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Human Development in Africa in 2015

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2005

Jennifer Widner
Jennifer Widner
Affiliation:
Princeton University (jwidner@princeton.edu)
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Extract

The Perspectives editors handed me the following assignment: “Ten years from now, what will be the status of human development in sub-Saharan Africa? What will be the trajectory of the AIDS crisis; what actors—if any—can we expect to address problems of health, education, and poverty? What political changes can we anticipate, and how will these affect standards of living (and vice versa)?” The choice of language is significant. Most studies of development in Africa have focused on growth. However, here the interest is in the degree to which growth and other things, most especially the quality of government, translate into standards of living and aspects of “human development” or “capability,” typically measured by school completion rates, child malnutrition, under age-five mortality, and related indicators.Jennifer Widner is professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University (jwidner@princeton.edu).

Type
SYMPOSIUM: TEN YEARS FROM NOW
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2005 , pp. 572 - 575
Copyright
© 2005 American Political Science Association

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References

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