The School of Human Development (SHD) at IIHS focuses on questions of social transformation. The SHD reflects on social transformation as a set of processes that are rooted in and address:
(a) inequality in social status and substantive rights based on identity;
(b) the absence of material and economic dignity for the urban majority; and
(c) inequities in political presence, recognition and participation.
In defining human development as social transformation, the SHD makes several departures from other articulations of this field. It emphasises inequality, rather than just multidimensional poverty or human capabilities, as well as a more relational and structural view of what produces and sustains vulnerability.
It takes social inequality, based on caste, gender, religion, ethnicity, tribe, or sexuality, as seriously as economic inequality, as the latter often follows the former. It argues that the task of human development is not just the critical provision of basic needs and capabilities, but also to value equally substantial citizenship, political agency, and freedom, as well as fraternity, solidarity, and belonging.
In the IIHS (Institution Deemed to be) University, the School will anchor the upcoming Master’s in Human Development Policy and Practice (MHDPP) programme, and currently supports the Doctoral Programme.