This book examines human development in times of crisis, and its effect on social justice and democracy, with a focus on the delay in developmental progress caused by the ‘Great Recession’, the worst economic crisis in decades. The book places particular focus on policies of human development. It scrutinizes the philosophical foundations of human development while at the same time analyzing the underlying social, economic and institutional backgrounds which are conductive or limiting with respect of the task of politics of human development in times of crisis. Against this background, the project is concerned with the value added of applying the capabilities approach in order to assess the state and the policies of human development. This book connects demands for programmatic conceptions and social analyses in order to assess the opportunities for more capability-enhancing projects and public policies that aim to help counter the developmental setbacks from the economic crisis, and toenhance the quality of society and social justice.

“This is an interesting collection of essays that well reflects the multidisciplinarity of CA scholarship: the list of authors includes contributors from across the Social and Political Sciences, including Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, Development Studies, Education Studies, Social Policy, Political Economy, and Childhood Studies. This, along with the combination of empirical and conceptual pieces, means that there is something for everyone in this book.” (Annie Austin, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Vol. 19 (3), 2018)

Hans-Uwe Otto is Professor of Educational Science at Bielefeld University, Germany, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and Director of the Bielefeld Centre for Education and Capability Research, Germany. 
Spyros Pantazis is Professor Emeritus of the University of Ioannina, Greece. He was scientific director for academic upgrading programs and vocational training for Greece and Albania. He is Project Manager for VERSO - Volunteers for European Employment project.
Holger Ziegler is Professor of Social Work at the Faculty of Educational Science and a Member of the Bielefeld Centre for Education and Capability Research. He has run several international 'Social Work & Society' Academy - TiSSA conferences.
Antoanneta Potsi is Research Fellow at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. She sits on the Executive Committee of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) and was Conference Manager of the 2014 HDCA Conference.