2-5 September 2014
We are pleased to announce you
that the University of Ioannina and the Bielefeld Centre for Education and Capability
Research of Bielefeld University have the honour to organise the 2014 HDCA
Conference in Athens, 2-5 September 2014. The Human Development and CapabilityAssociation (HDCA) is a global community of academics and practitioners focused
on people-centred development and the capability approach. Promoting both
research and policy, the HDCA consists of over 700 members in more than 70
countries worldwide, from many disciplines and professions, including
economics, philosophy, development studies, health, education, law, government,
and sociology, among others.
Human
Development in Times of Crisis
Renegotiating social justice
Over the past five years the world has
experienced its worst economic crisis in decades. The ‘Great Recession’ has set
back developmental progress in many countries. For industrialized countries in
the Global North, many hard fought achievements with regard to social
protections are being cut back affecting many people’s fundamental life
prospects. For countries in the Global South, the global recession is also
affecting even further people’s basic life opportunities. The crisis is not
mainly a financial one; it is also a social and human crisis. The global
economic crisis is fundamentally one of ideas about social justice and democracy.
The present conditions of advanced
capitalism demand as well as offer opportunities for re-evaluating and
reconceptualising ideas about development and progress. The ideas contained in
the human development and capability approach are conceptually appealing but
are only loosely linked to institutional analysis and policy diagnoses. The
2014 HDCA conference will aim to fill that gap in order to assess and frame
opportunities for more capability-enhancing projects and public policies, in
both the global North and South. The conference will especially focus on the
causes of social inequality and exclusion, and the role of education,
especially of (vulnerable) young people, to tackle these.
The 2014 HDCA Conference Committee warmly
invites scholars, government policy makers, practitioners and other interested
parties from all over the world to participate in the conference to be held in
Athens, Greece. Original empirical research, theoretical issues, case studies or reports of experiences, or
findings from major research projects, and book panels relevant to the 2014
theme or more broadly related to human development/capabilities approach are
welcomed.
The Host Organisation
Prof. Dr. Spiros Pantazis Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c.
Hans-Uwe Otto
University of Ioannina Bielefeld
University
Chair of the Organising Committee
Chair
of the Program Committee
Dr. Antoanneta Potsi
University of Ioannina
