- Email: [email protected]
Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 391–429
407
line system, in some cases, being used. The Data library links to the “Directory of Canadian University Data Libraries and Archives.” A keyword searchable directory provides information on large data set collections available from government, academic and other sources. “Electronic Journals” provides links to departments or agencies that are producing their own newsletters or journals. Journals are listed alphabetically under their main title and indicate whether they are Canadian government produced or contain information about the Canadian government. Each link is annotated and usually includes information on subject content, publisher, whether or not the journal/newsletter is available in full text online, can be browsed or searched, and other relevant information. Only journals that are available at no charge have been included. The CGI Web page is a “must bookmark” for anyone who works with or has a need to know more about Canadian government information. The site is also useful for anyone wishing to gather information about Canada for tourism, relocation, jobs, or other personal interests. Everyone associated with this ongoing project has done an outstanding job in putting together a site that is useful and informative. The site is well organized, provides an incredible amount of information, and is easy to navigate. Daniel Barkley Government Information Department Zimmerman Library University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-1466, USA PII: S1352-0237(00)00166-0
Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development Human Development Report Office, The United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Publications, New York, 1998, 284 pages, paper, ISBN 92-1-126102-3 (US$14.95) In industrialized countries consumption is something confronted casually on a daily basis—consuming of food and natural resources, spending money on more and better things. How does this impact the rest of the world and particularly, developing countries? Why are resources unfairly accessible and distributed? What happens when industrialized nations have access to a plethora of goods and services, while developing countries do not? All of these questions are explored in Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998— Consumption for Human Development. This publication is a collection of seven papers used to compile the Human Development Report 1998. Each paper focuses on various aspects of consumption and how developing and developed countries are impacted. Both the background papers and the development report itself are published annually. Year to year, the human development report covers various themes. For instance, last year’s Human Development Report, as well as the background papers, targeted poverty. The Human Development Report 1998 provides a collection of statistical tables, figures, and narra-
408
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 391–429
tive covering human development and issues involving consumption. All of the statistics for the Human Development Report are available on several diskettes entitled Human Development Report: Statistical Databases. While the Human Development Report is intended more as a reference volume, the background papers used to create the report give more in-depth background to the information presented in the Human Development Report. The background papers provide access to the research, and are useful for providing the researcher with more in-depth details, background, theory and arguments than the Human Development Report. The background papers are certainly useful for the individual who needs to have a deeper understanding of human consumption issues. While the common theme in this year’s publication is consumption, the research included in this volume discusses consumption from a variety of perspectives. Issues range from economics to the environment to food. Statistical tables, charts, figures, definitions and appendices enhance almost all of the papers. Two background papers were particularly interesting. The first paper in the book, “The Knowledge Revolution: Its Impact on Consumption Patterns and Resource Use,” takes a look at the knowledge revolution and the growing service sectors in the economy and how they impact the use of natural resources. It discusses the uneven use of the world’s resources, over-consumption and over-extraction of natural resources, and how the growing knowledge sector will affect consumption patterns. Will the growing knowledge-sector decrease the need for natural resources? This is one of the ideas presented in this background paper. “Biodiversity, Consumption Patterns and Globalization” is the second paper that deserves highlighting. The author makes the point that “Biodiversity is thus intimately linked with cultural diversity in consumption patterns, since cultures evolve in dynamic interaction with nature’s endowment” (p. 230). The paper examines how the wide variety of plants is important to cultures and helps support poorer groups of people in developing countries. According to the author, people in developing countries are especially affected by the decreasing diversity of crops being grown worldwide. In addition to the two papers highlighted, other papers included in Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development are summarized below. “Food Security, Food Consumption Patterns and Human Development” discusses the unequal distribution of food and how access to it is important for development. It compares developed countries to developing countries and examines the problem of under-nutrition, and problems caused by lack of access to food or appropriate foods for proper nutrition. Mispricing and under-pricing of natural resources and products and their impact on consumption are presented in the chapter “Market Instruments and Consumption and Production Patterns.” The author looks at factors such as subsidies, regulations, and taxes that affect mispricing and under-pricing. “Income, Consumption and Human Development: Environmental Linkages” purports to show a relationship between per capita income and indicators of environmental quality. This relationship disproves the general perception of the causes of environmental degradation that was reported in the Brundtland Report1. The author proceeds to examine consumption and various measures of development and poverty and their relationship to environmental quality.
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 391–429
409
“A Structural Critique of Consumption: Inequality, Globalization and the Aspirational Gap” states that, “Consumption not only reflects a structure of social inequality; it also reproduces it” (p. 217). As consumerism increases it causes the very poor to aspire to a standard of living that is increasingly higher and out of reach. This results in an increasing aspirational gap. Finally “Consumption, Globalization and Theory: Why There is a Need for Radical Reform” works well as the last paper in this publication. It does not serve as a summary of the other chapters, but this working paper explores the basis of the consumption problem. The paper “explores some of the weaknesses underlying the equation of ‘consumers’ sovereignty’ with welfare optimisation and the consumption driven market system which it supports” (p. 269). The consumption needs of the poor are not met because products cater to middle and upper income groups of developed countries. Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development is a collection of scholarly works on which the Human Development Report 1998 is based. This accomplishes what the earlier development papers publications have, which is to provide researchers access to the working or background papers for the Human Development Report. Notes 1. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987). Also known as the Brundtland Report.
Wendy Mann-Eliot Hillman Library University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA PII: S1352-0237(00)00167-2
Education Statistics of the United States Mark S. Littman and Deirdre A. Gaquin (Eds.); Bernan Press, Lanham, MD, 1999, 643 pages, ISBN 0-89059-066-4 (US$65.00) Librarians are often called on to help patrons find statistics about education. Some examples of education statistical questions that this reviewer has received include: • A father, dragging a son in each hand by the ear, stated that his two sons wanted to drop out of high school. Thus, he wanted some income statistics based on various levels of education attainment to show his sons what a big mistake they would be making. • A representative from a marketing firm sought to identify the counties in each state with the largest populations of students in grades K-12. • A graduate student wanted to develop a time line of college enrollment figures and match them against historical events such as the Vietnam War, the mid-1970s recession, etc.
407
line system, in some cases, being used. The Data library links to the “Directory of Canadian University Data Libraries and Archives.” A keyword searchable directory provides information on large data set collections available from government, academic and other sources. “Electronic Journals” provides links to departments or agencies that are producing their own newsletters or journals. Journals are listed alphabetically under their main title and indicate whether they are Canadian government produced or contain information about the Canadian government. Each link is annotated and usually includes information on subject content, publisher, whether or not the journal/newsletter is available in full text online, can be browsed or searched, and other relevant information. Only journals that are available at no charge have been included. The CGI Web page is a “must bookmark” for anyone who works with or has a need to know more about Canadian government information. The site is also useful for anyone wishing to gather information about Canada for tourism, relocation, jobs, or other personal interests. Everyone associated with this ongoing project has done an outstanding job in putting together a site that is useful and informative. The site is well organized, provides an incredible amount of information, and is easy to navigate. Daniel Barkley Government Information Department Zimmerman Library University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-1466, USA PII: S1352-0237(00)00166-0
Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development Human Development Report Office, The United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Publications, New York, 1998, 284 pages, paper, ISBN 92-1-126102-3 (US$14.95) In industrialized countries consumption is something confronted casually on a daily basis—consuming of food and natural resources, spending money on more and better things. How does this impact the rest of the world and particularly, developing countries? Why are resources unfairly accessible and distributed? What happens when industrialized nations have access to a plethora of goods and services, while developing countries do not? All of these questions are explored in Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998— Consumption for Human Development. This publication is a collection of seven papers used to compile the Human Development Report 1998. Each paper focuses on various aspects of consumption and how developing and developed countries are impacted. Both the background papers and the development report itself are published annually. Year to year, the human development report covers various themes. For instance, last year’s Human Development Report, as well as the background papers, targeted poverty. The Human Development Report 1998 provides a collection of statistical tables, figures, and narra-
408
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 391–429
tive covering human development and issues involving consumption. All of the statistics for the Human Development Report are available on several diskettes entitled Human Development Report: Statistical Databases. While the Human Development Report is intended more as a reference volume, the background papers used to create the report give more in-depth background to the information presented in the Human Development Report. The background papers provide access to the research, and are useful for providing the researcher with more in-depth details, background, theory and arguments than the Human Development Report. The background papers are certainly useful for the individual who needs to have a deeper understanding of human consumption issues. While the common theme in this year’s publication is consumption, the research included in this volume discusses consumption from a variety of perspectives. Issues range from economics to the environment to food. Statistical tables, charts, figures, definitions and appendices enhance almost all of the papers. Two background papers were particularly interesting. The first paper in the book, “The Knowledge Revolution: Its Impact on Consumption Patterns and Resource Use,” takes a look at the knowledge revolution and the growing service sectors in the economy and how they impact the use of natural resources. It discusses the uneven use of the world’s resources, over-consumption and over-extraction of natural resources, and how the growing knowledge sector will affect consumption patterns. Will the growing knowledge-sector decrease the need for natural resources? This is one of the ideas presented in this background paper. “Biodiversity, Consumption Patterns and Globalization” is the second paper that deserves highlighting. The author makes the point that “Biodiversity is thus intimately linked with cultural diversity in consumption patterns, since cultures evolve in dynamic interaction with nature’s endowment” (p. 230). The paper examines how the wide variety of plants is important to cultures and helps support poorer groups of people in developing countries. According to the author, people in developing countries are especially affected by the decreasing diversity of crops being grown worldwide. In addition to the two papers highlighted, other papers included in Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development are summarized below. “Food Security, Food Consumption Patterns and Human Development” discusses the unequal distribution of food and how access to it is important for development. It compares developed countries to developing countries and examines the problem of under-nutrition, and problems caused by lack of access to food or appropriate foods for proper nutrition. Mispricing and under-pricing of natural resources and products and their impact on consumption are presented in the chapter “Market Instruments and Consumption and Production Patterns.” The author looks at factors such as subsidies, regulations, and taxes that affect mispricing and under-pricing. “Income, Consumption and Human Development: Environmental Linkages” purports to show a relationship between per capita income and indicators of environmental quality. This relationship disproves the general perception of the causes of environmental degradation that was reported in the Brundtland Report1. The author proceeds to examine consumption and various measures of development and poverty and their relationship to environmental quality.
Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 391–429
409
“A Structural Critique of Consumption: Inequality, Globalization and the Aspirational Gap” states that, “Consumption not only reflects a structure of social inequality; it also reproduces it” (p. 217). As consumerism increases it causes the very poor to aspire to a standard of living that is increasingly higher and out of reach. This results in an increasing aspirational gap. Finally “Consumption, Globalization and Theory: Why There is a Need for Radical Reform” works well as the last paper in this publication. It does not serve as a summary of the other chapters, but this working paper explores the basis of the consumption problem. The paper “explores some of the weaknesses underlying the equation of ‘consumers’ sovereignty’ with welfare optimisation and the consumption driven market system which it supports” (p. 269). The consumption needs of the poor are not met because products cater to middle and upper income groups of developed countries. Background Papers: Human Development Report 1998—Consumption for Human Development is a collection of scholarly works on which the Human Development Report 1998 is based. This accomplishes what the earlier development papers publications have, which is to provide researchers access to the working or background papers for the Human Development Report. Notes 1. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987). Also known as the Brundtland Report.
Wendy Mann-Eliot Hillman Library University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA PII: S1352-0237(00)00167-2
Education Statistics of the United States Mark S. Littman and Deirdre A. Gaquin (Eds.); Bernan Press, Lanham, MD, 1999, 643 pages, ISBN 0-89059-066-4 (US$65.00) Librarians are often called on to help patrons find statistics about education. Some examples of education statistical questions that this reviewer has received include: • A father, dragging a son in each hand by the ear, stated that his two sons wanted to drop out of high school. Thus, he wanted some income statistics based on various levels of education attainment to show his sons what a big mistake they would be making. • A representative from a marketing firm sought to identify the counties in each state with the largest populations of students in grades K-12. • A graduate student wanted to develop a time line of college enrollment figures and match them against historical events such as the Vietnam War, the mid-1970s recession, etc.