Development Reinvigorating and Redefining Social Development PART TWO: THE THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 3. Theoretical Debates and the Social Development Process The Original Condition The Goals of Social Development Change, Progress and Intervention Normative Perspectives 4. Theoretical Principles of Social Development Practice Social Development Practice Features of Social Development Practice The Practice Strategies Agents, Levels and Organisations Assesing Practice Outcomes PART THREE: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE 5. Investments in Skills and Knowledge: The Role of Human Capital Human Capital in Historical Context Types of Human Capital Childcare and Early Childhood Interventions Formal Education: Schools and Universities Popular Education, Health and Nutrition Issues of Human Capital and Social Development 6. Social Capital, Communities and Social Development Historical Dimensions Social Capital and Community Development Activism and Community Action Community Building and Community Development Community Economic Development Community Development and Social Development 7. Promoting Decent Work and Employment: Policies and Investments The History of Employment and Employment Policy Key Programmes and Policies The Macroeconomic Policy Framework Employment Projects and Programmes Employment Policy and Decent Work Challenges and Opportunities 8. Microenterprise, Microfinance and Social Development The Evolution of Microenterprise and Microfinance Features of Microenterprise and Microfinance Types of Microenterprise Grameen Bank II and the Commercialisation of Microfinance Microenterprise, Poverty and Social Development 9. Assets and Social Development Asset Building in Historical Context The Nature of Assets and Asset Building Financial Assets for Individuals and Households Community Development and Community-Owned Assets National Assets, Trusts and the State The Role of Assets in Social Development 10. Social Protection as a Social Development Strategy The History of Social Protection The Features of Social Protection Varieties of Social Protection Poverty Alleviation Innnovations Social Protection and Development: Challenges and Opportunities 11. Social Planning, Rights and Social Development Social Planning′s Historical Evolution The Nature of Social Planning Types of Social Planning Planning, Targets and Rights Problems and Prospects of Social Planning PART FOUR: CONCLUSION 12. The Agenda: Achieving Social Development Social Development: Towards Institutional Structuralism Theoretical Roots Implementing Managed Pluralism Barrier and Challenges Opportunity, Power and Struggle

This book is a tour de force of the theory and practice of social development and how to make a difference in an increasingly inequitable world. It strongly advances the emerging field of social development.  Midgley reviews the historical, theoretical and philosophical ideas that underpin the social development approach and a set of social interventions that are widely advocated to promote both micro and macro social change. It is highly recommended for development scholars and practitioners around the world.