Global trends suggest that the number of people involuntarily displaced will increase exponentially in the coming decades. The authors argue that when the agency, time-tested adaptations, innovative capacities, dignity, and human rights of displaced people are respected as full participants in the rebuilding of their communities, livelihoods and standards of living, resettlement outcomes are more positive. The goal of resettlement must be the sustainable social, economic and human development of affected communities, requiring a praxis of ethical commitment to effective, actionable recommendations based on empirical observation. The authors draw on case examples from Asia, Africa and the Americas. This book will be of interest to resettlement specialists, planners, administrators, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, and scholars and students of anthropology, sociology, development studies, and social policy.

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Authors Partridge and Halmo are uniquely qualified to explicate the 'resettlement with development' of involuntarily displaced persons. Both are anthropologists, which informs how they approach the topic of how to socially and economically address the millions of people displaced annually by urban development, infrastructure projects, disasters and climate change, and global financial and political crises. There are multiple examples of lessons learned through resettlement, both positive and negative. Further, the authors make a strong case for how and why a holistic perspective, founded in a deep understanding of the structure and function of displaced communities, is essential to inform the resettlement process and the engagement of affected communities. They focus on solution-driven initiatives and the pervasive theme that resettled people as a community must be granted unassailable freedom of choice. The information presented is dense, but the story is well articulated and approachable. There is an essential glossary of acronyms at the front of the volume with cited references and a substantive index at the end. Highly recommended.