Journal of International Development
November 2014 Volume 26, Issue 8 Pages 1097–1196
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.v26.8/issuetoc
Special Issue: Policy Arena: Papers from DSA Conference, University of Birmingham, November 2013

Research Article
HOW IS DISASTER AID ALLOCATED WITHIN POOR COMMUNITIES? RISK SHARING AND SOCIAL HIERARCHY
Yoshito Takasaki*
Article first published online: 7 JAN 2014
DOI: 10.1002/jid.2985
Abstract
How disaster aid is allocated within poor communities is little understood. Using original post-disaster survey data in rural Fiji that capture household-level traditional kin status, cyclone damage and aid allocations over post-disaster phases, this paper demonstrates that allocations are driven by informal risk-sharing institutions and social hierarchies. On one hand, in response to a disaster with moderate severity, private risk sharing can strongly make up limited aid, making targeting aid on damage appear weak as a result. On the other hand, local elites can dominate not only aid allocation for given damage but also the targeting on damage

Research Article
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AS A DEVELOPMENT GOAL: TAKING A FEMINIST STANDPOINT
Sarah Mosedale*
Article first published online: 18 OCT 2014
DOI: 10.1002/jid.3050
Abstract
In this paper, through a case study of a large international non-governmental organisation, I identify a number of contradictions and tensions that arise when development agencies attempt to foster ‘women’s empowerment’. Despite their presentation as apolitical, agencies are inescapably involved in relations of power, and their lack of attention to this is not accidental. In such cases, ‘empowerment’ risks becoming a signifier of righteousness—part of the process of mystification of dominant group interests. The paper discusses how developing a feminist standpoint could help avoid such mystification. However, such a process is one which cannot be prescribed but must be freely chosen.

DSA Conference 2013 Special Issue
WHO WANTS TO GIVE FOREVER? GIVING MEANING TO SUSTAINABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT
Ben Taylor*
Article first published online: 5 NOV 2014
DOI: 10.1002/jid.3033
Abstract
This paper argues strongly in favour of a re-examination of the term ‘sustainability’ in international development research, policy and practice. It demonstrates that the term is understood pluralistically, being both environmental and economic. Within economic interpretations, this paper identifies three clear understandings of ‘sustainability’, which effect programme design and, ultimately, their impact on poverty significantly. The paper argues that the ramifications of this definition go far beyond semantics and have a significant impact on the development outcomes realised by programmes that incorporate the term. Having evaluated these conceptions, the paper argues for sustainability in development as being interventions that alter the causes of poverty so that the process through which change occurs is improved in an adaptive and permanent way, a permanent increase in adaptability. Evidence is drawn from a review of the literature and policy documentation.