Although the book is quite comprehensive, some of the
more important recent developments could have been given
more attention. Ironically, perhaps, the volume may over emphasize
economic productivity and put too little focus on the
social and community aspects of development. Social integration,
identified by the 1995 World Summit as one of the 3
pillars of social development, is largely ignored and does not
even appear as a term in the index. There is also relatively little
attention to environment and sustainability, a theme that will
feature centrally in the United Nations Post-2015 agenda.
Overall, however, this is an important book that adds significantly
to social development theory and practice. It provides
excellent background for rethinking social development,
the priority theme for the United Nations Commission for
Social Development 2015-2016. James Midgley has once again
enriched the social development knowledge base and produced
a book that is a “must read” for scholars, students and
practitioners in the field of development.