Microfinance has, over the past decades, been proved as an effective and irreversible technique for tackling poverty. Banker to the Poor Muhammad Yunus's story in Bangladesh has long become a worldwide household tale. Yet this book brings you into a successful Grameen replication story in one of the most troublesome regions in the post-Cold War Balkans and details how microlending, often a few hundred euros at a time, can be a lifeline for tens of thousands of village women in the post-war Kosovo. Olympic volunteer and CGI U commitment-maker Hongyu Wang's two months ground survey, observation, and interview in Bangladesh, in Dhaka and in villages, with Yunus himself or with this replication's pioneers who stationed in Kosovo from NATO bombing days up until now, is a vivid account on how microcredit humanitarian manoeuvre, in war and in peace, can be just as successful in any culture and socioeconomic-political circumstance. The author can be contacted at [email protected]

Post-conflict reconstruction stretches the capacities of international institutions and they turn to NGOs to answer the challenge. This book explores how the interactions between international public institutions and NGOs have affected peacebuilding in the post-conflict situations of Bosnia, Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Dr. Taylor presents an original theory of the dynamics of confusion in governments and in the lives of ordinary citizens. His model postulates a vicious cycle in which the causes of confusion evoke coping tactics which often worsen those causes. One of the most destructive coping tactics, “Find-an-Enemy-and-Lose-Your-Confusion” spawns conflict and increases the lies and other information pathology already circulating. “Exports” from this vicious cycle include environmental depredation, political oppression, war and death. Using his model, he illuminates the binds entrapping Robert McNamara and Lyndon Johnson as they expanded the Vietnam War in 1965. He then extends the theory using fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), and submits the model to the ultimate test: forecasting in “real time” certain events in the 1999 NATO-Serbia War and its aftermath. He published these predictions on his web site during and after that war. This project represents the first use of FCMs to forecast political-military events in real time. The concluding chapters test whether a knowledge of confusion dynamics will increase empathy between opponents, and whether the model is useful for planning humanitarian efforts by betterment organizations.

This report contains discussion of the principal economic and social reform policy tasks facing Kosovo. It is intended to present ideas to the interim civil administration for the consolidation of peace. Key reforms are: the formulation of a sustainable budget; the establishment of a liberal trade and customs regime; use of a hard currency for internal transactions; creation of a reformed framework for encouraging the growth of private SMEs.

Clinical sociology, career coaching and somatic learning / Kathryn Goldman Schuyler -- Applied social survey methodology: telephone surveys and the importance of introduction / Robyn Driskell -- When a stranger calls: the impact of caller ID on telephone surveys / Kathy Krey and Jodien Matos -- Globalization, growth and poverty reduction: myths and realities / Ray Kiely -- Applied version of rural poverty: a case study / Samir Dasgupta and Kaushik Chattopadhyay -- Social justice vs 'financial apartheid': microcredit and banking with the poor without collateral / Muhammad Yunus -- Global technology and local reality among child street labourers in Guatemala City / Thomas A. Offit -- Social politics and policy in an era of globalization: critical reflections / Nicola Yeates -- Theoretical claims and ethnic identity formation: interpretations from a Slovenian--American community / Elaine F. Hocever and Ernest M. De Zolt -- Gender and immigrant religious practices: an applied sociology perspective / Sarah Stohlman -- Applied sociology and demography / Vijayan K. Pillai and Rashmi Gupta.

This book presents important insights into Social Innovation and Reverse Innovation. It introduces a unique perspective by merging Social Innovation with the emerging concept of Reverse Innovation. Addressing the scarcity of Reverse Innovation knowledge, the book starts with a comprehensive literature review, establishing a solid theoretical framework. By leveraging the core contributions of both concepts, a new idea is developed: Reverse Social Innovation. This unexplored notion is rigorously examined through a novel conceptual model and validated via mixed-method research. Case studies showcase instances of Reverse Social Innovation, while content analysis refines the model. The book is valuable for practitioners, researchers, and students. Practitioners can explore the potential of Reverse Social Innovation for impactful change. Researchers delve into the uncharted territory of Reverse Innovation and its intersections. Students engage with a cutting-edge research field, opening doors for future exploration.

Text: Published in collaboration with Practical Action Publishing (London), this book shows commercial bankers that providing micro-finance services to the poor makes good business sense.

In this volume, noted scholars in economics, government, education, technology, literature, culture, and religion, among other fields, discuss the meaning and measurement of progress in their areas of specialty.