Questioning Empowerment

Jo Rowlands

Focusing on the term empowerment this book examines the various meanings given to the concept of empowerment and the many ways power can be expressed - in personal relationships and in wider social interactions.

Reaching the Unreached

John Pickford

A selection of papers from the 22nd WEDC conference, aiming to find ideas and techniques which will aid fieldworkers in planning, operating and maintaining water and sanitation to 'reach the unreached'. Covering an extensive range of topics, including management, people and health, and emergency sit...

A Safer Future

Ed Cairns

A Safer Future draws on Oxfam's experience of working with communities caught up in armed conflict in many countries around the world and makes recommendations for urgent action by governments that would reduce the risk of war and protect civilian lives. It looks specifically at changes in internati...

Slash/Mulch Systems

H. David Thurston

This informative overview and analysis of slash/mulch practices from around the world, particularly from the tropics, shows that they have generally shortened the necessary fallow periods and have restored degraded soils, thus increasing or stabilizing yields. These improvements, in turn, have allow...

Development and Patronage

Melakou Tegegn

Some argue that the concept of development is far from a liberating process for all. It is contended that much of what has been done in the name of development has served to reinforce the intellectual, material and financial dependence of those on the receiving end. Some argue that the very concept...

The Flavour of Latin America

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz

Jane Smith

Forget the mass-produced tortilla chips and E-flavoured salsa dips. Discover the taste of real Latin American food, as diverse as its beautiful landscapes, drawing on age-old indigenous recipes with influences from Spain, Portugal and Africa. From the snow-capped mountains of the Andes there is drun...

The Boulder Concept in Building Walls

This brief was written BY the Building Advisory Service and Information Network (BASIN) providing information resources on low-cost building technologies.

Brazil In Focus

Jan Rocha

Brazil is depicted as a land of global superlatives, boasting the best football, the largest rainforest, and the world's worst social and economic inequality. It's vibrant culture is best known for Carnival and samba and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The Carnival capital of Rio also show...

Eastern Caribbean In Focus

James Ferguson

The idyllic landscapes of the Eastern Caribbean belie a dramatic and often cruel history. Fought over by the imperial Navies and vulnerable to natural disasters, these small islands have also been marked by slavery, migration and a tradition of resistance. With their population rooted in every conti...

Ecuador In Focus

Wilma Roos, Omer Van Renterghem

Ecuador is one of the major tourist destinations in the Americas, offering unparalleled colonial architecture, dramatic landscapes and the eco-tourist mecca of the Galapagos Islands. But behind its colourful markets and mountain scenery lies a more complex country, divided by geography and race and...