What are Human Development Studies?

Human development studies comprises scholarly efforts to understand conditions that affect human welfare, including economic growth and development, the political and social determinants of the distribution of wealth and opportunity, politics and public policy, human rights, and human dignity.

The approach grows out of dissatisfaction with the practice of measuring progress towards ameliorating poverty only in terms of a per capita rise in national GDP—a practice which often fails to capture the quality of life of the very poor.  The more holistic approach permits the inclusion of a wide range of indicators that give a much truer picture of human welfare:  infant mortality, maternal health, literacy levels, life expectancy.  But it goes beyond statistics to focus on people’s capabilities and choices.

As Mahbub ul Haq, who with Amartya Sen developed the UN’s Human Development Index in 1990, wrote:

"The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities. The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives."