Main description:

The new millennium is widely considered to be the age of globalisation, democratisation, and human rights. We live in a knowledge society and in a time of risk and uncertainty. It is the interplay of these key trends of the era that call for a fresh approach to quality of life studies to inform policy makers and development practitioners. This book addresses the key challenges life research that relate to the characteristics of the new millennium such as increased risks, rapid worldwide democratisation of societies, loss of bio- and cultural diversity, rapid erosion of natural resources and climate change, and global connectivity that accelerates the transmission of disease as well as knowledge.

Quality of life (QOL) research has made great strides since the social indicator movement started as a scientific enterprise in the 1960s. Researchers from many different scientific disciplines are now engaged in describing and evaluating the human condition in many different parts of the world. Although QOL researchers are better equipped both theoretically and practically than in the past, the new era poses new challenges for them. One such challenge relates to the very definition of the subject under study. The notion of the good life that has intrigued classical Greek is fluid and popular conceptions of the good life have shifted over time. The speed with which societies worldwide are changing in the new millennium is breathtaking. It is possible that the vision of the good life has shifted dramatically over the forty years since the social indicator movement began.

Democracy is currently the political system of choice in the new millennium or is at least considered the best possible system of governance invented to date. The emergent democracies in the Second and Third World have joined the ranks of the older democracies of the First World. One of the important roles of QOL researchers is to engage citizens in assessing their life circumstances relative to their own conception of the good life.

Quality of life studies play an important role in guiding social policy. In democracies citizens are able to hold their governments accountable for pursuing the policies and making the interventions that will make the greatest improvements for the greatest number. There are moral and political issues related to the proper role of governments in providing the good life and public goods. This volume addresses the issue of how governments should intervene to shape the good life for their citizens. This is a pertinent question for quality-of-life scholars in all corners of the earth in the new millennium.

Feature:

Takes a broad-angled view of challenges for quality of life in the millennium

Addresses both positive influences and negative threats to quality of life in the new millennium

Addresses issues that cut across the First and Third World divide

Is sympathetic to the important roles played by citizens, community-based organisations, and government in safeguarding quality of life in the new millennium

Back cover:

The new millennium is widely considered to be the age of globalisation, democratisation, and human rights. We live in a knowledge society and in a time of risk and uncertainty. World society is rapidly urbanising and ageing and exhausting its natural resources. It is the interplay of such key trends of the era that calls for a fresh approach to measuring quality of life. This collection of papers presents an innovative approach to evaluating living standards and wellbeing under the new circumstances facing individuals and societies in twenty-first century. Contributions cover a wide range of issues that impact positively and negatively on wellbeing in our age. While stability, trust, equal access to resources and the social integration of disadvantaged members of society enhance well-being, poverty, social exclusion, congestion in cities, HIV/AIDS and global warming pose threats to both modern and traditional lifestyles. Methodological refinements of conventional measurement tools are presented that take into consideration the rich diversity of lifestyles and values among different populations and regions of the world. This book will be essential reading for social scientists and ordinary citizens who are concerned about the future of human well-being on our planet.

Contents:

Acknowledgements. Introduction: Challenges for Quality of Life Studies in the New Millennium; Valerie Møller and Denis Huschka. Part 1: Learning from the past to inform the future. 1. South-Africa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow; John Kane-Berman. 2. Poverty and the quality of life: Learning from the South African research experience; Francis Wilson. 3. The importance of a mixed cash- and harvest herding based economy to living in the Arctic - an analysis on the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SliCA); Birger Poppel and Jack Kruse. Part 2: Refining concepts and measurement to assess cross-cultural quality of life. 4. The International Scale Interval Study: Improving the comparability of responses to survey questions about happiness; Ruut Veenhoven. 5. More than SF-36? Using narratives to elaborate health and well-being data in recent lower-limb amputees; Narelle Warren, Lenore Manderson and RoseAnne Misajon. 6. The spiritual dimension of 'quality of life', with special reference to education and spirituality; Martin Valenkamp and Johannes L. van der Walt. Part 3: Addressing the role of stability and change in the new millennium. 7. The impact of instability on subjective well-being: a cross-national study; Ming-Chang Tsai. 8. Stability and change in national and personal wellbeing in Algeria: a case study of a developing country in transition; Habib Tiliouine. 9. 'All that glitters is not gold': Johannesburg and migrant access to social services; Rodreck Mupedziswa. Part 4: Exploring the role of good governance for a better quality of life. 10. Trust and life satisfaction in Eastern and Western Europe; Georg P. Mueller. 11. Quality of life in cities: A question of mobility and accessibility; Giampaolo Nuvolati. 12. The main determinants forsubjective well-being: a quest for the Holy Grail? Can governments enhance the perceived quality of life?; Dries Verlet and Carl Devos. Part 5: Health care - a major challenge in the new millennium. 13. On HIV/AIDS and depression; Kevin Kelly. 14. Universal coverage but unequal access? Experiences of health care in Northeast and South Thailand; Laura Camfield. 15. Prospects for community-based rehabilitation in the new millennium; Harry Finkenflügel.