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Explore the impact of democracy, inequality, and vulnerability on empowerment and sustainability. Learn how gender disparities, income inequality, and vulnerability affect human development and sustainability trends.
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Chapter 4: Good Things Don’t Always Come Together • Empowerment, Equity and Sustainability • Democracy and Equity • Effects of Inequality • Vulnerability
Empowerment • Empowerment is an increase in people’s ability to bring about change. • It emphasizes the ability of individuals and groups to engage with, shape and benefit from political and other development processes in households, communities and countries. • It strengthens people’s ability to make informed choices and hold governments accountable.
Expectations, Technology and Globalization • People’s expectation has changed over time due to • Internet and cell-phones • Radio and Televisions • Globalization
Effects of Democratization • Improved the standings of previously marginalized and disadvantaged groups, particularly women and indigenous people. • In general, it had led to more accountable governments and better delivery of social services e.g. education and health. 3. However, there is no significant effect of democracy on growth.
Inequality • Lower inequality in income is associated with higher HDI. • Over last twenty years income inequality within countries has been growing due to number of reasons: • Skill-biased technological changes: New technologies favor skilled workers over unskilled ones. • Financial wealth is highly concentrated. • Labor market changes: Decline in the power of unions, erosion of minimum wage • Changes in tax laws: particularly lowering of income tax and favorable treatment to earnings from capital
Consequences of Income Inequality • Income inequality may lead to unequal access to public services such as education and health. • This unequal access to education and health would lead to increased income inequality in future. • Rising income inequality may also undermine empowerment of poor people as elite can capture most of the political, social, and economic benefits.
Gender Disparities Indicators of gender disparities: • Sex-Ratio: In many countries, most notably in China sex-ratio is moving against women. • Disempowerment within family: Domestic violence, Lower educational and nutritional status. • Disempowerment within society: Lack of ownership of property, disparity in employment and earnings opportunities, low representation in political institutions
Vulnerability and Sustainability • Vulnerability is associated with the possibility of decline in human development. • Countries and people are vulnerable when their human development is threatened by various risks. • These risks can arise in many ways: economic crisis, natural disasters (flood, famine, earthquakes etc.), illnesses and accidents.
Sustainability • Sustainability implies that improvement in human development can be sustained. • Sustainable development is a progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. • Climate change (global warming, environmental degradation) has emerged as the biggest threat to the sustainability of development.
