“Public policies for human development in the context of inequality”
May 29-31, 2019
Universidad de las Américas Puebla, México
Puebla, Mexico

Download the Call for Papers here (English and Spanish)

The organisers of the VII conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Association for Human Developmentand the Capabilities Approach (ALCADECA) invite researchers, policy experts, practitioners and postgraduate students of any country to send their abstract proposals for the conference titled “Public policies for human development in the context of inequality”.

The conference will take place on the 29, 30 and 31 of May 2019 at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP), located in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. Previous editions of the conference have taken place in Mexico City, Mexico (2006); Montevideo, Uruguay (2008); Porto Alegre, Brazil (2010); Lomas de Zamora, Argentina (2012); Lima, Peru (2014); Montevideo, Uruguay (2016).

The main theme of the conference is examining the contribution of the capability and human development approach in procuring public policies that effectively promote people’s wellbeing and the protection of the environment, given the high levels of inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The human development and capability approach (see https://hd-ca.org/) has played a central role in revealing – theoretically and practically – the deficiencies of a conception of development that gives priority to the access to economic resources over other aspects that are important for the expansion of people’s opportunities to live a good life. In conjunction with others, this approach has contributed to the increased adoption by governments of a view of development that places people and their wellbeing at the centre, as well as the use of multidimensional indicators to assess the social realities of the region and to design and monitor public policies.

However, despite these political advancements, the results of most countries in terms of human development remain insufficient. The levels of poverty and inequality have been resistant to the economic growth of the region and to the achievements reached in terms of education, health and housing for the most marginalised sectors of society. As such, Latin America remains as one of the most unequal regions in the world, not only in economic terms, but in a variety of dimensions. Millions of people continue to suffer daily from social exclusion, discrimination, and stigmatization in terms of race, ethnicity, skin colour, identity and gender, as well as from deep inequalities in the access to quality services and in the exercise of power.

These realities and their negative consequences – for example, in the loss of social cohesion and the high levels of violence –, suggest that it is necessary to place greater emphasis on the structural and relational causes of such inequalities. Hence, this conference invites to examine the extent to which the human development and the capability approach can address these challenges in practice. Particularly, it seeks to analyse how the approach can guide the design and implementation of policies capable of tackling the economic, political, social and cultural injustices that characterise our region.

The papers can examine any topic within this theme from different disciplines, methodological perspectives, philosophical arguments, empirical analyses, policy evaluations, or implementation strategies. Proposals to organise thematic panels based on recent projects or fieldwork results are also welcome.

In addition to the central theme of the conference, papers discussing related topics are also welcome as long as they establish a critical dialogue with the human development and capability approach. Related themes include:

• Human rights and human development

• Inequality, multidimensional poverty and human development

• The politics of recognition

• Distributive justice and citizenship

• Corruption, impunity, ethics and human development

• Urbanization and agency

• Identity and agency

• Civil society and the State

• Ethics and the market

• Democracy

• State, political economy and preferences for redistribution

• Subjective wellbeing and happiness

Registration process:

Abstract submission deadline: 3 of December 2018

Please send your abstracts to: alcadeca2019@gmail.com

Include the following information:

• Name
• Institutional affiliation
• Contact information
• Authors biography: no longer than 100 words
• Abstract and key words: no longer than 300 words. Please include in the abstract an explanation of the research theme and its relation to the human development and capabilities approach.

For more information about the registration to the conference and costs, please visit the website of the event (under construction): www.udlap.mx/alcadeca2019

Organising Committee:

• Oscar Garza (UDLAP, México)

• Viviana Ramírez (UDLAP, México)

Academic Committee:

• Javier Iguiñiz

• Graciela Tonon

• Andrea Vigorito

• Izete Pengo Bagolin

• Silvana Vargas

• Séverine Deneulin

February 13 –14, 2019
Centro de Vinculación, UPAEP, Puebla, México
Fecha límite de envío/Submission Deadline: 30 November, 2018
Respuestas/Notifications: 15 December 2018
ENVIAR A/Submit at: ipbc@upaep.mx
Download the Call for Papers here (in Spanish and English)

Creado el pasado año por la Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), el Instituto Promotor del Bien Común (IPBC) es un Centro Universitario comprometido con la investigación y la operacionalización de la noción del Bien Común en nuestra sociedad. El bien común fue alguna vez una noción práctica, en su mayoría, que se empleaba para describir y normar a las instituciones económicas y políticas. Progresivamente abandonado durante el siglo pasado, nuevamente ha atraído el interés de los politólogos, abogados y economistas, especialmente como una forma de superar algunas de las deficiencias del liberalismo político y económico. El objetivo del IPBC es dar a esta noción clave, un significado concreto y práctico para que pueda volver a ser operativo: un medio para buscar un futuro común, una herramienta para medir la práctica del desarrollo, así como para redactar y evaluar políticas públicas específicas.

Con este fin y bajo la dirección del IPBC, un grupo de más de 20 investigadores internacionales, ha desarrollado durante el último año una métrica de la dinámica del bien común.

Con ella esperamos evaluar las características claves necesarias para el surgimiento de una buena dinámica del bien común en una sociedad o institución.

El Congreso será la ocasión para presentar a un público extenso el modelo de esta métrica y reunir a los investigadores que trabajan en la noción del bien común, particularmente en el campo de la aplicación y las mediciones. Para este fin, estamos buscando documentos que investiguen uno o varios de los siguientes temas:

• Interpretaciones contemporáneas del bien común.
• Aplicaciones de un enfoque de bien común para los problemas de desarrollo, especialmente con respecto a los países emergentes.
• Medición de "bienes", "bienes comunes" o "la dinámica del bien común".

Costo: 200 USD

Incluye alojamiento por 3 noches, comidas y acceso al Congreso

Sesión introductoria

El IPBC organizará el martes 12 de febrero del 2019 medio día de capacitación intensiva sobre el concepto y la métrica del bien común que desarrollamos. Este taller está abierto a todo el público y le brindará algunas herramientas prácticas para investigar la calidad de la dinámica del bien común en una institución. El taller tendrá costo extra de 50 USD.

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Created last year by the Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), the Instituto Promotor del Bien Común (IPBC) is a University Center committed to investigate and operationalize the notion of the common good in our society. The common good was once a mostly practical notion used to describe and norm economic as well as political institutions. Progressively abandoned during the last century, it has again attracted the interest of political scientists, lawyers, and practionners, especially as a way to overcome some of the shortcomings of political and economic liberalism. The goal set to the IPBC is to give to this key notion a concrete and practical meaning, so that it may again become operational: a mean to search for a common future, a tool to measure development practice and draft and assess specific policies.

To this end a group of more than 20 international researchers, under the leadership of the IPBC, has developed over the last year a metric of the common good’s dynamic. We hope to assess with it the key features necessary for the emergence of a common good dynamic in a society or an institution.

The Conference will be the occasion to present to a large public the blueprint of this metric and bring together researchers working on the notion of the common good, particularly in the field of application and measurements. To this purpose, we are looking for papers investigating one or several of the following topics:

• Contemporary interpretations of the common good
• Applications of a common good approach to development issues, especially regarding emerging countries
• Measurement of ‘commons’, ‘common goods’ or ‘the dynamic of the common good’

Cost: 200 USD

Includes lodging for 3 nights, meals and access to the Conference

Introductory session

The IPBC will organize on Tuesday, February 12th (2019) half a day of intensive training to the concept and metric of the common good we developed. This workshop is open to all public and will give you some practical tools to investigate the quality of the common good’s dynamic in an institution. This workshop will have an extra cost of 50 USD.