2025 HDCA Conference Call for Papers

Conference Themes
We welcome papers and panel proposals from scholars, researchers, and practitioners. Such proposals are expected to be original contributions that resonate with the central themes of this conference. We are particularly looking for submissions in 6 categories:

Intersecting and interconnected themes of the conference

A. Advancing human development and capabilities: Papers on advancing the capability approaches pioneered by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum but also extended, applied and developed further by many scholars within the HDCA community are appropriate for this theme. We would like to welcome papers in this thematic area including:

• Theoretical and conceptual papers, especially from philosophers examining and critiquing the capability or capabilities approach; extending these to examine issues related to gender justice, collective capabilities and the links between capabilities and human rights.
• Decolonising knowledge and the potential for and the limitations of the capability approaches in relation to de-centring knowledge creation mainly from the Global North to promoting local to global perspectives from the Global South; contextualising the capability approach in relation to Africana philosophy.
• Measurement oriented papers developing new ways of multi-dimensional measurements of human development and capabilities including those of qualitative approaches.Innovations in applications of previous approaches or developing new approaches to solve specific contextual dilemmas.
• Innovations in applications of previous approaches or developing new approaches to solve specific contextual dilemmas.

B. Peace and capabilities: We particularly welcome papers from peace studies scholars (including those following or building upon the works of Johan Galtung, Adam Curle, John Paul Lederach) who may be new to the capability approach to explore the possibilities. A lot of work on connections between the capability approach and conflict resolution and peace-making has been developed through the human security framework (UNDP HDR1994; Sen and Ogata Commission report, 2004; Gasper, 2006; UNDP Human Development Report, 2022). As the Symposium on Human Security at 30 noted human security is “…a useful lens to see that many disputes are not zero-sum; to have a comprehensive perspective on interconnectedness; [and] to see people as active agents in shaping what’s to come.” (Pedro Conciecao, 2024) We welcome papers that aim to extend the capability approach to peace-making, peacebuilding, conflict resolution especially in fragile and conflict affected environments and the potential challenges. We are also to keen to welcome papers that compare, contrast or explore the synergies of indicators and measurement methodologies inspired by the capability approaches with those of peace indicators. We also welcome submissions by scholars from politics and international relations domains if they explore the application of the human development and capability approach dimensions to peace indicators. Also welcome are applications of the CA to specific international conflict mediation, development of dialogue, and the use of the capability approach for normative foreign policy or diplomacy.

C. Culture and capabilities: In this theme we are particularly interested in:

• Papers exploring the interactions between culture and human development in the sense of Hangzhou Declaration. Papers are also welcome on cultural liberties and alternative perspectives on culture theories or such constructs and how these can impinge on unfreedoms of particular groups or minorities;
• Submissions exploring the role that arts, literature and other ‘cultural capital’ can play in advancing capabilities and human development. In particular, we welcome submissions that explore or extend the methodologies and ideas developed in the capability approach to the understanding and valuation of such ‘cultural capital’ or collaborative papers that use arts as a means to deliver some of the complex and profound insights of the capability approach including through performance or short playlet;
• Papers that explore the use of arts including music, drama, literature, visual design and others as a means for advancing pedagogies in the context of specific issues of human development and capabilities; and
• Papers in the field of management studies which focus on organisational culture in the context of human resource development but submissions that can theoretically and empirically relate with the mainstream ideas of human development and capability approach and engage with the specific use of ‘culture with a small c’ that we are using in this conference rather than as organisational culture.

D. Culture, peace and capabilities: This theme or subset of papers may examine the three-way relationship of culture, peace and capabilities. For example, we could ask, do enhanced freedoms translate into better and deeper understanding of for example historical injustices and thus lead to mechanisms for healing, reparation and restorative justice, in turn making the societies more resilient? Can cultural diversity contribute to equitable and just growth and development?Could there be comparisons between Bakhtinian dialogic approaches and the idea of deliberative reasoning central to the CA?

E. Peace and culture: We do welcome submissions that explore the possible two way interactions between culture and peace. How does culture influence pathways to peace? How does peace promote the right of people to their cultural identities and heritage? How are peace studies adapted and mediated in different cultural settings and practices? How does this influence peace education and pedagogies? How are psychological and health dimensions related to peace and culture? Are there approaches and methods in health studies or in psychology that can shine light on new approaches for the CA thinking or applications?

F. Other relevant studies: We welcome proposals that fall outside of these five themes above as long as they are highly relevant to conference themes and to informing ideas, discussions and debates to exploring the links between culture, peace and capabilities. For example, these could be papers exploring ideas of justice or new innovations using digital and social media or machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools; philosophical, ethical and pragmatic dilemmas of new technologies and how these may impede or assist in advancing capabilities and freedoms; and the exploration of debates related to the so called ‘responsible AI’.

Submission and Review Process

Please submit your proposal for the conference, via the submission site by 4th February 2025 using the appropriate form. The submission portal and link will open in early January 2025 on the HDCA website.

If you encounter problems with the online submissions system, please email the conference organizers at: hdca2025@bradford.ac.uk

All proposals will be reviewed by two referees using the following evaluation criteria: originality; relevance and perceived goodness of fit of the paper to the conference themes; potential scholarly contribution of the paper; multi-disciplinarity or the potential to bring in perspectives from disciplines presently under-represented in the HD and CA literature; innovation in relation to theories or application; potential benefit or value added to the authors from participating in the conference.

Important deadlines

Paper and panel proposal submissions closing date: 4th February 2025
Communication of accept/reject decisions by: 4th April 2025
Early-bird registration opens by: 4th May 2025
Regular registration opens by: 4th June 2025

Full Paper Proposals

Papers are welcome on any of the themes outlined above. At this moment, we need only the abstract. A selection of papers may be considered for publication in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities by the editors. To be candidates for this, we expect all submissions to be original and not substantively the same as a paper previously submitted to another conference. Be honest and transparent and explain how this paper extends, complements or advances something you have presented earlier elsewhere. Paper proposals should include the following:

• Title of the paper
• Author/s name and institutional details
• Conference theme that this paper most aligns with (choose one): A/B/C/D/E/F
• Thematic group to which this aligns most
• Up to five key words
• Abstract – not exceeding 400 words
• Up to five most important references
• Originality statement and connection with work previously published
• Whether applying for the in person conference or the virtual conference (which will take place on Friday 5th September)
• Expected benefit of participating in the conference to the authors;
• Is this paper being proposed as part of a panel proposal? Y or N
• If yes, the chair of the panel needs to provide additional panel abstract here, not exceeding 600 words.
• Do you consider yourself to be an early career researcher? Y or N
• Is this paper from a current doctoral research study? Y or N
• Is this paper from a masters dissertation? Y or N

Poster Presentations

We welcome poster presentations from early career researchers and PhD students. This is a developmental opportunity to share details of your research and gain feedback or suggestions from established scholars. Poster proposals should include the following:

• Title of the poster
• Author/s name and institutional details
• Conference theme that this paper most aligns with (choose one): A/B/C/D/E/F
• Thematic group to which this aligns most:
• Up to five key words
• Abstract – not exceeding 400 words
• Up to five most important references

Panel Proposals

1. Standard panels with 3 or 4 papers (90 minutes): These can include closed or open panels.

1.1. Closed panels are those where the panel proponents have already been identified. In this case, all the paper proposals should be submitted individually by each author as per guidelines for full paper proposals mentioned earlier. The chair of the panel should use the format in 1.3 below.

1.2. Open panels are welcome but usually these are organised in conjunction with a Thematic Group. If you are interested in the conference organizers allocating
suitable papers to your panel please submit an open panel proposal using the format outlined in 1.3 below.

1.3. Panel proposal format:

• Type of panel: Closed/ open
• Title of the panel
• Thematic Group with whom you wish to organize this panel
• Name of the chair
• Name of discussant if any
• An abstract of the panel theme, aims and justification (up to 1,000 words)
• Up to five keywords
• Conference theme that this panel aligns with: A/ B/C/D/E/F
  If closed panel: names of authors who will be submitting proposals

2. Policy or practice panels (90 minutes): We welcome submissions by practitioners including those from activist or NGO backgrounds. These panels are aimed to be critical reflections on good practice and learning from what works and why. Though these are from practitioners, the expectations of rigor and quality are no different to those of academic or research papers. Proposals may include panels that examine a program or policy or practice that is highly relevant to one of the six thematic areas and has relevance to more than one country or region. Panel proponents should provide information on the following questions in their proposal:
questions:

• Panel title
• Theme of the conference the panel aligns with: A/B/C/D/E/F
• Panel description (up to 1,000 words) covering information on the following:
  • The key questions your panel aims to examine
  • The key claims to success or what has worked and why
  • What are the challenges and why it may not work elsewhere or in your case in the future?
  • Why policy makers or practitioners from another country in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa or Oceania should be interested in your panel and what they may learn from this?
  • What is the value added you are expecting from participating in the conference

3. Skills workshop: We welcome applications to run a skill development workshop mainly aimed at doctoral students and early career researchers, but may be of interest to everyone. Maximum time available for workshop is 90 minutes. These proposals must outline the following (in 600 words):

• What skill is this workshop aiming to develop?
• Why you are the right person/s to deliver this?
• How this workshop is relevant to any of the six thematic areas of focus for this
  conference?
• A description of how the workshop will be run or what happens in the workshop, and
• Logistic details of what kind of room you need, what activities will take place, whether 90 minutes is enough for the workshop;
• Whether there is a minimum and maximum number of participants.

Please note we do not have any budget to buy materials or software. Therefore, any workshops must be such that there is no cost to organizers and should be inclusive. There should be no risk to participants.

Professor Francisco HG Ferreira
Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies
Director, International Institute of Inequality Studies
London School of Economics

Professor Kunal Sen
Director, World Institute for Development Economics Research
United Nations University, Helsinki

Professor Laura Valentini
Professor of Philosophy
Ludwig Maximilians Universitat, Munich

Professor Lewis Gordon
Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and
Head of the Department of Philosophy
University of Connecticut

Professor Kate Picket, OBE
Professor of Epidemiology
University of York

Professor John Wright
Director of Research, Bradford Institute of Health Research
Founding Researcher, Born in Bradford

Dr Pedro Conceição
Director, Human Development Report Office
United Nations Development Program

Professor Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti
Professor of Economic Policy, University of Pavia
President of the HDCA

• Those working in NGOs are eligible for concession.

Conference registration includes one year membership fee for HDCA and subscription to the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. For those attending in person, the fee also includes conference dinner.

Please note we do not have hybrid sessions. Online participants will be able to watch all the keynote lectures. Online only panels will be scheduled for 5th September.

The HDCA and the local organising committee will award a limited number of scholarships to scholars with limited or no resources to attend the conference. The demand for scholarships usually far exceeds the available funds and therefore we encourage only those who really need financial support to apply. Details will be made available in due course on the conference website.

At the conference, the HDCA will award the annual Wiebke Kuklys Prize for the best paper presented by a graduate student. All graduate students who have not been awarded their degree before September 1, 2025 and are presenting a paper at the 2025 HDCA conference under their sole authorship are eligible to be considered for this prize. If you wish for your paper to be considered, indicate so on the online submission form. To compete for this prize, the full paper must be submitted by 15 July 2025. The winner of the 2025 Wiebke Kuklys Prize will be awarded a cash amount (the purpose of which is to contribute to the student’s graduate work, for example, in the form of equipment or book purchases or conference attendance). The name of the winner will be announced at the closing plenary session of the conference, which the author must attend. Check previous winners: Here.

Program Committee

From the HDCA:

Prof Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti, Professor of Economic Policy, University of Pavia and President of HDCA

Dr Nozomi Sakata, Associate Professor, Hiroshima University and Executive Committee member of HDCA

Dr Petya Ilieva, Associate Professor, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Fellow of HDCA

Dr Melis Cin, Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice, University of Lancaster

From the University of Bradford:

Prof PB Anand, Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Development

Prof Fiona Macaulay, Professor of Gender and Conflict

Dr Anisha Samantara, Lecturer in International Development

Dr Joseph Ajefu, Associate Professor in Development Economics

Conference Organising Committee

Prof PB Anand, Chair of the Conference

Prof Fiona Macaulay, Professor of Gender and Conflict

Dr Joseph Ajefu, Associate Professor in Development Economics

Dr Anisha Samantara, Lecturer in International Development

Dr Hannah Intezar, Associate Professor in Sociology and Criminology

Dr Salvo Di Martino, Lecturer in Psychology

Dr Sasha Ban, Associate Professor in Health Studies

Dr Sudhir Selvaraj, Assistant Professor in International Development

Dr Serag El Hegazi, Lecturer in International Development

Mrs Nabeela Khan, Post-graduate Researcher & Lecturer in Sociology

Conference External Advisers

Prof Des Gasper, International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands

Prof Flavio Comim, Dean of IQS School of Management, Universittat Ramon Llull, Barcelona

Madam Nozizwe Madlala Routledge, Formerly Director of Quaker United Nations Office, Cape Town, South Africa

Dr Anita Patil Deshmukh, Partnership for Urban Knowledge and Action Research (PUKAR), Mumbai, India

Prof Neil Stott, Management Practice Professor of Social Innovation, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Access the conference programme

Jean Drèze
Amartya Sen Lecture

Jean Drèze is a development economist and activist. He has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics, and is currently a visiting professor at Ranchi University, as well as an honorary professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, especially in India. His research interests include rural development, social inequality, elementary education, child nutrition, health care, and food security. Jean Drèze is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (Oxford University Press, 1989) and An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (Penguin, 2013)”, and also one of the co-authors of the Public Report on Basic Education in India, also known as “PROBE Report”.

Mamta Murthi
Mahbub ul Haq Memorial Lecture

Mamta Murthi is Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank, a role she assumed on July 1, 2020. In this role she oversees the Global Practices for Education; Health, Nutrition, and Population; Gender; Social Protection and Jobs – as well as the Human Capital Project.
Mamta has held many leadership positions at the World Bank, including as Director of Operations Policy (2019), Director of Strategy and Operations in Infrastructure (2018), Director of Strategy and Operations in the Africa Region (2015-2018), and Regional Country Director for the EU, based in Brussels (2012-15).
An economist by training, she has had technical roles in Social Protection and Labor (1996-2004) and Education (2006-10). She was Deputy Director of the World Development Report on Development and the Next Generation in 2006. During 1998-2000, Mamta was MacArthur Fellow for Poverty and Inequality at King’s College, Cambridge.
Mamta joined the World Bank as a Young Professional in 1995. She has a Bachelors’ Degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi and a D.Phil in Economics from the University of Oxford. Mamta has written extensively on poverty, demography, education, pensions, and skills and is well-known for her econometric studies on fertility in India.

HDCA 20th Anniversary Panel

Flavio Comin, IQS School of Management, Universitat Ramon Llull
Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht University
Des Gasper, Erasmus University
Mario Biggeri, University of Florence

Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
Special Invited Lecture
Title: “Recognising Individual Capabilities and Building Collective Action for Public Good”

Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh are founder members of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) is a grass roots peoples organisation formed in 1990 with its headquarters in Devdungri, Rajasthan. The MKSS works on the concerns of its primary constituents- peasants and workers, but also engages with wider issues of participatory democracy, and democratic struggle.

Jay Drydyk
Special Invited Lecture
Title: “The Capability for Justice”

Jay Drydyk is a Canadian philosopher who examines development in relation to ethics and social/global justice. With co-editor Lori Keleher he mobilized 40+ colleagues worldwide to produce the Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics in 2019. His analysis of empowerment and other values of development ethics resulted from two projects on development-induced displacement, in which he worked with colleagues in India to study ethical risks that arise when development displaces people and their communities. The results were published in Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities (Cambridge 2011). He has also co-edited Human Rights: India and the West (Oxford 2015) and Theorizing Justice: Critical Insights and Future Directions (Rowman Littlefield 2016). He is Professor of Philosophy at Carleton University (Canada), past President of the International Development Ethics Association, and past President of HDCA.

Submissions period is closed

The conference particularly invites submissions focusing on research topics detailed in the CfP. Work on core HDCA themes is also welcome.

While the papers may come from any discipline and may be theoretical, applied, or policy-based, every paper must engage with, apply, extend, criticise, or offer insights specifically relevant to the capability approach and/or the human development paradigm and be aligned with the conference theme and sub-themes.

Each proposal will be peer reviewed by panels appointed by the program committee. The main criteria for evaluating the various kinds of submissions will be; novelty/originality; clarity and structure; significance/impact/relevance to/engagement with the capability approach and/or human development; methodology and methods; fit with the conference theme.

Important deadlines

January 20, 2024         Submission open

February 29, 2024       Submission of proposals closes

April 15, 2024             Announcement of paper acceptance/rejection

May 7, 2023             Deadline for scholarship applications

June 15, 2024             Deadline for conference registration at early-bird rates

July 15, 2024              Submission of full papers entries for the Kuklys prizes

August 31, 2024         Extended deadline for conference registration at standard rates

Categories under which proposals may be submitted:

1. Academic paper sessions, for which single papers can be submitted. Each paper will be presented in a session with 2 or 3 other submissions (25 minutes per paper including Q&A). Please send an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.
2. Research and Action sessions, for which a set of presentations can be submitted, describing and analyzing a particular field of action and the way it links with the human development paradigm and/or capability approach. Each session will include 3 or 4 other presentations (20 minutes per presentation including Q&A). Please send an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords describing the particular field of action and an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords, for each of the presentations included in the proposed session. The coordinator will act as the contact person for all presenters.
3. Thematic panel sessions, for which a set of papers on a single theme related to this year’s conference theme or to the subject of one or more of the HDCA’s thematic groups is submitted. Panel proposals are welcome from the thematic group coordinators as well as from people unaffiliated with them. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary panels and panels that combine academic perspectives with those of practitioners. Each thematic panel should have a maximum of three presentations. It is also possible to propose two panels on the same theme. Each thematic panel must have a coordinator who submits a panel abstract of up to 1,000 words, plus 3-5 keywords as well as an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords, for each of the papers included in the session. The coordinator will act as the contact person for the thematic session(s) and the other panel presenters. (NB: If not all of the papers in the proposed panel session are evaluated favorably, the approved papers will be regarded as individual academic papers and may be allocated to the sessions in point 1.)
4. Author-meets-critics sessions, in which an author presents a summary of a recent book or larger piece of research. Each author should send a 500-word synopsis of the relevant book or research project, along with 3-5 keywords. The submission should also include the names of one or two confirmed discussants. Discussants can be researchers, but we particularly encourage including at least one practitioner (or organization) as proposed discussants.
5. Roundtables, which are intended to engage policymakers or (non-)governmental stakeholders, or to organize discussions with practitioners about practical approaches to dealing with the problems that are the focus of the conference. Please send a 500 – 1,000 word abstract, plus 3-5 keywords. Also include information on the roundtable participants, affiliations, and whether the participation of each of them has been confirmed. Submissions can be academic-led or practitioner-led.
6. Young-scholar-meets-senior-scholar sessions, intended for graduate students to present their research plan or work in progress (paper proposals should be 500-1000 words, with 3-5 keywords). Senior scholars, including HDCA Fellows, will provide feedback and chair the discussion.
7. Documentaries – If you would like to present and discuss your film or documentary during this conference, please send in a proposal with background and motivation (500-1000 words).
8. Poster, for which dedicated time slots will be available in the program so that authors can communicate their ideas to the circulating audience. Posters could present a research project, some completed fieldwork, a case study, or an early-stage research proposal. Please send an abstract of 300-600 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.

The Kolkata conference will be open to both in-person and online participation. A variety of sessions, events and panels will be organized during pre-conference days and three conference days.

VENUE

VISA INFORMATION

All participants are requested to check for visa requirements to enter India and you may qualify for the e-conference visa or via-mail or in-person depending on where you are located.

For specific details on what documentations are expected from the embassy please visit the local Indian embassy. For example, Indian embassies in China, Australia, Germany and US are listed below:

• Australia – https://www.cgisydney.gov.in/
• China –https://www.eoibeijing.gov.in/
• Germany- -https://indianembassyberlin.gov.in/pages?id=MQ,,&subid=NDI
• USA – https://www.indianembassyusa.gov.in/

All government agency links in India end with “gov.in” so you know the authenticity of the website as being governmental (or federal – as it is called in many countries).

List of Indian Embassies and Consulates  https://embassies.net/india-embassy

Recommended Types of Visas

• Tourist Visa
  Valid for – Five years
  Type of Entry – Multiple
  Extendable in India – No
  Fee-185$
  Tourist e-visa- 25$-80$
  Documents Required for Application – Applicants need to provide proof regarding their financial standing, that is, return ticket and sufficient money to spend during their stay in the country

• Conference e-Visa
  Valid for – 30 days
  Extendable in India – No
  Documents Required for Application – Invitation letter,  Clearance from MEA and MHA
  Fee – 13$ -113$

How to Apply for a Visa?

You can apply for a visa both online and offline. In the case of offline visa applications, usually you need to download the application form and fill it with the required details. Then, you have to submit the filled application form supported by all required credentials at your concerned visa application centre. Different countries may have different application procedures for applying for visas. Many countries may not accept offline visa applications. Also, the cost involved in applying for a visa also differs from country to country.

How to Complete an Online Indian Visa Application

• Step 1: Begin by visiting the official website of the Indian Bureau of Immigration. https://boi.gov.in/boi/ The link for visa application is: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/
• Step 2: Choose the ‘REGULAR/PAPER VISA APPLICATION’ section. Fill out the application form attentively.
• Step 3: As you progress, make sure to periodically save your application and upload the necessary documents and images. Once you’ve completed the process, click the ‘Submit’ button.
• Step 4: Next, select a suitable date and time for an appointment and proceed to pay the visa application fee.

e-Conference Visa to India – Definition, Eligibility Criteria and Provisions

The major requirement for the e-conference is the production of the invitation letter to the seminar, workshop or conference even if one is not presenting a paper.

• The stay days in India one-Conference Visa will be 30 days.
• Single entry is permitted for Indian e-Conference Visa.

Unlike other visas, the e-conference visa has a validity period of three months. The duration is counted from the day you are issued with the visa and not from the time you enter India.

Application Process for the e-Conference Visa

You can find information about the process and eligible countries here – click on ‘Countries/Nationalities who are eligible to avail eVisa’ on the left hand menu.: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html. The application process is online https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/ / You need to be sure that you have the following:

• A passport with at least six months validity
• Scanned copies of your recent colored photo. The size should not exceed 10 MB and the dimensions should be 2in. X 2In. Otherwise, you will not be able to upload the file until you get the correct format.
• A copy of your passport
• Enough money to pay for the visa. The charges range from USD 13- USD 113. The specific amount will be indicated as you complete the form. Payment method: VISA and MasterCard.
• Proof of the address of your residence
• Following letters
  A formal letter of invitation from India.
  Evidence of political clearance by MEA
  Evidence of MHA event clearance or an NOC

Link to the Google Form – Invitation  Letter -HDCA 2024 

For us to secure political Clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) please fill in the required Invitation letter form for HDCA 2024 to facilitate your  e-visa by getting the requisite clearances. Once these clearances are secured they will be made available on the links.

Sample e-Conference Visa Form

• Please  visit https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html to view the sample form details.

Please continue to follow the proper protocol for conference visa application and visit your local Indian Embassy’s website for specific details on what documentations are expected from the embassy.

Submissions are applicable to the countries listed above. Please continue to follow the proper protocol for conference visa application and visit your local Indian Embassy’s website for specific details regarding which documents are expected from the embassy to apply for a conference visa. You will not receive an update regarding the form submission. The information will be submitted to one of the Indian ministries which will distribute the information internally to the corresponding embassy/consulate.

How to check your Visa Status Online?

Visa status checks can be done online. In order to check your visa status online, you need to visit the visa status enquiry section of a particular consulate and keep certain information handy with you. To know your passport visa status, you may be required to put the following information:

• Application ID
• Passport number

You can also track your visa status by visiting a third-party website and entering your passport number and date of birth. It is very easy to track your visa status by using your passport number.

IMPORTANT

Visa approval can take a few months, and so we strongly encourage you to apply well in advance.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Students and scholars from low- and mid-income countries will pay reduced registration fee, and some concession rates will be available for participants from high-income countries. 

Registration rates are as follow:

°NGO worker or similar or unwaged

Scholarships
(The application period is closed. Awards will be made by end May)

HDCA Conference scholarships to cover part of the cost to attend are available to people presenting papers at the 2024 Conference. Scholarships will be awarded based on merit and need to:

 Scholarships are not awarded for poster presentations. As we are unable to assess need directly we request that you apply for a scholarship only if you would not otherwise be able to attend the Conference.

In addition, the HDCA, in association with the Human Development Report Office (HDRO), will also award up up to three prestigious Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships to attend the Conference in person. Each award will provide up to $2500 to cover travel, visas, accommodation, and registration fees. Please note that applicants must have received a score of 3/5 or higher on their conference proposal. Awards will be determined by a joint selection committee of the HDCA and HDRO.

Applicants can be considered for both types of scholarships but only one scholarship will be awarded per recipient. The deadline for scholarship applications is: 7 May, 2024.

Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships – Details

The HDCA in association with the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is pleased to invite applications for up to three prestigious Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships to attend the HDCA 2024 annual conference, in person.

Mahbub ul Haq was an economist, international development theorist, and politician who served two periods as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan  Mahbub ul Haq was the pioneer in developing the concept of human development, and led the establishment of the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report and the Human Development Index, pivotal in placing people at the heart of global development policy debate. He not only articulated the human development philosophy for development planning, but he also provided a now widely used statistical measure to quantify indicators of human development.

Each award will provide up to $2500 to cover travel, visas, accommodation and registration fees for the conference in Kolkata, India, 24-26 September.

Eligibility Criteria:

1) Applicants should be enrolled in a PhD programme in any discipline, or early career researchers who are within 5 years of finishing their PhD.

2) They must have had a proposal accepted for the conference with a minimum grade of 3/5.

3) Priority will be given to scholars studying and working in low- and middle-income countries but high-income country applicants will also be considered.

4) Disciplinary diversity will inform the selection.

5) Financial need for conference support.

In the year following the conference, successful applicants will be expected to:

• Join a Thematic Group and Regional Network and to be active members.
• To present at least one joint HDRO- HDCA webinar.
• To develop their conference paper into an article for submission to the JHDC. Each successful applicant will be assigned a mentor to assist them with this process, including reading and commenting on their draft article.

Pre-Conference Day 1 – Sunday, September 22: Experiencing Bengal

1. Day trip to Santiniketan (Full day Sightseeing)

• • Logistics: Includes travel to and from Santiniketan and local sight seeing
  • Price: 100 USD per person
  • Tour Capacity: 50
  • Inclusions: three meals, (including packed breakfast) , travel in AC coach, entry  fee, local  travel in electric-rickshaw.Day Trip to Santiniketan (Full day Sightseeing)
  • Cost: USD$100. Sign up on registration page.

Santiniketan is a unique blend of education, art, and culture. Established in rural West Bengal in 1901 by the renowned poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, Santiniketan was a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions and on a vision of the unity of humanity ‘Viswa Bharati ‘ transcending religious and cultural boundaries. Santiniketan is an embodiment of Rabindranath Tagore’s vision and philosophy of where ‘the world would form a single nest’ using a combination of education, appreciation of nature, music and the arts. It is also the home for the Bengal School of Art, and embodies the idea of inclusive and sustainable development using culture-based approaches.

Santiniketan is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

On the trip we will visit

• Pratichi, ancestral residence of Amartya Sen
• Chattimtala
• Uttarayan Complex
• Viswa Bharati University
• Tepantar Theatre Village
• Sonajhuri Artisan Village

• Itinerary
• Santiniketan is 152kms/ 4hrs by road from Kolkata
• Trip capacity is 50 persons
• Pick up & drop off (Science City – the conference venue)
• Transportation in an air-conditioned coach/bus
• Breakfast, Lunch & dinner, inclusive of 01 non- alcoholic beverage
• Bottled water in the coach
• Guide tour to all listed spots in Santiniketan

2. Signature Kolkata Walks

   
   Starting Time : 11:00 am to 3:00 pm IST
   Duration: 3-4 hrs
   Price: 20 USD per person
   Tour Capacity: 30 per walk
   Cost: USD$20. Sign up on registration page

We meet at conference venue, to discover the stunning city of Kolkata, and explore its vibrant shopping places that will leave you wonderstruck. Experience Kolkata from the eyes of a local ; participants can choose from 1 of the following walks.

1. Confluence Of Cultures / The Melting Pot Walk
2. Street Food Calcutta Walk
3. Durga Puja Pandal Walk

Pre-Conference Day 2 – Monday, September 23

10:00 am – 11:00 am
Lecture: Capability Measurement: An Overview

11:00 -12:30
Editorial Panel (Chair Sandra Boni, Editor HDCA)
Hybrid format

13:00 – 17:00
Writing for Publication Workshop (Full – no spaces available)
Venue: Science City

Who is this workshop for?
The workshop is for early career and PhD researchers with limited or no experience of writing for publication. They need to have research material (this could be their HDCA presentation) that they want to turn into a published academic journal article and some idea of what their article might focus on.

The workshop will follow the Editor’s Panel.  All participants as asked to first attend this Panel. They must commit to staying for the whole workshop, and will need a laptop.

The Workshop
The writing workshop will be led by Melanie Walker. It will be practical and interactive.

By the end you should have a title, abstract and introduction to a journal article, and to have discussed challenges and processes of publishing in journals.

The workshop will first consider issues and challenges of academic writing and writing for journals. Then we will work practically and interactively, with each participant drafting an article title and abstract, as well as the outline structure of their paper.  Participants will need to show how their article speaks to an international audience.  At times during the workshop people will work in pairs to write and share and comment on each other’s work.

16:00 – 18:00
Human Development and Capability Association Networking Event

Venue: Science City, (https://sciencecitykolkata.org.in/convention-centre/).

The Kuklys prize is annually awarded at the HDCA conference for the best conference paper written by a graduate student. Normally the same person can only win the award once. The Kuklys Prize is aimed at promoting the work of graduate students in the field of human development and the capability approach. It is named in memory of Wiebke Kuklys, who, as an Economics PhD student at Cambridge University, advanced the capability approach by exploring the application of new statistical techniques. Wiebke studied in Germany, Chile, and England, and combined an open mind for new ideas with a concern for the most vulnerable people and she believed that high-quality research could contribute to making the world a better place to live in. Wiebke died in June 2005, at the age of 33, only a few months after receiving her PhD degree. Her dissertation was published posthumously by Springer under the title “Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications.”

If you would like to be considered for the prize, please notify the Kolkata organizers at hdcakolkata2024@gmail.com by May 31. Full papers must be submitted by July 31.

Kuklys Prize Jury
Meera Tiwari, Chair
Petya Ilieva-Trichkova
Jürgen Volkert

HDCA Summer School 2024
Friday 20 and Saturday 21, September 2024
Kolkata, India

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Registration open through August 31

Summer School Programme

We are excited to announce that this year HDCA Summer School will take place in person on Friday 20 and Saturday 21, September 2024 at the Amartya Sen Centre (ASC) in Kolkata, India, ahead of the HDCA conference.

The summer school aims to develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of key concepts in human development, with a particular focus on the capability approach. Giulia Greco (Giulia.Greco@lshtm.ac.uk) and Oliver Mutanga (oliverm.junior@gmail.com) will lead the summer school, joined by special guest tutors and speakers.

The two-day programme will include sessions delivered by senior capability scholars and practitioners covering foundational concepts in human development and the capability approach, measurement issues, inequalities, and sustainability. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss their research projects and receive feedback in a workshop-style. All sessions will be in person and in English.

Summer School Eligibility

The programme is specifically designed for doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars who already have some understanding of development issues and are currently working with the capability approach.  To be eligible for the 2024 HDCA summer school you must be a current doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher (within 2 years of receiving your doctorate) working with the capability approach. You must also attend the main HDCA conference in Kolkata (separate registration and payment required).

Priority will be given to students who have not previously attended an HDCA summer school. Applications from students who have previously attended an HDCA summer school will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you have any queries about your suitability for the summer school, please email the Education Officers, Giulia Greco and Oliver Mutanga for clarification.

Registration

The registration fee for the summer school is USD 80. It will include participation in the two-day programme, refreshments, two lunches, one evening meal, and course materials. It will not include travel or accommodation costs, so participants will need to budget accordingly. A wide range of accommodation is available locally.

If you are awarded a scholarship for this year’s main HDCA conference, you will be eligible to apply for up to USD 100 towards your accommodation costs for attending the summer school (payable following summer school registration).

Further details regarding the summer school registration process and practical information for the event (venue, etc.) will be provided when the main conference registration opens in May.

Please note summer school places are limited and usually fill up very quickly.

Giulia Greco, HDCA Education Officer
Oliver Mutanga, HDCA Education Officer

Conference Program Committee: 

Achin Chakraborty, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata (IDSK)

Manabi Majumdar, Pratichi (India) Trust

Antara Dev Sen, Pratichi (India) Trust & The Little Magazine

Sundeep Sahay, University of Oslo; & Society for Health Information Systems Program (HISP India)

Simantini Mukhopadhyay, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, (IDSK)

Nozomi Sakata, Hiroshima University

Lori Keleher, New Mexico State University

Elaine Unterhalter, University College London

Enrica Chiappero Martinetti, University of Pavia

Arunima S Mukherjee, University of Oslo; & Society for Health Information Systems Program (HISP India)

Conference Organizing Committee:

Sabir Ahamed, Pratichi (India) Trust

Rashi Banta, HISP India (Society for Health Information Systems Programmes)

Sahil Bhardwaj,  HISP India (Society for Health Information Systems Programmes)

KaustabTyagi,  Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK)

Arunima Sehgal Mukherjee, University of Oslo and HISP India

***Recently added: hotels close to the venue (INR 3000-4500 INR)***

 Hotel Poissee
Address: 45B/B, Canal S Rd, near Byepass, Metropolitan Co-Operative Housing Society Limited, Ltd, Dhaba, West Bengal 700105

Barsana Boutique Hotel
Address: 84/3, Topsia Rd, Seal Lane, Topsia, Kolkata, West Bengal 700046

The Sojourn
Address: Plot No, KB 23, KB Block, Sector 3, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700098

Treebo Vedanta
Address: A 170 Metropolitan Co-operative Housing Society Canal South Road Off E M Bypass, 7th Ln, Chingrighata, Kolkata, West Bengal 700105

3 Star Price Range INR (3000-5000)

Townhouse Oak Hotel
Address:- P, 16, Dr Suresh Sarkar Rd, near RAMLILA MAIDAN, Sealdah, SCHEME LV, Kolkata, West Bengal 700014

Central Bed & Breakfast
Address: Lansdowne Court, 5 B, Sarat Bose Rd, Sreepally, Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700020

Barsana Boutique
Address: 84/3, Topsia Rd, Seal Lane, Topsia, Kolkata, West Bengal 700046

Golden Park Hotel
Address: 13, Ho Chi Minh Sarani Rd, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

The Lindsay
Address:- 8A & 8B, Lindsay St, opp. New Market, Fire Brigade Head Quarter, Esplanade, Dharmatala, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700087

Middleton Inn
Address: 8, Middleton St, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

The Senator Hotel
Address: 15, Camac St, Elgin, Kolkata, West Bengal 700017

Neelam Bed & Breakfast
Address: 11, Dr Md Ishaque Rd, Fire Brigade Head Quarter, Esplanade, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016

Hotel Cecil
Address: 52/1/1, College St, Lalbajar, Bowbazar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700073

Treebo Trend Sreema
Address: 3A, 3, FD Block, Sector 3, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700106

Lytton Hotel
Address: 14 , Sudder Street, Mother Teresa Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016

The Moira – Bed and Breakfast
Address: 3, Moira St, Minto Park Area, Elgin, Kolkata, West Bengal 700017

Senses Hotel
Address: DN-26, Street Number 11, DN Block, Sector V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700091

Rosa Manor House
Address: 19/3, Dover Rd, Ballygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal 700019

Ibiza The Fern
Address: Merlin Greens, Kriparampur P.S: Bishnupur, Diamond Harbour Rd, Kolkata, West Bengal 743503

4 Star Price Range INR (5000-8000)

Regenta Orkos Kolkata
Address: 621, Prantik Pally Rd, Ravindra Pally, Kasba, Kolkata, West Bengal 700107

Altair – A Boutique Hotel
Address: Ambuja Neotia EcoCentre, 4, 19, Street No. 13, EM Block, Sector V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700091

The Astor
Address: 15, Shakespeare Sarani Rd, near NIGHTINGALE HOSPITAL, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

Kenilworth Hotel
Address: 1 And 2, Little Russel St, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

The Elgin Fairlawn
Address: 13A, Sudder St, Fire Brigade Head Quarter, Esplanade, Dharmatala, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016

Polo Floatel
Address: Kolkata Jetty, 9/10, Strand Rd, B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal 700001

ibis Kolkata
Address: Cf 12, BG Block(Newtown), Action Area 1C, Newtown, Kolkata, New Town, West Bengal 700156

Fairfield by Marriott
Address: Ashok Cosmos Mall, Sanjay Palace, Sanjay Place, Civil Lines, Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282002

Park Suites
Address: 4th Floor, 31 Stephen Court, 18A, Mother Teresa Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

The Sonnet Kolkata
Address: Plot No. 8, The Sonnet Hotel, DD Block, Sector 1, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700064

Monotel
Address: 2, Near Wipro Gate No 4, DM Block, Sector V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700091

Soukyam Hotel
Address: 32/11, Gariahat Rd S, near PNB (ATM, Dhakuria, Selimpur, Jodhpur Park, Kolkata, West Bengal 700031

5 Star Price Range INR (8000 – 20000)

JW Marriott Hotel
Address: 4A, JBS Haldane Ave, Tangra, Kolkata, West Bengal 700105

Hyatt Regency Kolkata
Adddress: JA-1, JA Block, Sector 3, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700106

Taj Vivanta Kolkata EM Bypass
Address:1930, Rash Behari Ave, Sector G, East Kolkata Twp, Kolkata, West Bengal 700107

The Park Kolkata
Address: 17, Mother Teresa Sarani, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016

Hotel Hindusthan International
Address: 235/1, Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Rd, Sreepally, Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700020

The Oberoi Grand Kolkata
Address: 15, Jawaharlal Nehru Rd, New Market Area, Dharmatala, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700013

The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata
Address: Dalhousie Square 1, 2,3, Old Court House St, Ward Number 1, Kolkata, West Bengal 700069

Taj Bengal
Address: 34-B, Belvedere Rd, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700027

Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences
Address: CF Block (Newtown), Action Area 1C, Rajarhat, New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal 700156

Pride Plaza Hotel
Address: Service Rd, opposite to novotel, BG Block (Newtown), Action Area I, Newtown, New Town, West Bengal 700156

The Westin Kolkata
Address: Plot No. Cbd/2 Action Area – Ii, New Town, Rajarhat, New Town, West Bengal 700156

Holiday Inn Kolkata
Address: Biswa Bangla Sarani, near City Centre 2, Dash Drone, Newtown, Kolkata, West Bengal 700136

ITC Sonar, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kolkata
Address:- 1, JBS Haldane Ave, Tangra, Kolkata, West Bengal 700046
Website:- https://www.itchotels.com/in/en/itchotels/hotels/itcsonar-kolkata.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Coal India Ltd

University of Oslo   

RV University   

***THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS CLOSED***

Theme: ‘Vulnerability, human development and cooperative re-building in turbulent times’

While the conference call is open to all types of contributions that engage with the broader theme of human development and capabilities, the 2023 HDCA conference brings the questions describe in the conference theme to the fore. We invite papers which inform and discuss the search for answers looking at human agency, the capacity of people to overcome emerging crises, changes in well-being and moving towards flourishing societies, and sustainable development. Accounts are welcome looking at the ways in which people co-create, collaborate and thus re-build lives in a range of settings aiming to create better futures for the human and non-human worlds. Studies of cooperation among individuals, an enlargement of people’s capabilities as an essential feature of any resilient and hopeful society will provide an understanding of how to address important societal challenges. We also invite work which considers what makes cooperation sustainable, that is, stable and valuable so can contribute to our understanding of how to deal with the challenges that we face. Since cooperation is not confined to a particular social domain, its understanding requires a strong interdisciplinary perspective in which emphasis on capabilities is indispensable.

We would especially like to welcome papers that engage in research in the following four broad areas:

1. how to conceptualize and measure vulnerability and human development at micro, macro level – country, regional and global – in turbulent times;
2. how new challenges facing contemporary societies may enhance or restrict human development and social inequalities;
3. how to encourage cooperation among differently located actors, institutions, and organizations with the aim to enrich development outcomes for all social groups, localities, nations and sub-regions;
4. how to develop capabilities associated with well-being and equity that respond to the changes of work, family, knowledge production, political and social relations, the environment and non-humans.

The conference theme provides a space to examine these issues across disciplines, in research, teaching, and professional practice, and to explore policy dialogues across sectors such as the labour market, education and health. Papers are invited which explore vulnerability, human development and cooperation through different  approaches – quantitative, qualitative, participatory,  and mixed-method methodologies. The conference theme is intended to give space for discussion of topical areas in research on the capability approach and human development concerned also with, collective capabilities, intersectionality, empowerment and sustainability.

We invite scholars, activists, policymakers, practitioners, and students working in the area of human development and capabilities from all parts of the world to Sofia, Bulgaria. We look forward to hosting participants from a wide range of research fields, topics, methods, professions, and regions to engage in fruitful conversations with each other, and to provide space for co-creation of new theoretical and methodological advances on the capability approach and the human development paradigm which may also have political and practical implications for reducing human vulnerability and improving individual, societal and ecological well-being.

Important Deadlines

28 February 2023 – Closing date for submission of proposals (extended deadline)

15 April 2023 – Announcement of acceptance/rejection

30 April 2023 – Deadline for scholarship applications

1 May 2023 – Opening of conference registration

9 June 2023 – Deadline for conference registration at early-bird rates

07 July 2023 – Deadline for paper submission for Kuklys prize

04 August 2023 – Final deadline for conference registration at standard rates

04 August 2023 – Submission of full papers/posters/presentations

In addition to keynote lectures and other plenaries, the conference will accommodate seven types of sessions. Except for the poster sessions, all of them can take place either in-person (during the 3 conference days) in Sofia, or online (at the end of day 2 or early day 3 of the conference):

1. Academic paper sessions, for which single papers can be submitted. Each paper will be presented in a session with 2 or 3 other submissions (25 minutes per paper including Q&A). Please send an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.
2. Thematic panel sessions, for which a set of presentations on a single theme related to this year’s conference theme or to the subject of one or more of the HDCA’s thematic groups is submitted. Panel proposals are welcome from the thematic group coordinators as well as from people unaffiliated with them. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary panels and panels that combine academic perspectives with those of practitioners. Each thematic panel should have a maximum of three presentations. It is also possible to propose two panels on the same theme. Each theme must have a coordinator who submits a panel abstract of up to 1,000 words, plus 3-5 keywords. In addition, an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords, should accompany each presentation. The coordinator will act as the contact person for the thematic session(s) and the other panel presenters. (NB: If not all of the papers in the proposed panel session are evaluated favorably, the approved papers will be regarded as individual submissions and may be allocated to the sessions listed in point 1.)
3. Author-meets-critics sessions, in which an author presents a summary of a recent book or larger piece of research. Each author should send a 500-word synopsis of the relevant book or research project, along with 3-5 keywords. The submission should also include the names of one or two confirmed discussants. Discussants can be researchers, but we particularly encourage including at least one practitioner (or organization) as proposed discussants.
4. Roundtables, which are intended to engage policymakers or (non-)governmental stakeholders, or to organize discussions with practitioners about practical approaches to dealing with the problems that are the focus of the conference. Please send a 500 – 1,000 word abstract, plus 3-5 keywords. Also include information on the roundtable participants, affiliations, and whether the participation of each of them has been confirmed. Submissions can be academic-led or practitioner-led.
5. Young-scholar-meets-senior-scholar sessions, intended for graduate students to present their research plan or work in progress (proposals should be 500-1,000 words, with 3-5 keywords). Senior scholars, including HDCA Fellows, will provide feedback and chair the discussion.
6. Documentaries. If you would like to present and discuss your film or documentary during this conference, please send in a proposal with background and motivation (500-1000 words).
7. (not available online:) Poster exhibition, for which dedicated time slots will be available in the program so that authors can communicate their ideas to the circulating audience. Posters could present a research project, some completed fieldwork, a case study, or an early-stage research proposal. Please send an abstract of 300-600 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.

Please note:

• You will be required to identify the broad theme for your proposal to enable us to allocate it to reviewers (for example, education or health).

• Since we expect a large number of submissions, each person is allowed to be involved in a maximum of two proposals and these must be for different types of sessions (e.g. full paper and thematic panel)

• The same proposal may not be submitted more than once to different kinds of sessions, for example, full paper, poster, and young scholar.

• For panel proposals, the panel organizers may not substitute a non-reviewed paper if a presenter withdraws.

The main criteria for evaluating the various kinds of submissions are:

• Novelty/originality

• Clarity and structure

• Significance/impact/relevance to/engagement with the capability approach and/or human development

• Methodology/methods or practical application

• Fit with the conference theme

While the proposals may come from any discipline and may be theoretical, applied, or policy-based, every submission must engage with, apply, extend, criticize, or offer insights specifically relevant to the capability approach and/or the human development paradigm.

We plan the conference in a hybrid format. We invite people to come to Sofia and participate in person in the Conference but will also provide for HDCA members who are unable to attend with panels for online presentations.

All keynote events will be livestreamed. One will be open for the public (Martha Nussbaum). A variety of in-person parallel sessions will be organized during days 1, 2 and 3, in-between the different plenary sessions; parallel sessions of day 2 late afternoon and day 3 early morning will be completely in online modus.

Martha C. Nussbaum
Law and Philosophy
University of Chicago, United States

Melanie Walker
Higher Education & Human Development
University of the Free State, South Africa

Branko Milanović,
City University of New York, United States

Subbu Subramanian
Independent Scholar; formerly Professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies
Chennai, India

Vassil Kirov
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology BAS, Bulgaria

Gustaf Arrhenius
Institute for Futures Studies, Sweden

Ursula Holtgrewe
Centre for Social Innovation, Austria

Karina Angelieva
Head of the Political Cabinet
Ministry of Energy, Bulgaria

Zaakhir Asmal
Development Policy Research Unit
University of Cape Town, South Africa

Steven Dhondt
Researcher at TNO and visiting professor at KU Leuven
Belgium

Joost de Laat
Professor of Economics and Director
Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges, the Netherlands

Eugenia Volen
Program Director, Early Learning and Care
Trust for Social Achievement, Bulgaria

To download the GENERAL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME, please click here.

To download the FULL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME  (incl. abstracts), please click here.

To download the FLOOR MAP, please click here.

The programme is also seen below. The search works only for a particular day.

The 2023 HDCA Conference Sofia will use an online platform called Whova. You can download the Whova app to access the program and other information about the event

Get our official event app,

iOSAndroid

For feature details, visit Whova

You can also view the program below.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Please see the fee schedule below for in-person and online participants. (Please note that in-person attendees will have full access to all livestreams as well.) Applicants from low and middle-income countries are eligible for reduced registration fees, as per this schedule:

°NGO worker or similar or unwaged

The conference registration fee includes a one-year HDCA membership, including a year’s subscription to the Journal of Human Development & Capabilities.

SCHOLARSHIPS
Link to application form

HDCA conference scholarships, which cover part of the cost of attending the 2023 conference, will be awarded based on merit and need to either: a) early career scholars presenting single-authored papers at the 2023 HDCA Conference or b) scholars residing in low- and mid-income countries presenting papers at the 2023 HDCA Conference (for jointly authored papers to qualify for scholarship funds, all authors must reside in a low- or middle-income country). Scholarships are not awarded for poster presentations. As we are unable to assess need directly we request that you only apply for a scholarship if you can only attend the conference if awarded a scholarship

In addition, the HDCA in association with the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) will award three prestigious (and highly competitive) Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships to attend the HDCA 2023 conference (see details below). Each award will provide up to $2500 to cover travel, visas, accommodation, and registration fees for the conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, 11-13 September.

Applicants can be considered for both types of scholarships but only one scholarship can be awarded per person. Please fill out the application form here. The deadline for scholarship applications is: 30 April 2023.

Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships – Details

The HDCA in association with the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is pleased to invite applications for three prestigious Ul Haq Early Career Scholarships to attend the HDCA 2023 annual conference, in person.

Mahbub ul Haq was an economist, international development theorist, and politician who served two periods as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan  Mahbub ul Haq was the pioneer in developing the concept of human development, and led the establishment of the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report and the Human Development Index, pivotal in placing people at the heart of global development policy debate. He not only articulated the human development philosophy for development planning, but he also provided a now widely used statistical measure to quantify indicators of human development.

Each award will provide up to $2500 to cover travel, visas, accommodation and registration fees for the conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, 11-13 September

Eligibility Criteria:

1) Applicants should be enrolled in a PhD programme in any discipline, or early career researchers who are within 5 years of finishing their PhD.

2) They must have had a proposal accepted for the conference with a minimum grade of 78.

3) Priority will be given to scholars studying and working in low- and middle-income countries but high-income country applicants will also be considered.

4) Disciplinary diversity will inform the selection.

5) Financial need for conference support.

In the year following the conference, successful applicants will be expected to:

• Join a Thematic Group and Regional Network and to be active members.
• To present at least one joint HDRO- HDCA webinar.
• To develop their conference paper into an article for submission to the JHDC. Each successful applicant will be assigned a mentor to assist them with this process, including reading and commenting on their draft article.

Pre-conference events will be held on September 10. All registered conference participants are invited to attend. Please note events that require pre-registration.

_______________________________________________

Sofia city tour (10:00 – 12:00)

A sightseeing walk and a perfect presentation of Sofia’s history and landmarks.

Visit to the National History Museum (10:30 – 13:00) 

The National History Museum is the largest museum in Bulgaria. It contains over 650,000 objects connected to archaeology, fine arts, history and ethnography, from ancient times to the present day. The museum is situated in one of the main buildings of the official residence of the President, Vice President and Government of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Website: https://historymuseum.org/

Visit to the Vitosha Mountain (9:00 – 14:00)  (if the weather conditions do not allow this visit, participants may take part in one of the other 2 events). 

A short trip to Vitosha Mountain (2290 m) can be a great way to experience part of the natural beauty of Bulgaria and get some fresh air. It is one of the symbols of Sofia and is a favourite hiking place for the citizens and guests of the city. The tour will show some of its major landmarks. Vitosha is the oldest nature park in the Balkans.

Policy Panel “The next generation of human security”

 (16:00-17:15)

The key questions addressed by the Policy Forum are as follows:

• What fundamental threats to people are emerging today? What are their characteristics? How can they be monitored and tackled by public policies?
• What is behind the new generation of threats? What are the blind spots in current approaches on development policy and human security?
• How can the capabilities approach contribute to the new generation of policies to tackle new threats to human security? How can these policies be integrated into development and security actions?

This Policy Forum of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities highlights the state-of-the-art discussion on these points, opening the space for a new generation of research on policy issues and recommendations rooted in the capabilities approach. The Policy Forum addresses some of the most important challenges to sustainable human development today and contribute to new thinking and policy approaches necessary to further sustainable human development amidst a new generation of threats.

Papers:

Human Security in the Anthropocene: A New Base for Action

Mario Biggeri, University of Firenze & Heriberto Tapia, UNDP

Solidarity and Human Insecurity: Interpreting and Extending the HDRO’s 2022 Special Report on Human Security

Des Gasper, Erasmus University Rotterdam & Oscar A. Gómez, College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

“Freedom from Want”: A Critical Reflection in the Face of the Anthropocene

Kehinde Balogun, UNU-EHS, Kariuki Weru, UNU-EHS & Xiaomeng Shen, UNU-EHS

Humane Security: Solidarity in Policy and Practice

Su-ming Khoo, National University of Ireland

Universalism in Healthcare for Human Security: Policy Considerations

Tobias Schillings, Oxford Department of International Development, Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, Oxford Department of International Development & Rehana Mohammed, Human Development Report Office of the UNDP

Please pre-register when completing the conference registration form.

Book Launch and Roundtable on Justice for Animals

(17:30-18:30)

This event will start with a book launch of the book Justice for Animals, presented by Martha C. Nussbaum, Law and Philosophy, University of Chicago.

This will be followed by a roundtable by scholars who are working with Martha C. Nussbaum on the animal capabilities project which is part of the Balzan Prize that she has been recently awarded.

Roundtable speakers:

Amy Linch, Pennsylvania State University, Breena Holland, Lehigh University, Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, Case Western Reserve University & Nicolas Delon, New College of Florida

Please pre-register when completing the pre-registration form

HDCA Summer School 2023
Friday 8 and Saturday 9 September 2023
Sofia, Bulgaria.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Summer School Programme

We are excited to announce that this year HDCA Summer School will take place in person on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 September 2023 ahead of the conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The summer school aims to develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of key concepts in human development, with a particular focus on the capability approach. Giulia Greco (Giulia.Greco@lshtm.ac.uk) and Oliver Mutanga (oliverm.junior@gmail.com) will lead the summer school, joined by special guest tutors.

The two-day programme will include sessions delivered by senior capability scholars and practitioners covering foundational concepts in human development and the capability approach, measurement issues, inequalities, and sustainability. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss their research projects and receive feedback in a workshop-style. All sessions will be in person and in English.

Summer School Eligibility

The programme is specifically designed for doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars who already have some understanding of development issues and are currently working with the capability approach.  To be eligible for the 2023 HDCA summer school you must be a current doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher (within 2 years of receiving your doctorate) working with the capability approach. You must also attend the main HDCA conference in Sofia (separate registration and payment required).

 Priority will be given to students who have not previously attended an HDCA summer school. Applications from students who have previously attended an HDCA summer school will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you have any queries about your suitability for the summer school, please email the Education Officers, Giulia Greco and Oliver Mutanga for clarification.

Registration

Registration has been extended through August 11. If spaces are filled prior to August 11, a waiting list will be opened. https://hd-ca.org/2023-hdca-summer-school

The registration fee for the summer school is USD 80. It will include participation in the two-day programme, refreshments, two lunches, one evening meal, and course materials. It will not include travel or accommodation costs, so participants will need to budget accordingly. A wide range of accommodation is available locally.

If you are awarded a scholarship for this year’s main HDCA conference, you will be eligible to apply for up to USD 100 towards your accommodation costs for attending the summer school (payable following summer school registration).

Further details regarding the summer school registration process and practical information for the event (transport, venue, etc.) will be provided when the main conference registration opens in May.

Please note summer school places are limited and usually fill up very quickly.

Giulia Greco, HDCA Education Officer
Oliver Mutanga, HDCA Education Officer

Programme Committee

Melanie Walker, Higher Education & Human Development, University of the Free State, South Africa

Elaine Unterhalter, Centre for Education & International Development, UCL, United Kingdom

Martin van Hees, VU Amsterdam/Amsterdam University College, the Netherlands

Shailaja Fennell, Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Pepka Boyadjieva, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria

Petia Kabakchieva, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Vassil Kirov, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria

Melis Cin, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

Petya Ilieva-Trichkova, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria (Conference Chair)

Organising Committee

Emilia Chengelova, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria

Petya Ilieva-Trichkova, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria

Sonya Karabelyova, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Boyan Znepolsky, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Petia Kabakchieva, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Georgi Stoytchev, Open Society Institute Sofia, Bulgaria

Marin Lessenski, Open Society Institute Sofia, Bulgaria

Dessislava Velkova, Open Society Institute Sofia, Bulgaria

Bagryan Malamin, Open Society Institute Sofia, Bulgaria

Doriana Basamakova, Trust for Social Achievement, Bulgaria

Martin van Hees, VU Amsterdam/Amsterdam University College, the Netherlands

Pepka Boyadjieva, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, Bulgaria (Chair)

The Conference Venue

The main building (The Rectorate) of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, 1504 Sofia Centre, Sofia

The halls that will accommodate the conference are comfortable and cosy – study halls of several humanities faculties located in the central building imbued with the traditional academic spirit. The opening of the conference and hybrid events will be in the University’s formal Aula.

Enter the building through the main entrance.

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/w6zXMS4z7U7nV57w8

Pre-Conference Day Venue

The main building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

1 “15 Noemvri” Str., 1040 Sofia, BULGARIA (or Narodno Sabranie Square)

Enter the building through the main entrance.

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/YutaxCWE9MeaotbbA

Click here to download the information as a PDF

Hotel Suggestions

We have negotiated special conference prices with hotels within 3 to 20 minutes away from the Conference venue. Most of them are located in the city centre, on walking distance. Seven economy hotels are also included in the suggestions list.

Premium Hotels

Sense Hotel

4 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: https://www.sensehotel.com

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/YVeQpqFdQ7v3e4Dc9

How to book

• Please book by following this link: HDCA 2023 Accommodation
• Prices shown include promotional rates. The reservations should be made prior July 30.
• Cancellation and modification are free of charge are possible until 2 pm local hotel time 5 days prior to arrival.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/mTGWA3z9gYViJt1n9

Hotel Intercontinental Sofia

3 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/us/en/sofia/sofco/hoteldetail

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Wm2CxNJ3cr5zGxcQ7

How to book

Please book via the link: 2023 HDCA Conference – Sofia, Bulgaria

Hotel Conditions:

• Rates are valid for reservations made up to 31 August.
• Cancellation free of charge is possible up to 7 days before arrival.
• In case of late cancellation or non-appearance – 100% of the amount is due.
• A guarantee credit card will be required when booking and the card will be charged in case of a no-show or late cancellation.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/6roM8b5TLawG1N2A8

Grand Hotel Sofia

13 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: https://www.grandhotelsofia.bg

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/WedwWT6DQmG3SoAYA

How to book

To benefit from the promotional price one should send an email to reservations@grandhotelsofia.bg, and include HDCA 2023 as reservation keyword. Grand Hotel Sofia Reservations tel.: +359 2 811 0 800

Hotel Conditions

• Promotional rates are valid for reservations made before July 20.
• Cancellation free of charge is possible up to 14 days before arrival.
• In case of late cancellation or non-appearance – 100% of the amount is due.
• A guarantee credit card will be required when booking and the card will be charged in case of no-show or late cancellation.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/8kugn7Hx4oKG5QJn7

Sofia Balkan Palace

16 minutes walk or 2 minutes one stop metro ride from Serdika station to Sofia University

Website: https://www.sofiabalkanpalace.com
View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/gfnUkPHVH1EozqHB6

How to book

Please download and fill out this form, and send it to the hotel reservations email address. All rates and conditions for HDCA 2023 participants are listed in the document

Hotel Conditions

• Promotional rates are valid for reservations made before July 24.
• One night’s room revenue will be charged for each room cancelled after 01st of August 2023.
• Guestroom Cancellation between 7 to 0 days prior to arrival, no-show or early departure: All cancelled guestrooms will be charged at full amount for the full duration of the agreed stay.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/2vtgDaYYQMFemiwJ8

Hyatt Regency Sofia

4 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/bulgaria/hyatt-regency-sofia/sofrs
View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/STsjQF5rVpHzdBTj6

How to book: Information will be added shortly due to expected hotel confirmation.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/rwsCDLxHLfchj7eBA

Hotel Crystal Palace

3 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: https://www.crystalpalace-sofia.com

How to book: Please use hdca2023 promo code when booking here: https://www.crystalpalace-sofia.com

The code will be valid until August 10.
The discount is available for the period September 10 – 13, 2023

Hotel Conditions

Promotional rates are valid for reservations made before August 10.

Free cancellation is possible up to 10 days before the arrival.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/xAH9zn8KCeZSoohK8

Economical Budget Hotel Suggestions

Park Hotel Moskva

~15 minutes, two stops metro ride from F. J. Curie station to Sofia University or 35 minutes walk through the park or
Great view from the upper floors. Close to a park.

Website: https://www.parkhotelmoskva.net
View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/fhVLQiTi1Qsbm7Pb9

How to book

• To benefit from the promotional price one should send an email to marketing@parkhotelmoskva.net, and include HDCA 2023 as reservation keyword.
• The cost of a single room is 43 Euro, Double – 61 Euro.
• Reservation of the rooms is made only after written confirmation from the client by e-mail.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/VqX8yGvTtLZKXcFc9

EuroStars Sofia City

10 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website: www.eurostarshotels.com

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Dej9dWV7htrRhqhv5

How to book

• The hotel is part of the Spanish Hotuza Group and do not operate with fixed prices.
• The capacity is 61 rooms and therefore the hotel accommodates groups of up to 15 rooms per day.
• Offers are individual, for specific request.
• Please specify period, number and type of rooms and you will receive an offer as soon as possible.

For the best rate, you can book through the hotel’s official website – www.eurostarshotels.com. The price includes free breakfast and free water upon check-in.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/4FVBVqGfprYE1ptY8

Arte Hotel

15 minutes walk to Sofia University

Website:  https://artehotelbg.com

View in Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ayUUMfWYNMarKu8z7

How to book: Via hotel’s website: https://www.reservations.artehotelbg.com/?lng=en-GB&currency=EUR or email to reservations@artehotelbg.com.

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/UiMEoap9w54idpbQ8

Hotel Latinka

15 minutes, two stops metro ride from F. J. Curie station to Sofia University or 30 minutes walk through the park or

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/yJ1wFqGJ1pYPF6edA

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/L5jV9CN6w6XyLcGs5

Hotel Kibella

20 minutes by bus 280 from Hotel Pliska to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/EQRxxpyMusY1oKWK6

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/NjzHoSVCmpfRgVst5

Hotel of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

28 minutes by bus 280 from Hotel Pliska Bus stop to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ZmoT8DZoV3xTYxqF6

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/bHGuw7YxiY7kjwvm8

Hotel Europe

20 minutes by bus 280 from Hotel Pliska to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Eb1wxChRSd985YZY8

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/FL15STkmmxzverof9

Hotel Downtown

14 minutes walk to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/dcgME29NMU2L5tYj6

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/vp53NzL3KrSTQWNg9

Rosslyn Thracia Hotel Sofia

20 minutes walk to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9UCtwnc1iBh5aepH9

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/QR7dFjbpbAiezdLt6

Hotel COOP

12 minutes walk to Sofia University

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/iGcN6iwB3bdL4Q5N9

How to book: The hotel’s presentation on Booking.com

How to get there from the airport: https://goo.gl/maps/wUgmq5xYZ2AVTbnY7

How to Get To the Conference Venue

By Metro

The metro station at Sofia Airport is located in Terminal 2 (regular companies and Ryanair). You can reach it by following the floor markings in the public area of Terminal 2. The station is located on your left when you exit the terminal.

View in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/wCejLThRePtefw2Q6

If you arrive on Terminal 1 Sofia Airport provides free-of-charge transportation to Terminal 2 every 30 minutes. The shuttle bus stops are located in front of the terminal buildings, and are designated by signage and pavement markings. The inter-terminal transfer service operates 24/7.

The first metro from the Airport to the city center is at 5:26am on working days, and at 5:27am on holidays. The last one is at 22:43 on working days and at 23:04 on holidays.

You should leave the metro on the 11^th station – SU Sveti Kliment Ohridski. From there it is a 2 – minute walk to Sofia University (100 m), the metro station is named on the university.

Tickets can be bought at ticket machines at the entrances of the metro stations or at cashier’s desk of Metropolitan EAD. The ticket should be validated at the barriers at the entrance to the metro stations. It is valid to travel in the metro within 30 minutes from the issue hour. One way ticket price is BGN 1.60 (0.8 Euro) The ticket machines accept Bulgarian banknotes and coins. The validators at the barriers also accepts credit/debit cards, convenient if you do not have any cash or change.

Passengers with regular transport documents are allowed to take up to 2 pieces of hand luggage on public transport vehicles free of charge. Any additional pieces of luggage are charged with a separate transport document.

More information on the types of luggage, transport conditions, routes and timetables can be found at: Sofia Urban Mobility Centre and Metropolitan Sofia.

SHORT-TERM TRANSPORTATION DOCUMENTS IN SOFIA

Ticket 30 Plus (ticket allowing a trip with transfers within the first 30 minutes) – price BGN 1.60 (0.8 Euro) (can be loaded into an electronic card (Sofia City Card or Ultraligh) or to be paid with a bank card at a validator in a vehicle or at metro entry barriers. Allows combined trip by ground vehicle and metro. The 30 minutes start from the first successful validation. Within these 30 minutes, a passenger may use more than two vehicles, but ticket MUST be validated in each one! The last validation performed within 30 minutes allows the passenger to complete their validated trip without time limit, until the end of the route.

Ticket 60 Plus (ticket allowing a trip with transfers within the first 60 minutes) – price BGN 2.20 (1.1 Euro) (can be loaded into an electronic card (Sofia City Card or Ultraligh). Allows combined trips with ground vehicle and metro. The 60 minutes start from the first successful validation. Within this 60 min, a passenger may use more than two vehicles, but ticker MUST be validated in each one! The last validation performed within 60 minutes allows the passenger to complete their validated trip without time limit, until the end of the route.

One-day/day card – price BGN 4 (2 Euro) (can be loaded into Sofia City Card or Ultraligh) and can be combined with a 30 plus or 60 plus ticket.

24 hour card, incl. night transport – price BGN 6 (3 Euro) (can be charged to Sofia City Card or Ultraligh and can be combined with a 30 plus or 60 plus ticket). The validity of the card starts from the corresponding time and day of purchase.

72 hour card, incl. night transport – price BGN 15 (7.5 Euro) (can be charged to Sofia City Card or Ultraligh and can be combined with a 30 plus or 60 plus ticket). The validity of the card starts from the corresponding time and day of purchase.

Getting to the Conference Venue by Bus

In case you arrive at Terminal 1 (low-cost companies except Ryanair) you can also take 84 bus route which connects the city centre with Sofia Airport Terminal 2 and Terminal 1. You should buy your ticket from the BUS driver (2.0 BGN, 1 Euro). If you purchase a ticket from the driver it is always 2 BGN, if from a machine or self-check it is 1.6 BGN. Alternatively, use a debit/credit card on the self-check machines inside the busses.

By Taxi

For your comfort and safety, we recommend the services of the taxi operator Yellow! as contractual partner of SOF Connect, the concessioner of Sofia Airport.

You can request the service at the offices of Yellow! in the Arrivals of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

Phone: +359 2 91 119, website: www.yellow333.com and the floor markings in yellow will lead you to the taxi stand area..

A taxi from the airport to the hotels/conference venue costs approximately 15 – 20 €.

WARNING! We recommend that you do not use taxi services offered outside the office of the taxi operator or in front of the terminal to avoid the risk of abuse.

Information on Sofia Airport site: Transport to/from the Airport

General Information About Bulgaria and Sofia

• Sofia is the capital
• The official language is Bulgarian
• The official script is Cyrillic
• The official religion is East Orthodox Christianity
• Currency: BGN – pronounced “lev” (plural leva); Exchange rates €1 = BGN 1.96
• Calling code: 00359
• Time zone: EET (UTC+2)
• Traffic is on the right side
• Power plugs – see more at: https://world-power-plugs.com/bulgaria
• Weather in Sofia in September: https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/bulgaria/sofia-weather-september
  The first month of the autumn, September, is still a pleasant month in Sofia, Bulgaria, with average temperature fluctuating between 11°C (51.8°F) and 23°C (73.2°F).
• Info for various cultural events and museums in Sofia you will find here: https://www.visitsofia.bg/en/
• Welcome to Sofia: https://youtu.be/d3_q3ozJQZ0
• Best Places to Visit in Sofia Bulgaria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SRHzGfH4as
• Top 25 Things to Do and See in Sofia: https://youtu.be/gljZJnP5ZWs
• Various videos about Sofia: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sofia+guide
• Sofia free walking tours in English: https://freesofiatour.com

List of Countries Whose Citizens, Holders of Ordinary Passports, Require Visas to Enter Bulgaria

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Peoples Republic of (PRC), Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Cube, Democratic Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Republic of, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia*, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey**, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine***, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Citizens of the EU, EEC (Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) and Switzerland are exempted from the requirement to have a long-term visa and from the requirement to have “work permit” when staying in Bulgaria for the period of more than 90 days.

* Serbia: Only holders of biometric passports are exempt from the visa obligation. Holders of non-biometric passports and holders of passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (in Serbian: Koordinaciona uprava) still require a visa in which case the visa facilitation agreements apply.

** Turkey: Citizens of the Republic of Turkey holding valid regular passports and visas issued by the Member States of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement or of the European Union, or residence permits issued by the Member States of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement or of the European Union, Switzerland or Liechtenstein, may enter the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and transit there through without visas for up to 5 (five) days, where their transit is from the Republic of Turkey to the state which issued the visa or residence permit, as well as in case of transit from such state to the Republic of Turkey. Nationals of Turkey, holders of special passports are not visa exempt.

*** Ukraine: only holders of biometric passports are exempt from the visa obligation. Holders of non-biometric passports still require a visa in which case the visa facilitation agreements apply.

Last updated by MFA: 05.01.2021. Click here for more info about Bulgarian visa.

Currency Exchange in Sofia

Exchanging your currency to Bulgarian Levs is possible in every bank office. When you arrive at Sofia Airport you can change a small amount at the airport exchange desk, just enough to take a taxi and get to the hotel. On the next day walk by a bank office to do the main money exchange. You can also withdraw money from the airport ATM.

The nearest bank offices to Sofia University are:

Fibank – 3 minutes by feet: https://goo.gl/maps/z36wgHB45sA2VZMf8

Unicredit Bulbank: https://goo.gl/maps/Wb3N3vPvwYnvFvM2A

There are a large number of ATMs are available around the conference venue: https://www.google.com/maps/search/ATMs/@42.6930413,23.3356343,17z/data=!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sSofia+University+St.+Kliment+Ohridski!3s0x40aa85742b65a213:0x88e9e4cfcaa2e5b6!4m2!1d23.334946!2d42.6935966?entry=ttu

Click here to download the above accommodation and visa information as a PDF

The 2023 conference will be held at Sofia University, main building.

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria since 1879 and the largest city in the country. The city is one of the oldest in Europe being inhabited for 7000 years. Sofia is at the foot of Vitosha Mountain (2290 m) – a favourite hiking place for the citizens and guests.

Sofia is both old and modern with a relatively small centre. Most of the significant buildings – (Parliament, Presidency, City Hall, University, National Theatre, National Gallery) are within walking distance.

Sofia is a green city, with trees lining the streets and several parks in the centre. The city has viable public transport, with the metro being the most convenient transport from the airport to the centre. Taxis are available and there is a wide choice of restaurants, bars, and clubs in the broad centre.

In September the weather is mild, with a little chance of rain and the average maximum temperature is around 23 degrees Celsius.

The conference is hosted by Sofia University – the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria. The rectorate building is an architectural landmark with 36 000 sq. m. of floor space, 324 rooms, including 65 auditoriums with 6000 seats in the ideal centre of the city.

The halls that will accommodate the participants are comfortable and cosy – study halls of several humanities faculties located in the central building imbued with the traditional academic spirit. The opening of the conference and hybrid events will be in the University’s formal Aula, with side events in beautiful buildings nearby.

Sofia University employs some of the best Bulgarian scientists in all the research fields. Scientific activity of the University’s lecturers is a mandatory integral part of the educational process.

Welcome to Sofia!

The Kuklys prize is annually awarded at the HDCA conference for the best conference paper written by a graduate student. Normally the same person can only win the award once. The Kuklys Prize is aimed at promoting the work of graduate students in the field of human development and the capability approach. It is named in memory of Wiebke Kuklys, who, as an Economics PhD student at Cambridge University, advanced the capability approach by exploring the application of new statistical techniques. Wiebke studied in Germany, Chile, and England, and combined an open mind for new ideas with a concern for the most vulnerable people and she believed that high-quality research could contribute to making the world a better place to live in. Wiebke died in June 2005, at the age of 33, only a few months after receiving her PhD degree. Her dissertation was published posthumously by Springer under the title “Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications.”

The UAntwerp has an important research and teaching tradition in social justice and active pluralism in the social and human sciences. The Conference has been set up in such a way that all social and human science faculties participate in it.  We can also count on the The University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp (UCSIA), well versed in building bridges between academia and wider society in the area of  social justice.

This Conference will also be the culmination of the 20^th anniversary year of the Institute of Development Policy (IOB). The  Human Development & Capability Association stands for a multi-dimensional vision of development, as it gives central attention to human agency as both the end and the means of development and as it assigns a constitutive role to public debate and deliberation in the development process. In this, it provides for the core ingredients of the work the IOB has been cultivating over the last two decades.

The conference venue is located at a mere 10 minute walk from the old city center of Antwerp, with many opportunities to relax, have dinner or simply stroll around.  Throughout history, and today, Antwerp connects to the world through its inland port, with direct yet sheltered access to the North Sea.  During the pre-conference you will have the opportunity to explore one or more  traces of the traditions that have been shaping the city.

DOWNLOAD THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS HERE

We invite work on capabilities and institutions related to three overarching issues:

First of all, we invite contributions that explore the interrelation between institutions (economic, political, social, cultural) and people’s opportunities to be and do what they value, with a special emphasis on how institutions may have an unequal impact on different social groups. Sen’s early work on the role of democracy in preventing famines and, more generally, on the way in which economic and political incentives may exacerbate or overcome social divisiveness, both within and across national borders, points to the importance of this issue.

Secondly, diverse disciplines and strands of the literature provide different angles from which to discuss individual agency in relation to social structure and our ability to act in concert. It is not only that human sociability is intrinsically rewarding (regardless of the material benefits provided by different social structures), but also—as authors like Paul Ricoeur, drawing on Hannah Arendt, argue—that the “structures of living together” play a constitutive role in situating both ourselves and others as distinct yet equivalent beings and in shaping structures of solidarity. Further contributions to this debate can inspire us to find new ways to transform unjust structures and unsustainable ways of living.

Thirdly, institutions organize collective decision-making. In the work of both Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen, considerable room is made for “government by discussion” as a crucial link between individual ideas about the good life and reasoned social choice. The reflection on ways to deepen democracy and to promote participation at multiple levels of decision-making has been part and parcel of the development debate in the Global South. In the Global North, this reflection has recently taken another turn, with the emergence of what has been called “polaritics”, the related debates on the potential of the New Media to contribute to or challenge democratic decision-making, and on the impact of economic inequality on democracy.

While the conference call is open to all types of contributions that engage with the broader theme of human development and capabilities, we would especially like to invite papers that engage with one of the above three broad areas.

We invite scholars, activists, policymakers, practitioners, and students working in the area of human development and capabilities to Antwerp, Belgium. We look forward to hosting participants from a wide range of research themes, topics, methods, professions, and regions to engage in innovative conversations with each other, and to find new synergies in advancing the core aims of the Human Development Paradigm. We especially welcome those who are new to the field, introducing us to fresh ideas and perspectives. We would also like to expressly invite participants from the Global South, from ethnic minorities and from Indigenous peoples.

In addition, the conference will also host a number of sessions organized by the coordinators of the different thematic groups and regional networks of the Human Development and Capability Association.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

Please download and read the full Call for Proposals.
Call for Proposals HDCA 2022_Final

Then submit your proposed poster, paper, or panel online from 1 December 2021 (https://www.conftool.org/hdca2022)

If you encounter any problems, please contact the conference organizers by email (hdca2022@uantwerp.be).

To ensure academic quality, all submissions will be assessed by two reviewers, at least one of whom is an HDCA Fellow or a senior researcher in the field.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

EXTENDED DEADLINE: 23 February 2022 – Closing date for submission of proposals

15 April 2022 – Announcement of acceptance/rejection

30 April 2022 – Deadline for scholarship applications

1 May 2022 – Opening of conference registration and final decision on conference format

26 June 2022 – Deadline extended for conference registration at early-bird rates

15 July 2022 – Deadline for paper submission for Kuklys prize

15 August 2022 – Final deadline for conference registration at standard rates

15 August 2022 – Submission of full papers/posters/presentations

Types of proposals for parallel sessions

In addition to keynote lectures and other plenaries, the conference will accommodate eight types of sessions. Except for the poster sessions, all of them can take place either in-person in Antwerp, or online, at the end of day 2 or early day 3 of the conference:

1. Academic paper sessions, for which single papers can be submitted. Each paper will be presented in a session with 2 or 3 other submissions (25 minutes per paper including Q&A). Please send an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.
2. Research and Action sessions, for which a set of presentations can be submitted, describing and analysing a particular field of action and the way it links with the human development paradigm and/or capability approach. Each session will include 3 or 4 other presentations (20 minutes per presentation including Q&A). Please send an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords for the whole set of presentations. In addition, an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords, should accompany each single presentation. A coordinator will act as the contact person for all presenters.
3. Thematic panel sessions, for which a set of presentations on a single theme related to this year’s conference theme or to the subject of one or more of the HDCA’s thematic groups is submitted. Panel proposals are welcome from the thematic group coordinators as well as from people unaffiliated with them. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary panels and panels that combine academic perspectives with those of practitioners. Each thematic panel should have a maximum of three presentations. It is also possible to propose two panels on the same theme. Each theme must have a coordinator who submits a panel abstract of up to 1,000 words, plus 3-5 keywords. In addition, an abstract of 500-1,000 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords, should accompany each presentation. The coordinator will act as the contact person for the thematic session(s) and the other panel presenters. (NB: If not all of the papers in the proposed panel session are evaluated favorably, the approved papers will be regarded as individual submissions and may be allocated to the sessions listed in point 1.)
4. Author-meets-critics sessions, in which an author presents a summary of a recent book or larger piece of research. Each author should send a 500-word synopsis of the relevant book or research project, along with 3-5 keywords. The submission should also include the names of one or two confirmed discussants. Discussants can be researchers, but we particularly encourage including at least one practitioner (or organization) as proposed discussants.
5. Roundtables, which are intended to engage policymakers or (non-)governmental stakeholders, or to organize discussions with practitioners about practical approaches to dealing with the problems that are the focus of the conference. Please send a 500 – 1,000 word abstract, plus 3-5 keywords. Also include information on the roundtable participants, affiliations, and whether the participation of each of them has been confirmed. Submissions can be academic-led or practitioner-led.
6. Young-scholar-meets-senior-scholar sessions, intended for graduate students to present their research plan or work in progress (proposals should be 500-1,000 words, with 3-5 keywords). Senior scholars, including HDCA Fellows, will provide feedback and chair the discussion.
7. Documentaries. If you would like to present and discuss your film or documentary during this conference, please send in a proposal with background and motivation (500-1000 words).
8. (not available online:) Poster exhibition, for which dedicated time slots will be available in the program so that authors can communicate their ideas to the circulating audience. Posters could present a research project, some completed fieldwork, a case study, or an early-stage research proposal. Please send an abstract of 300-600 words, with a list of 3-5 keywords.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Martha Nussbaum
University of Chicago

Bas van Bavel
Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University

Sunita Narain
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), University of Delhi

Achille Mbembe
Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand

Bonny Ibhawoh
Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University

Marc Fleurbaey
Paris School of Economics

Julia Steinberger
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds.

Priscilla Claeys
Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University

Download a pdf of the program

Global Dialogue Day (GDD) is a free online event open to all, taking place on 19th September. It includes parallel sessions and webinars bringing together academics, leaders, and practitioners of human development and diverse voices from across the world to discuss the most pressing global challenges and emerging challenges to human-centered development.

GDD will include a day-long series of multifaceted discussions including but not limited to education, decolonisation, development ethics, neuroscience, and environment. The interactive sessions organised by the HDCA thematic group and regional network coordinators will give you the opportunity to explore and enquire about the opportunities and challenges concerning SDGs and human development in different regions. This dialogue will also highlight the importance of multi-regional and interdisciplinary engagement to initiate a global discussion on contemporary issues, movements, and tensions in the field of human development.

Download the Global Dialogue Day Program

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September 2022
University of Antwerp, Belgium

Summer School Programme

The summer school aims to develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of key concepts in human development with a particular focus on the capability approach. Giulia Greco and Oliver Mutanga will lead the summer school, together with special guest tutors.

The two-day programme will include sessions delivered by senior HDCA academics on the nature of human development; foundational concepts in human development and the capability approach; measurement issues; inequalities and social justice; and the role of institutions. There will also be opportunities to get group feedback on research projects in a workshop-style format.

Accepted participants will be given pre-course preparation to do ahead of the summer school. All sessions will be in English.

Summer School Eligibility

The programme is specifically aimed at doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars who already have some understanding of development issues and are currently working with the capability approach. To be eligible for the 2022 HDCA summer school you need to be a current doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher (within 3 years of receiving doctorate) working with or interested in the capability approach. You must also be attending the main HDCA conference in Antwerp (separate registration and payment required).

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Alejandra Boni, Ingenio, CSIC Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

Bea Cantillon, Faculty of Social Sciences UAntwerp, Belgium

Koen De Feyter, Faculty of Law, UAntwerp, Belgium

Melanie Walker, Higher Education & Human Development, University of the Free State, South Africa

Guido Erreygers, Faculty of Business & Economics, UAntwerp, Belgium

Faith Mkwananzi, Higher Education & Human Development, University of the Free State, South Africa

Elaine Unterhalter, Centre for Education & International Development (CEID), UCL, United Kingdom

Luc Van Ootegem, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, UGent

Tom De Herdt, Institute of Development Policy, UAntwerp, Belgium (Conference Chair)

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE

Tom De Herdt, Institute of Development Policy, UAntwerp

Frédéric Huybrechs, Institute of Development Policy, UAntwerp

Joelle Dhondt, Institute of Development Policy, Uantwerp

Hans Debacker, Institute of Development Policy, Uantwerp

Charlotte Teunis, Institute of Development Policy, Uantwerp

Elsy Verhofstadt, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ugent

Barbara Segaert, University Centre Saint-Ignatius, Antwerp (chair)

Māori are tangata whenua or people of the land. The relationship that tangata whenua have with the natural environment (mountains, rivers, flora and fauna) has been shaped by experiences from and responsibilities to past, present, and future generations. This deep relationship and responsibility to the natural environment is exemplified in the way that Māori, when introducing themselves, do so by situating themselves within a particular landscape (in relation to a mountain, river, ocean, region, marae, people). It is also evident in the way that ‘whenua’ means not merely land but also placenta – highlighting the fundamental connection that people have to the natural environment.

Information About Local Maori Communities in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland

Te Tino O Kaipara – The Great Kaipara

and

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

Information About Marae

Marae is centrally about people and the environment working together – or, in other words, about tangata whenua, people of the land. […] Marae (kin-community centres) remain the quintessential focus of tribal Māori identity. […] Prior to East Polynesians arriving in Aotearoa, marae had continuously evolved and developed in response to more than 2000 years of oceanic exploration and settlement. […]

However, many marae communities struggled under the pressures enforced upon them due to land wars and resulting laws that vastly diminished tribal land estates. And if those pressures were not significant enough, the economic recession of the 1930s – as well as other factors – has had cumulative, irreversible effects on marae. Since World War II, further major changes have occurred within marae communities. Perhaps the most significant is that Māori as individuals are no longer culturally, politically or economically dependent on their marae community or papakāinga to survive. This creates a dilemma: hapū and their marae cannot survive without kin support. The marae and their leaders are the primary means for transmitting cultural values and the language that symbolises tribal identity. […] The net effect of limited youth engagement, participation or even simply presence with elders in marae contexts is to reduce the sustainability of community cultural knowledge and values. […]

The major question facing many communities is, can tribal marae survive this silent crisis of human resource depletion? Can marae transform themselves again, as in the past, to remain relevant and vital to the new generation of Māori living in mostly distant urban environments? And how can those descendants living away (virtually) reconnect and support their local marae communities who keep the home fires alight? The outcomes of the decisions made today, especially about Treaty settlements, language and marae programmes, will have a ripple effect on the living of tomorrow.

_{(From: Tapsell, Paul [2014]. Tribal marae: Crisis? What Crisis? In Merata Kawharu [ed.] Maranga Mai: Te Reo and Marae in Crisis? Auckland University Press)}

	Reweti
	Puatahi
	Haranui
	Araparera
	Kakanui
	Piritahi
	Orakei

For all tribal marae throughout the country, see HERE.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

When modern Aotearoa New Zealand was founded in 1840, a partnership between two cultures and two systems of law and morality was forged. Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti), The Treaty of Waitangi, recognises this to be the case. It affirms and promises to uphold the mana (customary authority), tino rangatiratanga (leadership), and tikanga (law) of Māori, and commits to a relationship of equal partnership between Māori chiefs and the British Crown.

For further information about Te Tiriti, see:

Please note that some dates have recently been adjusted (compared to the original call for papers).

March 21, 2020: Announcement of acceptance/rejection

April 18, 2020: Deadline for scholarship applications

May 2, 2020: Announcement of scholarship recipients

May 16, 2020: Deadline for conference registration at early-bird rates

June 6, 2020: Final deadline for conference registration at standard rates

June 15, 2020: Submission of posters/videos

Following the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we had to change the set-up of the 2020 conference to a pure online format. In effect, presenters now have two different options to display their work:

In addition, our keynote speakers will address the audience live during various specific timeslots throughout the conference.

Presenter Requirements

The technical solution we will employ for option 1 is Zoom Meetings. The use of Zoom itself does not involve any cost for conference presenters. However, to ensure that all participants are satisfied with their experience of the papers (in terms of both delivery and reception), presenters will be allowed to participate in option 1 sessions only if they have access to appropriate technology of the following kinds:

(We will conduct a test run with each remote presenter prior to the event.)

The technical solution that we employ for option 2 is an online platform for posting materials and hosting forum discussions. It too does not involve any cost for conference guests, and the technical requirements for participation in this category are lower. Presenters who wish to display their material in the form of an online poster merely need to be able to produce their exhibit in PDF or high-resolution picture format. Presenters may post additional video or audio clips to accompany their display (10-minute maximum length). The latter require corresponding technology to produce such media (the organisers will not be able to produce these for them). We will arrange for the installation of all option 2 files on our online platform.

Audience Requirements

Technical requirements for our audience is significantly lower compared to those for presenters. To view and comment on option 2 materials, access to a computer with a standard up-to-date browser and a standard Internet connection suffice.

To view option 1 sessions and keynotes live (as they are produced), we recommend that guests have access to appropriate technology of the following kinds:

In addition, those who wish to orally participate in Q&A sessions need a microphone of sufficient quality. Anyone who wishes to provide their own video stream (such that can be seen by everyone else) requires a webcam of sufficient quality (as well as an Internet connection of slightly greater speed and capacity).

Note:

1. FOR GENERAL INTEREST

1.1 What are the time slots of live presentations in Zoom?

On each day of the conference (30 June to 2 July), we have three consecutive 1.5-hour slots in the morning between 8:00-12:30 and three consecutive 1.5-hour slots in the evening between 20:00-00:30 (New Zealand time). To convert these slots to your own local time, we suggest you use THIS TOOL.

1.2 If my paper has co-presenters, do we all have to register and pay the event fee?

Yes. The approach we take is the same one you would find in a traditional conference. Anyone who ‘comes to the conference’ (ie, dials into Zoom sessions and/or enters our online platform for prerecorded sessions) has to register and pay the corresponding event fee.

1.3 I’ve never used the Zoom app, can you teach me how to use it?

For basic information on how to install and use Zoom in Windows or Mac OS, please check out THIS RESOURCE. In addition, you can find Zoom video tutorials on a variety of issues HERE.

1.4 How do the two options — live presentation and prerecorded session — differ?

Please check out the Online Conference Formats and Technical Requirements section of this website.

1.5 How can I apply for a scholarship towards the conference fees?

Please check out the Scholarships and Prizes section of this website. That’s also where you find eligibility information.

1.6 If I have specific questions about registration payment or fees, whom can I contact?

Please message Kathy Rosenblum at admin@hd-ca.org.

1.7 What’s the deadline for participants to let the organisers know which session format they choose?

You need to contact us by 16 May at the latest.

1.8 Will there be any prizes for presenters during this conference?

For our newly instated online-conference awards, please check out the Scholarships and Prizes section of this website.

2. FOR PARTICIPANTS WHO PRESENT LIVE

2.1 I’ve never presented online in Zoom, can you teach me?

We will make resources on how to use Zoom during your live presentation available here soon, please check back in a few days. In the meantime, consider learning about general Zoom use by checking out item 1.3 above.

2.2 When will I be notified of the date and time of my session?

We are aiming to send out a draft schedule for live presentations at around 20 May (one week after early bird registration has closed).

2.3 How long are Thematic Panel Sessions?

Each session is 1.5 hours long. Panel organisers will be in touch with panellists to discuss in detail how best to use this time.

2.4 How much time will I have to present my individual paper?

Each session is 1.5 hours long and incorporates a maximum of three individual papers. Thus, you each have 25 minutes (including Q&A), regardless of whether you are an academic, practitioner, or young scholar. Chairs will be in touch to discuss in detail how you would like to use your time.

3. FOR PARTICIPANTS WITH PRERECORDED SESSIONS

3.1 How will I get feedback for my prerecorded contribution?

We will be encouraging members of the conference audience to visit our online platform where each prerecorded contribution is posted and engage with the author in the respective forum.

3.2 How long can my prerecorded session be?

If you wish to make your contribution a prerecorded audio or video session, we recommend you limit yourself to 15 minutes length. Otherwise, you will not be eligible for a viewers’ choice award.

3.3 What’s the deadline for participants to send the organisers their prerecorded materials?

You need to submit all of your files by 15 June at the very latest. We will make an inbox for uploads available in due course.

While ideas about well-being, human development, and justice have always been progressed, now more than ever is the time for us to push ahead. Problems like radical climate change and the many effects it has on the ability of communities to flourish worldwide leave us with little other choice.

The Capability Approach and Human Development Paradigm have been playing an important role in this progress. They provide a meeting point for diverse perspectives, in- and outside of academia; link the Global South and Global North; and place the lives that people are able to have at the heart of well-being, development, and justice. Sustainability and equity are two of the pillars of human development, and while much progress has been made in understanding these ideas, new challenges have emerged. The urgent need to face these new challenges requires even more inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural understanding and exchange. How do we meet the needs of the present generation without sacrificing those of future generations? Can capability concepts help to distinguish sustainable flourishing from damagingly excessive living standards? How might we reinvent our means of satisfying human needs, so that our planet’s population can still function well while reducing consumption? In the age of rising sea levels, what are the bases of community if territory and historical connections to places are no longer available? And in the face of worsening ideological conflicts, how might economic, social, and political frameworks be rethought?

Indigenous philosophies are highly relevant to sustainable and equitable development. They have been playing an increasingly prominent role in advancing social, economic, environmental, and cultural development around the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori philosophies ground the naming of Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui river) and Te Urewera (previously a national park) as legal entities with rights. Similarly, Kaupapa Māori Theory has helped to pioneer a platform for indigenous knowledges globally, providing space to reimagine the role of communities in research and development. Beyond Aotearoa New Zealand, concepts such as aloha ‘āina (Hawai’i, ‘love of the land’), minobimaatisiiwin (Anishinaabe, ‘the good life’), and sumaq kawsay (Quechua, ‘good living’) are transforming environmental thinking. Within and beyond the Pacific region, calls for sustainability chart a renewed course for development, highlighting the urgency and centrality of environmental concerns for tackling poverty, the value of diverse knowledges, and the need for local and global solutions. We can use this momentum to prevent that governments worldwide continue to ignore indigenous people’s knowledge and values and refuse to give them effect in policy and law.

Cross-disciplinary dialogue and conversation among people with very diverse experiences provide us with exciting opportunities for discovering creative solutions to old and new problems and harnessing the potential of creative and often unexpected synergies. In this regard we ask: What new conversations involving the Human Development Paradigm and Capability Approach are currently underway? In which discussions should the approach participate in the future? What can we learn from perspectives that remain at the margins of current mainstream conversations? How, within the human development and capability space, can different values speak to each other? And how can we prevent that the silencing of differences and the monopolisation of discourses squashes innovation?

Under the theme New Horizons: Sustainability and Justice, the 2020 HDCA Conference aims to provide an enriching way to focus on fresh ideas, new directions, and different voices that take us into the future.

The following keynote speakers have been confirmed for our conference in its new all-online format (updates here soon):

​

	Sakiko Fukuda-Parr Professor of International Affairs and Director of Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs, The New School Mahbub-ul-Haq Memorial Lecture: Rescuing Human Development from the HDI: A Human Development Agenda for the 21st Century
	Pedro Conceição Director of the Human Development Report Office and lead author of the Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme
	Kate Raworth Senior Research Associate at Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University / Professor of Practice, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
	Arunabha Ghosh Chief Executive Officer, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)
	Linda Smith Professor of Indigenous Education, University of Waikato
	José Gabriel Palma Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge (Emeritus) / University of Santiago Amartya Sen Lecture: What Went Wrong With European Social Democracy: On Building a Debilitating Capitalism, Where Even the Welfare State Subsidises Greater Market Inequality
	Sridhar Venkatapuram Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Philosophy, King’s College London
	Jay Drydyk Professor of Philosophy and Program Director of Ethics and Public Affairs, Carleton University

Mahbub-ul-Haq Memorial Lecture, by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr

Rescuing Human Development from the HDI: A Human Development Agenda for the 21st Century

What would Mahbub be advocating today as the priority human development agenda? What are the most urgent challenges of the day and what can the human development perspective contribute?

Inspired by this question and Mahbub’s propensity to change his mind readily in response to new ideas or new realities, this lecture argues that human development is as relevant as it was in 1990 to bring new perspectives on the crises of contemporary society such as pandemics, climate change and inequality. But to do so requires rescuing the concept from the HDI – a highly imperfect, simplified representation of the complex and broad concept. The imperfections were recognized even at the origins but the index was developed as an important tool of communicating the new paradigm, capable of drawing attention to human ends of development and reframing development thinking. But as numeric indicators often do, the HDI began to redefine, not just represent, human development. This lecture will consider the origins of the concept of human development and its relationship to capability theory, and the evolution of the literature on human development. It will argue that the misalignment between HDI and human development has widened in terms of a discourse of development capable of presenting an alternative paradigm and shifting frameworks, and as an analytical framework for setting policy agendas.

Amartya Sen Lecture, by José Gabriel Palma

What Went Wrong With European Social Democracy: On Building a Debilitating Capitalism, Where Even the Welfare State Subsidises Greater Market Inequality

This presentation will elaborate on a proposition advanced in a previous paper: that the only sustainable progressive and enabling social and distributive agendas are those anchored in an economic agenda that already leads to low levels of inequality in the market. In other words, from the perspective of sustainability and economic efficiency, and also from that of functionings and capabilities, it matters whether low levels of inequalities have been achieved already in the market, or if they are achieved only subsequently via taxes and transferences. Yet European countries have let their markets reach Latin American levels of inequality (and have done so happily), while simultaneously attempting to sustain their traditionally low levels of disposable income inequality via taxes and transfers. As a result, the average share of ‘social protection’ in overall public expenditure among European Union countries stands at 40 per cent — and including health and education, this share jumps to two thirds. Meanwhile, they have given a generous new tax status to those who have benefited most from this increased market inequality; and as there are limits to how much they can tax everybody else, governments’ debts are mounting. The idea that inequality should be dealt with ‘at source’ (i.e., in the market) has become totally alien to the new social democratic ideology, which is stuck in the past twice over: in their social agenda, they just want to replicate the past, while in terms of their economic agenda, they seek to construct a future which is almost the exact opposite of that past. Such an inability to deal creatively with the inevitable “uncomfortable uncertainties” of change has deprived this ideology of most of its social imagination. This has led to a major political dilemma in the advanced as well as in the emerging worlds, because while this impoverished ideology has lost its legitimacy, more progressive discourses have so far been unable to generate sufficient credibility.

30 years of the Human Development Report

Since its introduction in 1990, the Human Development Report (HDR) has been one of the UN’s great success stories. It has redefined the global development debate in many countries while also broadening the conceptual scope of development by directing policymakers to the multidimensional nature of wellbeing.

Human development about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices.

One of the more important achievements of the human development approach, as embodied in successive HDRs, has been to ensure a growing acceptance of the fact that monetary measures, such as GDP per capita, are inadequate proxies of development. The first HDR s introduced the Human Development Index (HDI), which provides a measure of human development progress achieved by a given country.

Today, much has changed in the development world in the 30 years since the first report. Fundamental shifts are taking place in how we understand ourselves and our connections to local and global societies in the light of new technologies, socio-political realities and deep environmental changes, including the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Consequently, the opportunities, aspirations and choices of a person are also evolving rapidly.

In order to adapt to these changing times with a renewed commitment to illuminating the development landscape, UNDP is endeavoring to construct a New Generation of HDRs that, builds on the unparallel legacy of three decades of reports,  and engages in new ways with new ideas and new actors in the development world.

The HDRs in history

Overall, 26 HDRs and one statistical update have been published since 1990, covering a wide range of important themes including financing, human security, gender, human rights, and sustainability (find all reports here or link to individual reports below.)

1990: Concept and Measurement

1991: Financing

1992: Global Dimensions

1993: People’s Participation

1994: New Dimensions of Human Security

1995: Gender

1996: Economic Growth

1997: Human Development to Eradicate Poverty

1998: Consumption

1999: Globalization with a Human Face

2000: Human Rights

2001: Making New technologies Work for Human Development

2002: Deeping Democracy in a Fragmented World

2003: MDGs: A Compact among Nations to End Human Poverty

2004: Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World

2005: Aid, trade and security

2006: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis

2007-8: Fighting Climate Change: Human solidarity in a divided world

2009: Overcoming barriers: Human Mobility

2010: The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development

2011: Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for all

2013: The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

2015: Work for Human Development

2016: Human Development for Everyone

2018: Human Development Indices and Indicators: Statistical Update

2019: Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: inequalities in human development in the 21st Century

Moreover, National Human Development Reports, which apply the human development lens to development thinking at the country level, have complemented the findings and messages of the global HDR with local contexts and insights. With around 800 reports from 150 countries published since 1990, the NHDRs have promoted the concept of human development in national policy dialogues and spurred public interest for action and change.

Links to related videos are below:

The submission period has ended. The Call for Papers below is for the conference in its original format (on the ground in Auckland). Thus, some of the information is no longer applicable.

Conference Aims and Topics

To explore the role that the Human Development Paradigm and Capability Approach, in interaction with other perspectives, can play in navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead, we invite scholars, activists, policymakers, practitioners, and students working on the areas of human development and capabilities to Auckland, New Zealand. We especially welcome those who are new to the field introducing us to new ideas and perspectives. Recognising the need for diverse participants to engage in innovative conversations and explore the potential for new synergies, we look forward to seeing participants from a wide range of research themes, topics, methods, professions, and regions. Submissions that engage with the role of the humanities in partnership with other disciplines in advancing the core aims of the Human Development Paradigm and Capability Approach are encouraged. We would also like to expressly invite the participation from indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, and those from the global south.

Contributions to our conference on New Horizons: Sustainability and Justice may explore, among others, the following topics:

In addition to papers on the conference theme, papers on all core HDCA topics are welcome, including, but not limited to:

For information about thematic groups, visit https://hd-ca.org/thematic-groups.

Keynote Speakers and Plenary Panels

We’re lining up an exciting list of speakers for you. Detailed information on keynote topics and presenters will be provided here on our conference website as it becomes available.

Conference Timeline and Sessions

The main conference takes place from 30 June to 2 July 2020 (Tuesday to Thursday). It will be preceded by a summer school for graduate students (27 and 28 June, weekend) and a day of pre-conference events (29 June, Monday).

In addition to keynote lectures and other plenaries, the conference will accommodate seven types of session:

Please note:

The main criteria for evaluating the various kinds of submissions are:

While the papers may come from any discipline and may be theoretical, applied, or policy-based, every paper must engage with, apply, extend, criticise, or offer insights specifically relevant to the capability approach and/or the human development paradigm.

Stream Proposals

This year, we would like to invite stream proposals made up of two or more panel sessions that are scheduled sequentially. We especially invite streams on a single theme that are: multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and/or that bring scholars, practitioners, and members of the wider community into conversation.

If you envision that multiple panel sessions could be arranged in a dedicated thematic stream, please contact the organisers by email (2020HDCA@massey.ac.nz) to discuss your proposal. Please also consider discussing the session with the coordinators from one or more of the thematic groups (see https://hd-ca.org/thematic-groups).

HDCA Summer School

During the weekend that precedes the conference (27 and 28 June 2020), the HDCA will be holding a two-day summer school for graduate students working with the capability approach. Senior HDCA academics will present the basics of the capability approach and discuss cutting edge topics and developments. There will also be opportunities to get group feedback on research projects. Further details will be communicated closer to the event (please check back online here).

HDCA Journal

We encourage papers presented at the conference to be submitted for publication in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. This HDCA-owned journal is a peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary journal for people-centred development. For more information on the journal and on how to submit your paper, please see the journal webpage (https://hd-ca.org/publication-and-resources/journal-of-human-development-and-capabilities).

Conference Sustainability

Not only to live up to the theme of the conference, but we will also make special efforts to run the 2020 events as sustainably as possible. For example, conference programmes will be supplied through an app; meals will be plant-based and made from locally sourced ingredients; we strongly encourage all participants to bring their own reusable drinking cups or bottles; we ask attending students in particular to bring reusable containers (e.g., stainless steel or plastic lunch boxes) to take away leftover foods at the end of the day; we very much encourage participants to consider offsetting their CHG emissions (as the HDCA is committed to doing); and we suggest that guests combine their conference visit with an extended stay in beautiful New Zealand, thereby preventing further flight emissions for additional holiday trips. We will also offer options to participate in practical conservation activities that demonstrate first-hand the efforts made in New Zealand to become more sustainable.

If you have ideas about how we can make the 2020 HDCA Conference more sustainable, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible (2020HDCA@massey.ac.nz). During the conference itself, we will also host a workshop to discuss the future of annual mass-conference events like ours in the age of radical climate change.

Conference Accessibility and Inclusiveness

We aim to make our conference as inclusive and accessible as possible, not only in terms of physical space and materials provided (e.g. programmes, presentations, and nametags) but also with regard to presentation pedagogy and session design (e.g. we encourage presenters to think about how they plan to interact with the audience and to think about what audiences at this particular conference may be able to contribute to conference sessions).

In addition, we are exploring options for accommodating families during the event by providing a dedicated family space and offering options for childcare. You will be able to indicate your interest in these facilities in the online registration form.

For further suggestions how we can make the 2020 gathering more accessible and inclusive, please contact us by email (2020HDCA@massey.ac.nz). Conference-goers with special requirements are especially encouraged to get in touch.

How to Submit Your Proposal

Please submit your proposed poster, paper, or panel online from 1 November 2020 (http://www.conftool.org/2020hdca) using the appropriate form.

If you encounter any problems, please contact the conference organisers by email (2020HDCA@massey.ac.nz.

To ensure academic quality, all submissions will be assessed by two reviewers, at least one of whom is an HDCA Fellow or a senior researcher in the field.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

Due to the change of format, the conference registration fees have been adjusted as follows:

Early Bird Rates – Through May 16

The conference registration fee provides a one-year HDCA membership, including a year’s subscription to the Journal of Human Development & Capabilities.

Scholarships

The HDCA has a limited number of scholarships to attend the annual conference. They will be awarded based on merit and need to either

To apply for one of these scholarships, please download and complete the scholarship application form after you have received the referees’ review of your abstract in mid-February. All scholarship applications must be received by the Chair of the Scholarships Committee by 18 April 2020.

2020 Conference Prizes

Kuklys Prize for Best Paper from a Graduate Student

At the conference, the HDCA will award the annual Wiebke Kuklys Prize for the best paper presented by a graduate student. All graduate students who have not been awarded their degree before 30 June 2020 and are presenting a paper at the 2020 HDCA conference under their sole authorship are eligible to be considered for this prize. If you wish your paper to be considered, indicate so on the online submission form.

To compete for this prize, the full paper must be submitted by 15 May 2020. The winner of the 2020 Wiebke Kuklys Prize will be awarded a cash amount (the purpose of which is to contribute to the student’s graduate work, for example, in the form of equipment or book purchases or conference attendance). The name of the winner will be announced at the closing plenary session of the conference, which the author must attend.

Other Prizes

Following the change of format from traditional conference to all-online event, the HDCA offers the following prizes for best contributions:

Best Live Presentation as voted by viewers $300
Runner-up $150

Best Prerecorded Session as voted by viewers $150
Runner-up $75

Local Organising Committee

Kerry Taylor (School of Humanities, Massey University, New Zealand)
Krushil Watene (Philosophy, Massey University, New Zealand)
Marco Grix (Philosophy, Massey University, New Zealand)
Siautu Alefaio (Psychology, Massey University, New Zealand)
Fiona Te Momo (Te Pūtahi a Toi, Massey University, New Zealand)
Vanessa Schouten (Philosophy, Massey University, New Zealand)
Sharon Bell (Development Studies, Massey University, New Zealand)
Negar Partow (Security Studies, Massey University, New Zealand)
Mandy Yap (CAEPR, Australian National University, Australia)
Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan (Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India)
David Schlosberg (Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney, Australia)
Tom Eats (Maritime New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand)

Programme Committee

Jay Drydyk (Carleton University, Canada [Chair])
Ann Mitchell (Pontifica Universidad Católica, Argentina)
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (The New School, USA)
Reiko Gotoh (Hitotsubashi University, Japan)
Krushil Watene (Massey University, New Zealand)
Kerry Taylor (Massey University, New Zealand)
Marco Grix (Massey University, New Zealand)

Massey University Albany Māori Advisory Group

Fiona Te Momo (Ngāti Porou [Convenor])
Messina Shaw (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Te Ata)
Apirana Pewhairangi (Ngāti Porou)
Pita King (Te Rarawa)

Organising Institution

College of Humanities and Social Sciences: School of Humanities
Massey University Auckland
Private Bag 102904
Auckland 0745
New Zealand

Contact the Organisers

Preferred: email 2020HDCA@massey.ac.nz
Optional: call +64 (0)9 414 0800, ext. 43495

Due to the unprecedented circumstances around the coronavirus pandemic, the HDCA has decided that this year’s Summer School will not be held.

Instead, the association’s Education Officers are working to review and revise the resources available on the HDCA website, and look forward to the face-to-face Summer School at the 2021 conference.

Below is the list of currently confirmed presenters, with more names and details being added in our conference platform at Whova.com on an ongoing basis. Any changes made in Whova will automatically appear here right away.

To see a world map showing the locations of our presenters, please click HERE.

Below is the current schedule of events as they are planned in our conference platform at Whova.com (in New Zealand time). Up until the conference, this schedule remains a work in progress. It may also be updated during the event, if necessary. Any changes made in Whova will automatically appear here right away.

Below, you’ll find a number of guides that we’ve been putting together for you.

2020 HDCA Conference: Audience Guide for Whova (click to download)

This guide is directed toward all conference guests. It explains how you get access to our conference content through Whova (which is the online platform we use), and how to operate within Whova through both its dedicated Android / Apple iOS apps and the Internet browser interface.

2020 HDCA Conference: Chair and Speaker Guide (click to download)

This guide is directed toward those conference guests who are also presenters and/or chairs in our regular live-streamed sessions. It explains how to access Zoom meetings, what the process of our live-streamed sessions looks like, and various other important details.

2020 HDCA Conference: Whova Session Q&A Add-On to Chair and Speaker Guide (click to download)

This add-on is directed toward presenters and/or chairs in our regular live-streamed sessions. It explains how to monitor items in Whova’s Session Q&A while being active in Zoom.

“Desarrollo humano e inclusión social en un mundo crecientemente urbanizado”

Hoy más de la mitad de la población mundial vive en áreas urbanas y se espera que para el 2050 el porcentaje alcance al 66 por ciento. La intensa interacción social, cultural y económica de la aglomeración de personas en ciudades ofrece diversos beneficios para el desarrollo humano y económico, sin embargo, también plantea numerosos desafíos. La fragmentación social, la segregación residencial y el amplio crecimiento de asentamientos informales reflejan la persistente desigualdad social y económica en el contexto de la expansión de las ciudades. Los rápidos cambios demográficos y su incidencia en la urbanización, junto con el estrés ambiental causado por las ciudades, impiden la adecuada prestación de los servicios públicos y una eficaz gobernanza urbana. El reciente flujo de inmigrantes de países pobres e inestables a ciudades de naciones desarrolladas trae nuevos obstáculos a la participación económica, social y cultural en el Norte global. Todas estas tendencias desafían a los gobiernos y la sociedad en su conjunto a encontrar nuevas formas de fomentar el desarrollo humano e inclusión social para todos.

América Latina, la región más urbanizada y desigual del mundo, con la mayor concentración de megaciudades, es un lugar particularmente relevante para realizar esta conferencia. Problemas como la segregación residencial, la desigualdad urbana, la marginalidad y la exclusión social, la violencia, las adicciones, la degradación del medio ambiente, entre otros, han adquirido especial relevancia en la región. El origen de estos problemas está enraizado no solo en procesos de urbanización, sino también en complejos aspectos históricos, políticos y culturales. El continente también ha producido importantes innovaciones en el diseño de redes de seguridad social (por ejemplo, las transferencias condicionadas de ingresos) y en políticas para fomentar la integración urbana.

El tema de la Conferencia de la HDCA 2018 propone analizar estos problemas urbanos a través de la óptica del enfoque del desarrollo humano y de las capacidades, y a la luz de experiencias globales. Examinará cómo el enfoque proporciona herramientas y criterios innovadores para evaluar la calidad de vida y cómo se distribuyen sus condiciones en el contexto de las ciudades. La conferencia examinará asimismo cómo el enfoque de las capacidades puede contribuir a pensar críticamente el diseño de políticas adecuadas para alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, especialmente el objetivo 11: lograr que las ciudades y los asentamientos humanos sean inclusivos, seguros, resilientes y sostenibles. Puede asimismo fomentar la discusión sobre cómo abordar la Nueva Agenda Urbana establecida por UN-Habitat III: 1) Asegurar que nadie se quede atrás, lo que supone poner fin a la pobreza en todas sus formas y dimensiones, incluida la erradicación de la pobreza extrema, garantizar la igualdad de derechos y oportunidades, la diversidad socioeconómica y cultural, y la integración en el espacio urbano; 2) Asegurar el desarrollo de economías urbanas sostenibles e inclusivas, aprovechando los beneficios que se derivan de la aglomeración resultante de una urbanización planificada, incluida la alta productividad, la competitividad y la innovación, lo que supone fomentar el empleo pleno y productivo y el trabajo decente para todos; 3) Garantizar la sostenibilidad del medio ambiente promoviendo el uso de la energía no contaminante y el uso sostenible de la tierra y los recursos en el desarrollo urbano, protegiendo los ecosistemas y la diversidad biológica.

Comité de Programa

Chair: Beatriz Balian de Tagtachian, Academia Nacional de Educación
Ann Mitchell, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Ana Lourdes Suarez, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina/CONICET
Eduardo Lépore, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Pablo Vinocur, FLACSO-Argentina
Ingrid Robeyns, Universidad de Utrecht
Veronica Crosbie, Universidad de la Ciudad de Dublin
Luis Felipe Lopez Calva, Banco Mundial
Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti, Universidad de Pavia
Graciela Tonon, Univ. Nacional de Lomas de Zamora y Univ. de Palermo

 Comité Organizador Local

Chair: Beatriz Balian de Tagtachian, Academia Nacional de Educación
Ann Mitchell, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Ana Lourdes Suarez, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina/CONICET
Eduardo Lépore, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Juan Cruz Hermida, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Pablo Vinocur, FLACSO-Argentina
Luciano Andrenacci, FLACSO-Argentina
Maria Emma Santos, Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina)
Severine Deneulin, Universidad de Bath (Reino Unido)
Alejandra Segura, Fundación Cre-Ser
Cristina Calvo, Universidad de Buenos Aires

Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University
“Urbanización: Una desagregación”
Chair: Maria Emma Santos
Ravi Kanbur enseña e investiga en temas de desarrollo económico, economía pública y teoría económica. Se desempeñó como funcionario superior del Banco Mundial, ocupando el cargo de economista jefe para África. Ha publicado en revistas académicas líderes, incluyendo Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory and Economic Journal.

Es presidente de la Human Development and Capabilities Association; presidente del Consejo del Instituto Mundial de la Universidad de Naciones Unidas de Investigaciones de Economía del Desarrollo; co-presidente del Consejo Científico del Panel Internacional sobre el Progreso Social, y miembro del Grupo Experto de Alto Nivel de la OCDE para la Medición del Desempeño Económico. Fue previamente presidente de la Sociedad para el Estudio de la Desigualdad Económica, miembro del Consejo Asesor de Alto Nivel del Dialogo sobre Justicia Climática, y miembro del Grupo Central de la Comisión sobre Pobreza Global.

Santiago Levy, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
Ul Haq Lecture
“Informalidad y inclusion social”
Chair: Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti
El economista mexicano Santiago Levy Algazi es el vicepresidente de sectores y conocimiento del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Previamente, se desempeñó como gerente general y economista jefe del Departamento de Investigación. Antes de ingresar al BID, fue director general del Instituto Mexicano de Seguridad Social (IMSS) desde diciembre de 2000 a octubre de 2005. De 1994 hasta 2000, Levy sirvió al gobierno mexicano como viceministro del Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público, convirtiéndose en el arquitecto principal del conocido programa social Progresa-Oportunidades que beneficia a los pobres.  Levy posee un doctorado en economía y una maestría en economía política de la Universidad de Boston, además de un post doctorado honorífico de la Universidad Cambridge. Ha sido asesor de varios gobiernos y organizaciones internacionales, además de ocupar diversos cargos docentes en el Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México y en la Universidad de Boston, donde fue profesor asociado y director del Instituto para el Desarrollo Económico. Es autor de por lo menos 80 artículos, monografías y capítulos de libros en temas tan diversos como reducción de la pobreza, competitividad, políticas cambiarias, desequilibrios en las exportaciones, precios, microeconomía y energía. Su trabajo “La pobreza en México” obtuvo en 1992 el Premio Nacional de Investigación en Economía del Banco de México. Sus libros publicados recientes son: No Crecimiento sin Equidad? Desigualdad, Intereses, y Competencia en Mexico, (editado con Michael Walton) Palgrave MacMillan and World Bank, 2009;  Buenas Intenciones, Malos Resultados: Política Social, Informalidad y Crecimiento Económico en México, Brookings Institution Press, 2008; Progreso contra la Pobreza: Sosteniendo el Programa Progresa-Oportunidades de México, Brookings Institution Press, 2006; Sin Herencia de Pobreza, Editorial Planeta, 2005 (con Evelyne Rodríguez); y Ensayos sobre el Desarrollo Económico y Social de México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 2004.

Alejandro Portes, Princeton University
Sen Lecture
“Ciudades Latinoamericanas: su evolución bajo el Neoliberalismo y más allá”
Chair: Liliana Pantano
Alejandro Portes es Profesor Howard Harrison y Gabrielle Snyder Beck (Emeritos) de Sociología en la Universidad de Princeton, Profesor de Investigación en Sociología y Profesor de Leyes en la Universidad de Miami. Es el director fundador del Centro de Migraciones y Desarrollo en la Universidad de Princeton. Nacido en la Havana, Cuba, emigró a los Estados Unidos en 1960. Se educó en la Universidad de la Havana, La Universidad Católica de Argentina y la Universidad de Creighton. Recibió su Maestría en Artes y su Doctorado de la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison. Ha recibido doctorados honorarios de New School for Social Research, la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, la Universidad de Génova en Italia, la Universidad de Roskilde en Dinamarca, la Universidad Nueva de Lisboa. Portes es el autor de 250 artículos y capítulos sobre desarrollo nacional, migración internacional, urbanización de Latino- América y el Caribe y sociología económica. Ha escrito más de 40 libros y ediciones especiales. Sus libros y artículos han sido traducidos en español, portugués, italiano, chino y japonés. Sus más recientes artículos han sido publicados en prestigiosas revistas y diarios de investigación en todo el mundo. Sus investigaciones actuales se enfocan sobre el proceso de adaptación de las segundas generaciones de migrantes, el papel de las instituciones en el desarrollo nacional y el estudio comparativo de organizaciones inmigrantes transnacionales. Portes es miembro titular de la Academia de Artes y Ciencias y de la academia nacional de Ciencias de Estados Unidos.

Avner De-Shalit, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
“Ciudades, inmigrantes y el sentido de lugar”
Chair: Jay Drydyk
Avner de Shalit es Profesor Max Kampelman de Democracia y Derechos Humanos en el Departamento de Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén. Desde la obtención de su doctorado en la Universidad de Oxford (1990) ha estado trabajando en temas de filosofía ambiental, teoría de la política urbana, y cuestiones de pobreza y desigualdad. Es autor de ocho libros, entre ellos Why Posterity Matters (Routledge), The Environment: Between Theory and Practice (Oxford UP), Disadvantage (Oxford UP, en co-autoría con Jonathan Wolff), The Spirit of Cities (Princeton UP, en co-autoría con Daniel Bell), y más recientemente Cities and Immigration (Oxford UP, en prensa). Ha sido jefe de departamento y decano de la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Hebrea. En 2014 recibió el Rothschild Prize en Ciencias Sociales. En Israel ha tenido una activa participación política en asuntos sociales y ambientales, y también en el apoyo a los derechos políticos de los palestinos.

Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht University
¿Qué, en todo caso, está mal con ser super rico ?
Chair: Ravi Kanbur
(Descargue la presentación aquí)
Ingrid Robeyns es presidente electa de la Human Development and Capability Association y director del departamento de ética de las instituciones en la Universidad de Utrecht. Formada en economía y filosofía, trabaja en temas de justicia social y distributiva, aplicados a un amplio espectro de problemas, incluyendo los de género, discapacidad, desigualdades globales, y cuestiones ambientales. Actualmente dirige un proyecto de investigación de 5 años de duración referido a la pregunta sobre si debería haber límites superiores a la cantidad de recursos económicos y ecológicos que es éticamente permisible tener. También ha publicado ampliamente sobre los fundamentos teóricos del enfoque de las capacidades, siendo su más reciente publicación el libro de libre acceso Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice (Open Book Publishers 2017). Mayores detalles pueden encontrarse en www.ingridrobeyns.info.

Panel plenario sobre Poder, desigualdad y justicia: Una perspectiva latinoamericana (panelistas: Fernando Calderon, Sonia Fleury, Javier Iguiñiz)
Chair: Pablo Vinocur

Fernando Calderón es Sociólogo por la Universidad de Chile, con una Maestría en Ciencias Sociales de FLACSO, en Santiago de Chile, y un Doctorado en Sociología de l’École del Hautes Études en Ciencias Sociales en París. Actualmente es profesor de la Cátedra Simón Bolivar de la Universidad de Cambridge (2017/2018). Director del Programa Innovación, Desarrollo y Multiculturalismo en la Universidad Nacional de San Martín (Argentina) y profesor de Desarrollo Humano en el Programa de Desarrollo Humano de la FLACSO-Argentina, y en la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. Ha sido profesor invitado en varias universidades de los Estados Unidos (Austin, Texas; Chicago; Universidad de California at Berkeley; y Cornell); de Europa (Universidad de Barcelona, y Universidad Abierta de Cataluña); y de América Latina (en Bolivia, México, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, y Chile). Fue Secretario Ejecutivo del Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO), Asesor en Política Social de la CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina) de las Naciones Unidas; y Asesor Especial en Desarrollo Humano y Gobernanza del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo de esa misma Organización. Fue el Coordinador y Asesor Senior de más de 10 Informes de Desarrollo Humano en diferentes países de América Latina, Europa y África, a nivel nacional, subregional, y global. Entre el 2000 y el 2002 fue el director del Informe de Desarrollo Humano de Bolivia, que fue premiado como el más destacado a nivel global. Es autor de 23 libros y ha editado 34 publicaciones sobre Democracia, Cultura y Desarrollo.

Sonia Fleury es Psicóloga por la Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Magister en Sociología Salubrista y Doctora en Ciencia Política por el Instituto Universitario de Pesquisas de Río de Janeiro, de la Universidad Cándido Mendes, Brasil. Trabaja en temas relacionados con la construcción de democracias, ciudadanía, derechos sociales, seguridad social y protección social, reformas de sistemas sociales en América Latina, subjetividad y exclusión, entre otros.  Fue docente de la Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, investigadora y docente de la Escuela Nacional de Salud Pública de la Fundación Oswaldo Cruz, docente del INDES – Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social del BID, de la Escuela Brasileña de Administración Pública y de Empresas de la Fundación Getulio Vargas. Ha sido profesor visitante y conferencista en varias universidades de América Latina y Europa. Tiene una larga producción sobre democracia y políticas sociales publicadas y traducidas en varios países de la región (134 artículos en publicaciones científicas, 70 capítulos de libros y 12 libros publicados).

Javier Iguiñiz Echeverría es Ingeniero Electricista por la Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Master of Science en Economía, por Iowa State University and PhD en Economía por The New School for Social Research. Es profesor emérito y se desempeña como profesor del Departamento de Economía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú desde 1973. Actualmente es Secretario Ejecutivo del Acuerdo Nacional y presidente del Instituto de Desarrollo Humano de América Latina (IDHAL). Ha publicado una treintena de libros y varios artículos. Los últimos son “Derechos Humanos y pobreza extrema: distancias y acercamientos”; “La verdad nos hace libres. Sobre las relaciones entre filosofía, derechos humanos, religión y universidad”; “Inclusiones y desarrollo humano: relaciones, agencia, poder”; “The Muldimensionality of Poverty”; y “Poder, rigor y efectividad de una idea: el caso de la informalidad de los pobres”.

Panel plenario sobre Urbanización e integración de asentamientos informales (panelistas: Nora Libertun del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Pablo Lopez de CAF-Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina y Carole Megevand del Banco Mundial)
Chair: Ann Mitchell

Nora Libertun de Duren es especialista en vivienda y desarrollo urbano en el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) donde lidera las actividades de investigación sobre temas urbanos. Tiene experiencia en investigación y el desarrollo de proyectos en las áreas de vivienda, espacio público urbano, crecimiento urbano y desarrollo sostenible. Ha brindado conferencias sobre estos temas en diversas universidades y próximamente será docente en Harvard University. Anteriormente, se desempeñó como Directora de Planificación del Departamento de Parques y Recreación de la Ciudad de Nueva York donde lideró una estrategia para crear espacios públicos accesibles y sostenibles. Es autora de diversos artículos publicados en revistas académicas incluyendo Housing Policy Debates, Planning Journal of Education and Research, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, City and Community, Urban Studies, Cities y International Journal of Housing Policy. Ha sido editora del Journal of Planning de MIT y co-editora del libro Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Politics in Urban Spaces (Indiana University Press, 2011). Ha recibido numerosas distinciones incluyendo una beca Fulbright, la beca presidencial y la beca de doctorado de MIT, una beca de Harvard y la Medalla de Oro de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Tiene un PhD en Urbanismo y Planificación Regional del MIT, una maestría en diseño urbano de Harvard University, y otra en arquitectura de la Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Pablo López es Ejecutivo Senior de la Vicepresidencia de Desarrollo Social de CAF-Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina. Pablo está especializado en la formulación y gestión de proyectos de infraestructura con especial énfasis en proyectos de desarrollo urbano. Sus áreas de interés profesional se centran en la planificación del desarrollo urbano y regional, la relación entre las inversiones en infraestructura y el desarrollo y el vínculo entre las políticas urbanas y el uso de suelo. Ha trabajado como asesor de políticas regionales y urbanas en Argentina e Inglaterra y durante los últimos 20 años, ha participado en proyectos urbanos y regionales en Brasil, Paraguay, Argentina y Bolivia. Pablo tiene una Maestría en Planificación Urbana otorgado por la Universidad de Londres y una Maestría en Administración Pública y el grado en Ingeniería Civil otorgado por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.

Carole Megevand tiene más de 20 años de experiencia profesional en Desarrollo Internacional en varias regiones del mundo. Tiene dos maestrías, una en Economía Agrícola y Medio Ambiente, y la segunda en Economía de Recursos Naturales. Después de adquirir experiencia en ONGs y empresas consultoras, se unió al Banco Mundial en 2002 y desde entonces ha dirigido varios proyectos complejos vinculados con recursos naturales, con un enfoque específico en dimensiones intersectoriales y cuestiones de gobernanza. Actualmente es la responsable del Programa de Desarrollo Sostenible del Banco Mundial para la región del Cono Sur (que cubre Argentina, Paraguay y Uruguay), donde sus responsabilidades abarcan diversos sectores, incluyendo Infraestructura (Transporte, Energía y Agua), Urbano, Agricultura, Cambio Climático y Social. Su experiencia internacional en el mundo en desarrollo incluye tres asignaciones a largo plazo: Túnez, Camerún y ahora Argentina; y misiones en más de 15 países en África, Medio Oriente, África del Norte y América Latina. Es autora de importantes trabajos analíticos con un enfoque específico en soluciones multisectoriales para el desarrollo sostenible.

“Human Development and Social Inclusion in an Urbanizing World”

Today more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and the share is expected to reach 66 per cent by 2050. While the intense social, cultural and economic interaction implied by the agglomeration of people in cities offers diverse benefits for human and economic development it also poses numerous challenges. Social fragmentation, spatial segregation and the widespread growth of informal settlements, or slums, reflect the persistence of social and economic inequality in the context of the expansion of cities. The rapid demographic shifts and resulting urban sprawl, coupled with the environmental stresses caused by cities, hinder the adequate provision of public services and effective urban governance. The recent flow of immigrants from poor and unstable countries to the cities of developed nations present new obstacles to economic, social and cultural participation in the Global North. All of these trends challenge governments and society as a whole to find new ways to foster human development and social inclusion for all.

Latin America, as the most unequal and urbanized region of the world, with the largest concentration of megacities, is a particularly relevant place to host the conference. Issues such as residential segregation, urban inequality, social marginalization and exclusion, violence, addictions, environmental degradation, among others, have acquired particular relevance in the region and their origins are rooted not only in the urbanization process but also complex historical, political and cultural factors. The continent also has produced relevant innovations in the design of social safety nets (for example, conditional cash transfers) and policies to foster urban integration.

The 2018 Conference theme proposes to analyse these urban issues through the lens of the capability approach and human development framework and in light of global experiences. It will examine how the approach can provide innovative tools and criteria to assess quality of life and how its conditions are distributed in the context of cities. The conference will also examine how the capability approach can contribute to critically thinking on how to design adequate policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, especially goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. It can also frame the discussion on how to address the Urban Agenda set out by UN-Habitat III: 1) ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions by ensuring equal rights and opportunities, socio-economic and cultural diversity, integration in the urban space; 2) achieving sustainable and inclusive urban economies by promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all and 3) promoting environmental sustainability, by promoting clean energy, sustainable use of land and resources in urban development.

The 2018 HDCA Conference was hosted by hosted by the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA) in collaboration with FLACSO-Argentina in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Program Committee

Chair: Beatriz Balian de Tagtachian, National Academy of Education (Argentina)
Ann Mitchell, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Ana Lourdes Suarez, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina/CONICET
Eduardo Lépore, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Pablo Vinocur, FLACSO-Argentina
Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht University
Veronica Crosbie, Dublin City University
Luis Felipe Lopez Calva, World Bank
Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti, University of Pavia
Graciela Tonon, Univ. Nacional de Lomas de Zamora & Univ. de Palermo

Local Organizing Committee

Chair: Beatriz Balian de Tagtachian, National Academy of Education (Argentina)
Ann Mitchell, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Ana Lourdes Suarez, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina/CONICET
Eduardo Lépore, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Juan Cruz Hermida, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Pablo Vinocur, FLACSO-Argentina
Luciano Andrenacci, FLACSO-Argentina
Maria Emma Santos, Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina)
Severine Deneulin, University of Bath
Alejandra Segura, Cre-Ser Foundation
Cristina Calvo, Universidad de Buenos Aires

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO RECORDINGS OF THE KEYNOTE LECTURES

Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University
“Urbanization: A Disaggregation”
Chair: Maria Emma Santos
Ravi Kanbur researches and teaches in development economics, public economics and economic theory. He is well known for his role in policy analysis and engagement in international development. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank including as Chief Economist for Africa. He has also published in the leading economics journals, including Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory and Economic Journal.

He is President of the Human Development and Capabilities Association, Chair of the Board of United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research, Co-Chair of the Scientific Council of the International Panel on Social Progress, member of the OECD High Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance, Past-President of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, past member of the High Level Advisory Council of the Climate Justice Dialogue, and past-member of the Core Group of the Commission on Global Poverty.

Santiago Levy, Interamerican Development Bank
Ul Haq Memorial Lecture
“Informality and Social Inclusion”
Chair: Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti
Santiago Levy is the Vice-President for Sectors and Knowledge at the Inter-American Development Bank, and before that Chief Economist. Previously, he was General Director at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) from December 2000 to October 2005. From 1994 to 2000, Levy served as the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, becoming the main architect of the renowned social program Progresa-Oportunidades that benefits the poor. He holds a Ph.D. in economics and a Masters in political economy from Boston University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Cambridge University. Mr. Levy has advised several governments and international organizations and has held several teaching positions, including faculty positions at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo of Mexico and Boston University, where he was Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Economic Development. He is the author of at least 80 articles, monographs and book chapters on such diverse subjects as poverty reduction, competitiveness, foreign exchange policy, export imbalances, pricing, microeconomics and energy. His paper Poverty in Mexico won the 1992 National Research Prize in Economics awarded by the Bank of Mexico. His recent published books are:  No Growth without Equity? Inequality, Interests and Competition in Mexico (edited with Michael Walton), Palgrave-Macmillan and the World Bank, 2009; Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes: Social Policy, Informality, and Economic Growth in Mexico, Brookings Institution Press, 2008; Progress Against Poverty: Sustaining Mexico’s Progresa-Oportunidades Program, Brookings Institution Press, 2006; Sin Herencia de Pobreza, Editorial Planeta, 2005 (with Evelyne Rodríguez); and Ensayos sobre el Desarrollo Económico y Social de México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 2004.

Alejandro Portes, Princeton University
Amartya Sen Lecture
“Latin American Cities: their Evolution under Neoliberalism and Beyond”
Chair: Liliana Pantano
Alejandro Portes is Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Sociology (emeritus) at Princeton University and Professor of Law and Distinguished Scholar of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami. He is the founding director of the Center for Migration and Development at Princeton. Formerly, he taught at Johns Hopkins University, where he held the John Dewey Chair in Arts and Sciences; Duke University, and the University of Texas-Austin. In 1997, he was elected president of the American Sociological Association and served in that capacity in 1998-99. Born in Havana, Cuba, he came to the United States in 1960. He was educated at the University of Havana, Catholic University of Argentina, and Creighton University. He received his M. A. and Ph. D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Portes is the author of more than 250 articles and chapters on national development, international migration, Latin American and Caribbean urbanization, and economic sociology. He has published 40 books and special issues. His books and articles have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Ten volumes of his collected essays have been published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. His most recent articles have appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, International Migration Review, Population and Development Review, and the British Journal of Sociology.  His current research is on the adaptation process of the immigrant second generation in comparative perspective, the role of institutions on national development, and the comparative study of immigrant transnational organizations. Portes is a former fellow of the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences and of the Russell Sage Foundation.

Avner De-Shalit, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
“Cities, Immigrants and Having a Sense of Place”
Chair: Jay Drydyk
Avner de Shalit is the Max Kampelman Professor of Democracy and Human Rights at the department of political science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since his D.Phil. in Oxford (1990) he has been working on environmental philosophy, urban political theory, and issues of poverty and inequality. He is the author of eight books, among them Why Posterity Matters (Routledge), The Environment: Between Theory and Practice (Oxford UP), Disadvantage (Oxford UP, co-authored with Jonathan Wolff), The Spirit of Cities (Princeton UP, co-authored with Daniel Bell), and most recently Cities and Immigration (Oxford UP, forthcoming). Avner served as head of department and also as dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Hebrew University. In 2014 he was awarded the Rothschild Prize in the Social Sciences. In Israel he has been politically active in social and environmental issues, and also in campaigning for the political rights of Palestinians.

Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht University
“What, if anything, is wrong with being super-rich?”
Chair: Ravi Kanbur
(Download the presentation here)
Ingrid Robeyns is president-elect of the Human Development and Capability Association and holds the chair in ethics of institutions at Utrecht University. Trained in economics and philosophy, she works on questions of social and distributive justice, applied to a wide area of issues, including in the areas of gender, disability, global inequalities, and environmental concerns. She is currently directing a 5-year project on the question whether there should be upper limits to how many economic and ecological resources each person should be allowed to appropriate. She has also published widely on the (theoretical foundations of) the capability approach, most recently in her Open Access book Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice (Open Book Publishers 2017). More details can be found at www.ingridrobeyns.info.

Plenary panel on Power, Inequality and Justice: A Latin American perspective (panelists: Fernando Calderon, Sonia Fleury, Javier Iguiñiz)
Chair: Pablo Vinocur

Fernando Calderón is a Sociologist from the University of Chile, has a Master’s in Social Sciences from FLACSO and a Doctorate in Sociology from L’Ecole des Hautes Ètudes in Paris. He is currently Simon Bolivar Chair at the University of Cambridge (2017/2018), Director of the Program “Innovation, Development and Multiculturalism” at the National University of San Martin (Argentina), professor of Human Development at FLACSO-Argentina and at the University of Córdoba, Argentina. He has taught at several universities in the United States (Austin, Chicago, Berkeley, and Cornell), Europe (University of Barcelona, Open University of Catalonia), and Latin America (in Bolivia, Mexico, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Chile). He was Executive Secretary of Latin American Social Science Council (CLACSO), Social Policy Adviser of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Special Adviser on Human Development and Governance for the United Nations Development Program. He was Coordinator and Senior Adviser in over ten Human Development Reports in several countries of Latin America, Europe and Africa, at national, sub-regional and global levels. In 2000 and 2002, the Bolivian Human Development Reports, which he coordinated, received global awards. He has authored 23 books and edited 34 volumes on democracy, culture and development.

Sonia Fleury is a Psychologist from the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, has a Master’s in Health Sociology and a Doctorate in Political Science from the Instituto Universitario de Pesquisas of Río de Janeiro, Universidad Cándido Mendes, Brazil. She works on topics related to the construction of democracies, citizenship, social rights, social security and social protection, the reform of social systems in Latin America, subjectivity and exclusion, among others.  She has been a professor at the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, professor and researcher at the National School of Public Health of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and professor at the Institute of Economic and Social Development of the Interamerican Development Bank, the Brazilian School of Public Administration and of the Getulio Vargas Foundation. She has also been a visiting professor and lecturer at several universities in Latin America and Europe. She has authored 12 books, 70 book chapters and 134 articles on democracy and social policy.

Javier Iguiñiz Echeverría is an Electrical Engineer from the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria (Peru), has a Master’s of Science in Economic Sciences from Iowa State University and a PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research. He is emeritus professor and teaches in the Department of Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru. He currently is Executive Secretary of the Acuerdo Nacional and president of the Instituto de Desarrollo Humano de America Latina (IDHAL). He has published around thirty books and numerous articles. The most recent ones include: “Derechos Humanos y pobreza extrema: distancias y acercamientos”; “La verdad nos hace libres. Sobre las relaciones entre filosofía, derechos humanos, religión y universidad”; “Inclusiones y desarrollo humano: relaciones, agencia, poder”; “The Muldimensionality of Poverty”; y “Poder, rigor y efectividad de una idea: el caso de la informalidad de los pobres”.

Plenary panel on Urbanization and Integration of Informal Settlements (panelists: Nora Libertun of the Inter-American Development Bank, Pablo Lopez of CAF-Latin American Development Bank and Carole Megevand of the World Bank)
Chair: Ann Mitchell

Nora Libertun de Duren is an urban development and housing expert at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), where she leads research activities on urban issues. Nora has comprehensive research and operational experience in the topics of housing, urban public space, urban growth and sustainable development. She has lectured about these topics in many universities and will be teaching at Harvard University next fall. Prior to joining the IADB, she was the Director of Planning at New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation, where she led a citywide strategy for creating sustainable and accessible public spaces. She has authored papers published in peer reviewed journals, including Housing Policy Debates, Planning Journal of Education and Research, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, City and Community, Urban Studies, Cities and International Journal of Housing Policy. She has been the MIT Journal of Planning editor, and the co-editor of Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Politics in Urban Spaces (Indiana University Press, 2011). Nora has been the recipient of various awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship, a Harvard Fellowship, an MIT Presidential Scholarship, an MIT prize for outstanding PhD Dissertation in Planning, and the University of Buenos Aires Highest Achievement medal. Nora holds a PhD in Urban Planning from the MIT; a Master in urban design from Harvard University and in Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires.

Pablo López is Chief Executive Officer at the Vice Presidency of Social Development of CAF-Latin American Development Bank. He specializes in the formulation and management of social infrastructure projects with emphasis on urban development projects. His areas of professional interest are focused on urban and regional development planning, the relationship between infrastructure investments and development and the link between urban policies and land use. He has worked as a policy advisor on a range of regional and urban policies in Argentina and England and during the last 20 years he has been involved in urban and regional projects in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia.  Pablo holds a Master in Urban Planning from the University of London and a Master in Public Administration and a degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.

Carole Megevand has more than 20 years of professional experience in International Development across various regions in the world. She holds two Master degrees respectively in Agricultural Economics and Environment/Natural Resources Economics. After gaining experience in NGOs and consultancy firms, she joined the World Bank in 2002 and since then has managed various complex operations on Natural Resources, with a specific focus on inter-sectoral dimensions and governance issues. She is currently the Program Leader for Sustainable Development for the World Bank for the Southern Cone region (covering Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), where her responsibilities span various sectors, including Infrastructure (Transport, Energy and Water), Urban, Agriculture, Climate Change and Social. Her international experience in the developing world includes three long-term assignments (Tunisia, Cameroon and now Argentina) and missions in more than 15 countries in Africa, Middle East-North Africa and Latin America. She has authored major pieces of analytical work with a specific focus on multi-sectoral solutions to sustainable development.

Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Pre-conference activity:

8:30 – 11:00 am

Walking visit to one of Buenos Aires’ informal settlements or urban slum (“Neighborhood 31 – Retiro”)

Wednesday, 29 August 2018

Pre-conference activities:

9:00 – 13:00

Operationalizing the Capability Approach in Qualitative Research:  A  workshop for postgraduate students
UCA, San José Building, Classroom 125

9:30 – 18:00

Ethics and Development in Times of Growing Authoritarianism, Tucumán 1966
Tucumán 1966, FLACSO

10:00 – 13:00

Visit to the Remembrance and human rights center
Av.del Libertador 8151

13:00 – 17:00

Capability of Being Healthy: Child Nutrition and Inequality
UCA, San José Building, Classroom 117

15:00 – 18:00

ALCADECA meeting
UCA, San José Building, Classroom 125

15:00 – 16:00

Global Health, Justice and Governance Book Launch,UCA, San José Building, Classroom 101

19:00 – 20:30

Book launch of the Latin American Human Development textbook, Tucumán 1966
Tucumán 1966, FLACSO

Thursday, 30 August 2018

8:00 – 8:45           Registration / Welcome coffee, San Agustín Foyer

8:45 – 9:15           Opening Ceremony, San Agustín Auditorium

9.15 – 10.15

Plenary session I: HDCA Presidential Address
“What, if anything, is wrong with being super-rich?”
Ingrid Robeyns – President HDCA, Utrecht University
San Agustín Auditorium

10:30 – 12:00       Concurrent session 1, San José Building

12:15 – 13:15       Lunch, San Agustín Foyer & Pabellón de Bellas Artes

13:30 – 15.00        Concurrent session 2, San José Building

15:00 – 16.00       Thematic group meetings, San José Building

• Children & Youth (Classroom 121)
• Health & Disability (Classroom 108)
• Human Rights (Classroom 109)
• Foundational Issues in the Capability Approach (Classroom 125)
• Horizontal Inequality (Classroom 116)
• Technology, Innovation and Design (Classroom 127)

15:00 – 16:00       Editorial Meeting, San José Building, Classroom 122

15:15 – 16:15

Poster presentations / Coffee break, Pabellón de Bellas Artes / San Agustín Foyer

16:15 – 17.15

Plenary session II: Sen Lecture

“Latin American Cities: their Evolution under Neoliberalism and Beyond”
Alejandro Portés, Princeton University & University of Miami
San Agustín Auditorium

17:30 – 18:30

Plenary session III: Plenary Panel
“Urbanization and Integration of Informal Settlements”
Panelists: Nora Libertun, Inter-American Development Bank; Carole Megevand World Bank; Pablo López, CAF-Latin American Development Bank
Chair: Ann Mitchell
San Agustín Auditorium

19:00 – 20:00      Graduate Student Network Meeting, UCA Classroom TBC

Friday, 31 August 2018

8:15 – 9:45          Concurrent session 3, San José Building

9:45 – 10:15        Coffee break, San José Building

10:15 – 11:45      Concurrent session 4, San José Building

12:00 – 13:00

Plenary session IV: Mahbub Ul Haq Lecture
“Informality and Social Inclusion”
Santiago Levy, Interamerican Development Bank
San Agustín Auditorium

13:00 – 14:00      Lunch, Pabellón de Bellas Artes / San Agustín Foyer

14:15 – 15:45      Concurrent session 5, San José Building

15:45 – 16:45      Thematic group meeting, San José Building

• Education (Classroom 122)
• Participatory Methods (Classroom 113)
• Indigenous People (Classroom 116)
• Quantitative Research Methods (Classroom 109)
• Sustainable Human Development (Classroom 108)
• Empowerment & Collective Capabilities (Classroom 125)
• Ethics & Development (Classroom 121)

16:00 – 17:00

Poster presentations / Coffee break
Pabellón de Bellas Artes / San Agustín Foyer

17:00 – 18:15

Plenary session V: Plenary Panel
“Power, Inequality and Justice: A Latin American Perspective”
Panelists: Fernando Calderón, Universidad Nacional de San Martín & FLACSO; Sonia Fleury, Centro de Estudios Estratégicos de la Fundación Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz); Javier Iguiñiz, Pontificia Univ. Católica de Perú
Chair: Pablo Vinocur
San Agustín Auditorium

19:00 – 21:00       Cocktail dinner,  Usina del Arte,  Agustín R. Caffarena 1

21:00 – 22:00      Tango Show, Usina del Arte,  Agustín R. Caffarena 1

Saturday, 1 September 2018

8:00 – 9:30          Concurrent session 6, San José Building

9:30 – 10:00        Coffee break, San José Building

10:00 – 11:30      Concurrent session 7, San José Building

11:30 – 13:00      Concurrent session 8, San José Building

13:15 – 14:15      Lunch, Pabellón de Bellas Artes / San Agustín

14:15 – 15:15

Plenary session VI: Keynote Address
“Cities, Immigrants and Having a Sense of Place”
Avner de-Shalit, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
San Agustín Auditorium

15:15 – 16:15

Plenary session VII: Keynote Address
“Urbanization: A Disaggregation”
Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University
San Agustín Auditorium

16:15 – 16:45       HDCA members meeting, San Agustín Auditorium

16:45 – 17:15       Closing ceremony, San Agustín Auditorium

Pre-conference events – Tues-Weds, 28-29 August 2018

Tuesday, 28 August, 2018

8:30 – 11 AM

Walking visit to one of Buenos Aires’ informal settlements or urban slum (“Neighborhood 31 – Retiro”)

The purpose of this activity is to visit one of Buenos Aires’ largest and oldest informal settlements, Neighborhood 31, which is currently undergoing an urban integration process.

We will meet at the UCA campus (Alicia Moreau de Justo 1600, north side entrance to the San José Building) at 8:30 AM and then take a short (10 minute) taxi ride to the entrance of the neighborhood.

At 9 AM the Secretary of Urban Integration of the City of Buenos Aires (Secretario de integración urbana), Diego Fernandez, will give a half hour talk on the history and characteristics of Neighborhood 31 and on the urban integration process.

The group will then take an hour-long walking “tour” of the neighborhood guided by persons who work in the City of Buenos Aires’s office of urban integration.

The tour will end at the Retiro train station (at the opposite end of the neighborhood, where we can share taxis back to the UCA or to the hotels.

The activity is free, but we will need to share the taxi fare (around $5 dollars, depending on how many people share the taxi). We suggest that you wear comfortable clothes, particularly shoes.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

9am – 1pm
Operationalizing the Capability Approach in Qualitative Research:
A workshop for postgraduate students
Alicia Moreau de Justo 1600, UCA campus

Are you a postgraduate student trying to organize and analyze your empirical qualitative data?  If so, this workshop will be a great way to meet and work with other students who are trying to operationalize the Capability Approach. In this half-day workshop, postgraduate students will have a forum that will be both instructive and interactive.  We will begin the workshop with an established academic presenting a case study of how he/she has analyzed his/her own data and learn how he/she has operationalized the CA.

The second part will allow you time to work with another postgraduate student under the guidance of our expert to present your qualitative data analysis strategies and figure out how you might best proceed through data analysis.  Working with another postgraduate student will give you time to practice imagining the operationalization of the CA in your data analysis.  We expect this workshop to help you proceed, giving you confidence and experience in handling your data and moving forward in your analysis and write up processes.

9:30am – 6pm
Ethics and Development in Times of Growing Authoritarianism
Tucumán 1966, FLACSO

This event will explore a set of problems and topics relevant to the ethics of development in Latin America and other regions. It will begin with a lecture by Prof. Maristella Svampa (Universidad Nacional de La Plata) titled “Neo-extractivism, social-environmental conflicts and new forms of dependence in Latin America”, followed by a workshop on “Poverty and Philosophy: a Latin American perspective”. The event will conclude with the launch of the Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics, edited by Jay Drydyk and Lori Keleher. The Handbook is a tremendous collective accomplishment by an extensive network of contributors, both from HDCA and from the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA). The central idea is that the differences between good development and bad development are value-based. The values that define good development include well-being, equity or social/global justice, agency and empowerment, environmental sustainability, advancement of human rights, cultural freedom, and responsibility/integrity. This session includes two roundtable discussions by contributors to the Handbook. In the first, panelists will discuss what development ethics is, and how the capability approach has contributed to it. In the second, panelists will consider how development ethics and the capability approach should respond to the development model of ‘competitive authoritarianism’.

The event is free of charge and open to the general public as well as to HDCA Conference participants. We especially encourage the participation of graduate students and members of minority groups. Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day.

10 am – 1 pm
Remembrance and human rights center
Av. del Libertador 8151

The Human Rights Thematic Group is organizing a site visit to the Remembrance and Human Rights Centre (Espacio para la Memoria y para la promoción y defense de los Derechos Humanos – Espacio Memoria).

The Escuela Mecanica de la Armada (ESMA) was one of the main clandestine detention centers for the last civilian-military dictatorship which ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983. Since 2004, its grounds were transformed into a Remembrance and human rights Centre where activities are organized with the purpose of preserving the memory and promoting human rights. We are planning a group visit with English-speaking guide from the Centre. Admission is free.

Depending on your interest, we will also organize a roundtable with professionals working on the intersection between human rights and human development with a focus on economic, social and cultural rights. This would take place in the afternoon of August 29.

1pm – 5pm
Capability of Being Healthy: Child Nutrition and Inequality
Alicia Moreau de Justo 1600, UCA campus

In the first part of this workshop organized by the Children and Youth Thematic Group will analyze the complex mechanisms through which territorial inequalities may influence children nutrition and their capability of staying healthy. We will address the following questions: What types of achieved functionings are part of people’s capability of being healthy? What types of interlocking connections were identified by researchers and practitioners as key to accessing opportunities to break the health inequalities that affect children? This session will open a discussion regarding the programs and policies on children nutrition that could improve the existing or future interventions that aim at advancing health and welfare of children and youth in socioeconomically unequal territories. Then, in the second part of this workshop, we will facilitate an exchange of views between scholars and practitioners with respect to the implementation policies of new health programs for children. We will discuss the challenges of targeting children and youth using incentives and motivations, as well as the novelties in the communication process that supports the delivery of health programs. The following question will guide this discussion: How large are the functioning gaps and capabilities of breaking the barriers or shifting the events/factors that have driven children malnutrition in territories with an elevated level of territorial inequality in terms of resources and opportunities?

Confirmed presenters: Amalia Palma (ECLAC-UN), Maria Fernanda Awapara (UN-Peru), Sebastian Carrasco (UNICEF), Rodrigo López (PUC), Claudia Frias (PUC), Claudio Canales (Chilean Government), and Mario Biggeri (University of Florence and Action Research for CO-Development).

3pm – 6pm
ALCADECA meeting
Alicia Moreau de Justo 1600, UCA campus

The Latin American and Caribbean Association for the Study of Human Capabilities (Asociación Latinoamericana y de El Caribe para el Estudio del Enfoque de las Capacidades Humanas – ALCADECA) is an HDCA regional network that gathers Latin American researchers and practitioners interested in the human development and capability approach. The main purpose of this pre-conference workshop is to create a space for dialogue among ALCADECA members and other HDCA colleagues in order to increase the Association’s outreach to other researchers interested in Latin America and attend the HDCA meeting in Buenos Aires.  Our hope is that this pre-conference workshop will strengthen the Latin American regional network of HDCA. In particular, the pre-conference workshop will address three specific goals: (i) facilitate a dialogue around recent experiences, opportunities and challenges related to the human development and the capability approach in Latin America and The Caribbean, (ii) discuss preliminary ideas about the main theme, program and organizational aspects of ALCADECA 2019, and (iii) validate the first version of the Regional Directory of Human Development Researchers in Latin America (DHAL-Net) that is being prepared by IDHAL-PUCP.

3pm – 4pm
Global Health, Justice and Governance Book Launch
Alicia Moreau de Justo 1600, UCA campus

The HDCA Health & Disability Thematic group is pleased to invite you to the launch of Jennifer Prah Ruger’s book Global Health Justice and Governance. The author’s presentation will be followed by a roundtable with discussants and a Q&A session.

In a world beset by extreme and unconscionable health disparities humankind desperately needs a new vision to ensure central health capabilities for all. Yawing gaps in health law, dangerous contagions that can circle our globalized planet in hours, and a bewildering confusion of health systems are all profound challenges requiring urgent address. Global Health Justice and Governance presents the critical problems facing the world today and offers a new theory of justice and governance as a way to resolve these seemingly intractable issues. A fundamental responsibility of government is to ensure human flourishing. The central role that health plays in this flourishing place a unique claim on our public institutions and resources, as central health capabilities are pressed to reduce premature death and prevent avoidable morbidities. In a world of staggering inequalities, imperiling epidemics, and inadequacies of current models a new architecture of central health systems is desperately needed. Global Health Justice and Governance lays out a vision for achieving this important change.

Jennifer Prah Ruger is a leading scholar of global and domestic health policy and public health. She is currently the Amartya Sen Professor of Public Health Equity, Economics, and Policy; Associate Dean for Global Studies; and Faculty Chair at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ruger has authored over 100 publications and is internationally recognized for her leadership and work, which has been cited by the United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization and United States Government.

7:00 pm – 8:30pm
Book launch of the Latin American Human Development textbook
Tucumán 1966, FLACSO

ALCADECA will launch the textbook on human development in Latin America, titled Introducción al Enfoque de las Capacidades: Aportes para el Desarrollo Humano en América Latina, co-published by the editorial PUCP (Lima, Peru) and Manantial-FLACSO Argentina, and edited by Severine Deneulin, Jhonatan Clausen and Areli Valencia. The event will include a panel with three invited discussants, followed by a reception. The event will be entirely in Spanish.

Introducción al Enfoque de las Capacidades: Aportes para el Desarrollo Humano en América Latina is a Spanish translation and Latin American adapted version of the textbook An Introduction to the Human Development and Capability Approach published in 2009. Each of the translated original chapters is accompanied by an additional chapter which treats the topic from a Latin American perspective. The chapter on education has a companion chapter on education and social justice in Latin America, the one on democracy has a companion chapter on inequality and populism, and the chapter on equity and justice has an annex chapter on relational egalitarianism and the transmission of injustice in the Latin American context. There are also new chapters on collective capabilities, the measurement of multi-dimensional poverty in Latin America, buen vivir and sustainability, economic growth and income equality, and an analysis of conditional cash transfers from a human development perspective.

This activity is organized by ALCADECA in coordination with FLACSO and the Institute for Human Development of Latin America based at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (IDHAL PUCP).

“Challenging Inequalities: Human Development and Social Change” 

Economic inequality is bad for political equality and political freedoms which are key conditions for the expansion and securing of human capabilities and the building of decent and inclusive societies. The conference theme explores this as a dynamic challenge of human development and social change, together with the potential of the capability approach to offer a powerful normative framework to advance justice in unequal societies. The capability approach is now a widely-used framework for evaluating equality and justice in terms of human well-being, freedom, and development. It has been developed partly because traditional approaches focusing only on income or utility do not adequately capture the diverse, plural, and multidimensional nature of human lives and development experiences, nor provide the informational basis of justice in policy making and implementation. As a concept originally developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, capability works to understand and explain inequalities and injustices in the social, political, economic and historical arrangements that shape human experiences, and the valuable functionings that people have reason to choose for flourishing lives.

The capabilities emphasis on plural human freedoms allows us both to examine the experiences of real lives but also to develop methodologies to aggregate and index multiple aspects of human development and capabilities across significant in/equality dimensions (for example, youth, cities, education and social cohesion), viewed and researched from multiple disciplinary perspectives. One of the main goals of the HDCA 2017 Conference will be to assemble and compare a variety of research approaches – theoretical, conceptual, philosophical, methodological, empirical – in global South and global North contexts in order to shed light on the benefits of, and challenges human development and capability expansion confronts.

By selecting ‘challenging inequalities’ and also ‘social change’ as an overall theme for the HDCA 2017 Conference, we want to explore the normative and empirical power and scope of the capability approach to describe, assess, and promote change in the direction of human development and social justice in an increasingly globalized world where people’s circumstances and values are vastly different and in which inequality is rising within and across countries.

The capability approach itself is evolving and open to extensions, modifications, criticisms, and revisions. We would like to invite scholars, policy-makers, practitioners, and students who are working at the frontiers of this expanding field of research. Anyone new to HDCA is of course more than welcome, as we appreciate diversity of participants in terms of research topics and methods, professions, and regions.

This conference is being held at a key and historic moment for the continent and for South Africa – economically, socially and politically – offering the possibility to bring the approach to the attention of wider audiences of researchers, young scholars, practitioners, and policy makers and brokers. It will be an exciting opportunity for all of us to meet for the first time on the African continent.

Martha Nussbaum
Martha Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. From 1986 to 1993, she was a research advisor at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, a part of the United Nations University. She has chaired the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on International Cooperation, the Committee on the Status of Women, and the Committee for Public Philosophy. She has received honorary degrees from fifty colleges and universities in the world. Her books include Women and Human Development (2000), Hiding from Humanity (2004), Frontiers of Justice (2006), Creating Capabilities (2012), Political Emotions (2013), and Anger and Forgiveness (2016). Among her awards are the Prince of Asturias Prize in the Social Sciences in 2012, and the Kyoto Prize in 2016.

Crain Soudien, CEO, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
Crain Soudien is the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Sciences Research Council and formerly a Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town where he remains an emeritus professor in Education and African Studies. His publications in the areas of social difference, culture, education policy, comparative education, educational change, public history and popular culture include three books, three edited collections and over 190 articles, reviews, reports, and book chapters.

He is also the co-editor of three books on District Six, Cape Town, a jointly edited book on comparative education and the author of The Making of Youth Identity in Contemporary South Africa: Race, Culture and Schooling, the author of Realising the Dream: Unlearning the Logic of Race in the South African School, and the co-author of Inclusion and Exclusion in South Africa and Indian Schools. He was educated at the University of Cape Town and UNISA, South Africa and holds a PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

He is involved in a number of local, national and international social and cultural organisations and is the Chairperson of the Independent Examinations Board, the former Chairperson of the District Six Museum Foundation, a former President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and had been the chair of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation in Higher Education and is currently the chair of the Ministerial Committee to evaluate textbooks for discrimination. He is a fellow of a number of local and international academies and serves on the boards of a number of cultural, heritage, education and civil society structures.

Jayati Ghosh, Amartya Sen lecture
Jayati Ghosh is one of the world’s leading economists. She is professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru university, New Delhi, and the executive secretary of International Development Economics Associates (Ideas), a network of economists critical of the mainstream economic paradigm of neo-liberalism. She previously held positions at Tufts University and Cambridge University, lecturing meanwhile at academic institutions throughout India. She is one of the founders of the Economic Research Foundation in New Delhi, a non-profit trust devoted to progressive economic research. She is a regular columnist for several Indian journals and newspapers, a member of the National Knowledge Commission advising the prime minister of India, and is closely involved with a range of progressive organisations and social movements. She has  received the NordSud Prize for Social Sciences 2010 of the Fondazione Pescarabruzzo, Italy. She is co-recipient of the International Labour Organisation’s 2010 Decent Work Research prize.

Selim Jahan, Mahbub ul Haq lecture
Mr. Selim Jahan is the Director of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York. Prior to his appointment to this position, he served as the Director of the Poverty Division of UNDP (2007-2014).  Mr. Jahan was the first Deputy Director (1996-2001). He had already served as a Policy Advisor in HDRO from 1992 to 1996. During his time in HDRO, he was a member of the Core Team that authored nine global Human Development Reports (1993-2001).Before joining UNDP in 1992, Dr. Jahan held different positions in universities, national governments and other international organizations. He was a Lecturer of Economics (1974-77) and Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Research Unit, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh (1984-89). He was a Lecturer, Department of Economics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1983-84), and a Visiting Fellow, School Of Public Policy, University of Maryland, U.S.A (1992).Mr. Jahan served as the Economic Adviser, Planning Commission of the Government of Bangladesh (1989-90). He has also worked as an Adviser and Consultant to various international organizations such as ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank during the 1980s and the early 1990s. He was the Secretary General of the Bangladesh Economics Association (1991-92). Mr. Jahan holds a Ph.D. with distinction in Economics from McGill University. He is the author of 10 books and more than 150 articles published in various national and international academic journals. His latest book entitled Overcoming Human Poverty – Essays on the Millennium Development Goals and Beyond was published in 2014

Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni
Professor, founding Head of Archie Mafeje Research Institute for Applied Social Policy (AMRI) and currently Director for Scholarship at the Change Management Unit (CMU) in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa (UNISA).  He is also the founder of Africa Decolonial Research Network (ADERN) based  at the University of South Africa. He is a National Research Foundation (NRF) rated social scientist; a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); a Fellow of African Studies Centre (ASC) in the Netherlands; and a Research Associate at the Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies at The Open University in the United Kingdom. His has published 13 books, over 50 journal articles and over 40 book chapters. His major publications include The Ndebele Nation: Reflections on Hegemony, Memory and Historiography (Amsterdam & Pretoria: Rosenberg Publishers & UNISA Press, 2009); Do ‘Zimbabweans’ Exist? Trajectories of Nationalism, National Identity Formation and Crisis in a Postcolonial State (Oxford & Bern: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2009); Redemptive or Grotesque Nationalism? Rethinking Contemporary Politics in Zimbabwe (Oxford & Bern: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2011); Empire, Global Coloniality and African Subjectivity (New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books, June 2013); Coloniality of Power in Postcolonial Africa: Myths of Decolonization (Dakar: CODESRIA, 2013); Nationalism and National Projects in Southern Africa: New Critical Reflections (Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa, 2013); Bondage of Boundaries and Identity Politics in Postcolonial Africa: The ‘Northern Problem’ and Ethno-Futures (Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa, 2013); Mugabeism? History, Politics and Power in Zimbabwe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, August 2015); Decolonizing the University, Knowledge Systems and Disciplines (North Carolina, Carolina Academic Press, April 2016) and The Decolonial Mandela: Peace, Justice and Politics of Life (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, March 2016).

September 5 pre-conference day schedule:

8:30 – 16:30
Engaging with African Philosophies: Ubuntu and Justice
SOE Seminar Room, Economics Building, UCT

What can we learn from African Political Philosophies, and ‘Ubuntu’ in particular? How can Ubuntu transform our ideas about justice? More generally, how can we meaningfully enter into conversations with views outside ‘mainstream’ political philosophy? This pre-HDCA conference event brings established and emerging African scholars together to introduce and explore key concepts in African Philosophies as they apply to issues of justice. Papers explore themes such as: human rights, corporate social responsibility, health, rectification, corruption, economic distribution, and others. As such, the event provides opportunities for capability scholars and practitioners to learn about these ideas, and to reflect on the way that these ideas are able to transform capability scholarship and practice. Confirmed Keynotes: Prof Thaddeus Metz (UJ), Dr Motsamai Molefe (UKZN), Dr Uchenna Okeja (Rhodes). Invited Graduate Students: Motlatsi Khosi (UNISA), Khali Mofuoa (UJ), Wade Seale (UCT), Tony Shabangu (UJ), Tlhogi Swaratlhe (UJ).

9:00 – 13:00
Workshop on Participatory Video through the capability approach in an educational context
Eco LT 1, Economics Building, UCT

In this workshop we will explore the value of using participatory video as a methodology to study the expansion of capabilities in educational contexts, both for young people and adults. In order to do this, we will conduct a 4 hour workshop in which the participants will identify educational capabilities related to their participation in the HDCA conference. These capabilities will be the main themes of the videos that will be planned, filmed and screened during the workshop by the participants themselves. We will use mobile phones as digital tools. During the screening, a capability approach analysis of the content of the videos and of the process itself will be conducted using the main elements of the approach.

11:00 – ?

14:30 – 17:00
Roundtable Discussion: The use of participatory methods concerning youth and education: bridging the gap between research and practice
Eco LT 1, Economics Building, UCT

The session intends to facilitate an exchange of views between scholars and practitioners on the instrumental role of participatory research methodologies within development projects, especially concerning youth and education. The discussion will be guided by the following questions: How can participatory research be used to design development programmes concerning youth and education? How can participatory research be used to evaluate development programmes concerning youth and education? How can development programs enhance participatory research? What can practitioners expect from researchers and vice versa? The roundtable will involve the following external speakers: Vivienne Bozalek, Director of Teaching and Learning at the University of the Western Cape. Her areas of expertise include the social justice and the political ethics of care perspectives, innovative pedagogical approaches, including the use of educational technologies, feminist and participatory research methodologies and critical family studies. Ronald Wesso (TBC), Research and Policy Lead at Oxfam South Africa. He has worked as an activist researcher on land and agrarian studies, and before that, democracy and public power in order to support struggles for progressive social change. He has also been involved in various initiatives to build autonomous movements of the poor. Joanna Wheeler, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Political Studies, University of the Western Cape. She is researcher, facilitator and trainer in participatory processes, including creative storytelling approaches, with a commitment to increasing the voices of those less heard through citizen action. She is also Founder and Director of Transformative Story.

Complexity and method: bridging the divide
(Time and place to be determined)
In this workshop we will explore how to use complex systems approaches to understand and engage with ‘wicked’ policy problems, such as food insecurity, income inequality or poor health. In order to do this it will start with an overview of complexity theory and its implications for the social sciences. Included will be a discussion of how complexity theory can enrich applications of the Capabilities Approach in the real world. We will then cover a range of practical tools to assist researchers and practitioners in operationalising complexity, drawing on Luke Craven’s work on food insecurity. Finally, we will split into small groups, where workshop participants will discuss their work-in-progress, and engage in a discussion about they could effectively incorporate complexity into their own projects.