The World Summit for Social Development in 1995 laid out an ambitious agenda to create an economic, political, social, cultural and legal environment for social development. Visible Hands provides a comprehensive and incisive analysis of the progress to date, exploring efforts to reassert the value of equity and social cohesion in an increasingly individualistic world. It reveals the failings of unregulated markets and the importance of a well-run public sector, as well as a healthy, educated and well-informed public. It shows how the “visible hands” of public participation and democratic governance are crucial in creating a decent society.

The UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is an autonomous multidisciplinary research agency on the social dimensions of problems affecting development.

Globalization with a Human Mask
Who Pays? Financing Social Development
Fragile Democracies
A New Mission for the Public Sector
Calling Corporations to Account
Civil Societies
Getting Development Right for Women
Sustaining Development
Bibliography
Index