The first half of the 21st century is going to be the era of megacities in the developing world. Unless we manage our cities adequately, all hell is likely break loose in the not too distant future. Given the enormous poverty, the gross gender discriminations and the acute environmental degradation already present in these cities, the likelihood of their further deterioration in the coming years in a scenario of no or little reforms is rather obvious. This is a pioneering work on the governance crisis in one such city, namely Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The book depicts an analytical picture of the socio-economic transformation of the economy of Bangladesh, particularly of the agriculture and rural sector. Transformation is explained as improved conditions of life and living, through expanded access to income, health, education, energy, transportation services and protection against vulnerability. Public expenditure and policies to support development of infrastructure, technology, institutions, private initiatives of collective organizations, including NGO’s, and numerous individual ventures contributed to the transformation.
To the social scientists, Bangladesh is an enigma wrapped in paradoxes. She defied conventional prophets of gloom and doom during last three decades by making significant strides in social and economic spheres. Ironically, she is deeply divided politically despite bonds of extraordinary ethnic and linguistic homogeneity. The multiple dimensions of paradoxes of governance, economy and crucial sectors like finance and water are unwrapped in the twelve essays in this volume. While unrevealing the Bangladesh conundrum, this inter-disciplinary study uncovers a number of new paradoxes.
Reforming political and governance institutions is not a common issue during election time. The last time this issue dominated an election campaign in a first world country was in the early eighties with Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States. Thirty-six years after its birth, a Bangladesh caretaker government is facing the same issue. They are addressing it directly by instituting some useful reforms.
Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) are an integral aspect of society in Bangladesh. They provide a variety of services to people, generate employment, mobilize public opinion, and influence governmental policy. They remain as an important liaison with the donor community and are a substantial cultural, political and economic presence in the country. NGOs are involved in many important sectors of the economy such as education, health, and finance.
Governance in theory and practice has been the subject of intense discussion and indepth study both in the developed and developing countries for quite sometime. Though improvement in the quality of governance has been slow in coming, there is now a fair degree of agreement over the major issues involved and the reform measures called for. This anthology reflects these issues from the South Asian perspectives based on the experiences of the past and the imperatives of the present.
The problems of governance have occupied the centre stage of national debate in Bangladesh since independence. But at this particular point in time, their appropriate resolution has assumed unprecedented importance and urgency in our national life. With only five years to go before we enter the 21st century, our nation has reached a stage from where we may either move forward to a bright future or relapse into darkness. It is in this context that governance issues in Bangladesh have to be analysed for finding adequate solutions and means of implementation.
Tradition and modernity are perhaps the two poles against which women of South Asia are pitted. The main elements of tradition seem to be comprised of religion. Religion occupies a somewhat difficult position in the largely secular terrain that speak of the empowerment of women. This fascinating volume explores the role that religion, culture and society play in the social and political positioning of women.
Political, economic and policy models are undergoing drastic changes in LDC’s where market reforms are being implemented. In this context, the subject of governance has attracted increasing attention and debate, marked though by conceptual confusion and lack of solid analysis. Fuzzy Governance sets to examine the subject in its historic conceptual and paradigmatic connotations, with special reference to Bangladesh. The author provides the elements of an operational framework for systematic analysis and discussion of the current problems of governance in transitional phases.