Synopsis The volumes Development Studies cover an extensive range of critical areas that have one common theme of questioning the accepted parameters of development. An attempt has been made to accommodate conflicting points of view that would facilitate the readers to arrive at their own understanding of the problem under focus of study. Contributors to the volumes have tried to argue the different choices of development that are necessarily context-bound and issue-driven in approach. Choices entail alternatives from among a range of viable options that tend to determine and influence development paradigms--from the role of the state in an increasingly borderless world--to use of information communication technology to represent local knowledge. Other key development issues taken up include developing a unified framework for understanding the depth and duration of poverty; John Stuart Mill's idea of progress; Amartya Sen's capability approach; Gandhian values for social transformation; globalization and urban governance; and effectiveness of public distribution system as a food security measure. The volumes will be of interest to social and natural scientists, civil servants, policymakers, environmentalists, economists, ecologists, civil society organizations, think tanks, non-government organizations and development consultants.