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The integration of children with migrant background in the UK schools and society is currently hindered by a mix of reasons. They include a ‘hostile environment’ and a regression of rights in recent years, a decade of austerity that has severely reduced the support schools and other educational players can offer and the lack of an explicit and overarching integration policy. This article draws on interviews undertaken with members of the educational community and fieldwork conducted in five UK primary and secondary schools, using the social anchoring approach to unpack the manifold ways in which different communities develop ‘anchors’ to mitigate the impact of these limitations. The alternative arrangements consist of parallel curricula offered by supplementary and faith schools, initiatives bridging inter-cultural gaps through music and poetry, charities producing guides and certifications reflecting the inclusiveness of schools, and educational tools within schools in the form of multilingual displays, online platforms for learning English and music, history and religious studies classes which are challenging the mainstream curriculum. The article concludes by discussing the extent to which such diversity of approaches values the cultural heritage of migrant children and successfully complements the existing curricula to work as effective social and emotional anchors for migrant children to improve their social, emotional, and behavioural wellbeing, and key for overall academic attainment and success

This article analyses attitudes to domestic violence against women (DVAW) among Libyan migrants in the north of England; this is the first such study of Libyan migrants. One hundred seventy-five (175) respondents were interviewed in a questionnaire survey and 20 in semi-structured interviews. Migrant status has been identified as an important marker or precarity; gendered and racialised experiences deepen structural forms of insecurity. The research explored the impact of migration on participants’ attitudes to DVAW. The concepts of gender regime and gender order, additionally, help to provide a framework for understanding of the multifaceted nature of unequal gender relations within Libyan Arab communities. The study found that gender and educational level were the most important variables associated with views about DVAW within the sample, whereas length of stay in the UK was not statistically associated with attitudes towards domestic violence. The article explores reasons for relative continuity in beliefs about DVAW in the context of the insecurities of migration. Despite continuities, shifts and changes are taking place within many women’s lives.

© 2018 Shoba Arun. The Indian state of Kerala has invoked much attention within development and gender debates, specifically in relation to its female capital- an outcome of interrelated historical, cultural and social practices. On the one hand, Kerala has been romanticised, with its citizenry, particularly women, being free of social divisions and uplifted through educational well-being. On the other hand, its realism is stark, particularly in the light of recent social changes. Using a Bourdieusian frame of analysis, Development and Gender Capital in India explores the forces of globalisation and how they are embedded within power structures. Through narratives of women’s lived experiences in the private and public domains, it highlights the ‘anomie of gender’ through complexities and contradictions vis-à-vis processes of modernity, development and globalisation. By demonstrating the limits placed upon gender capital by structures of patriarchy and domination, it argues that discussions about the empowered Malayalee women should move from a mere ‘politics of rhetoric and representation’ to a more embedded ‘politics of transformation’, meaningfully taking into account women’s changing roles and identities. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Development Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology and Sociology.

The article sheds light on the mediating role of social networks on consumption behaviour, a significant facet of social mobility and well-being. Based on the Indian Human Development Survey, the article explores to what extent households across India participating in social networks have increased their consumption levels. While participation in formal social networks does result in improved household consumption levels, the type and number of networks are pivotal to this change. Nevertheless, not all networks lead to similar effects, although the number of social networks per se has a positive effect on consumption. Furthermore, the networks based on homogeneous groups, such as women’s self-help groups, have a negative or lesser effect on smoothing consumption, while those affiliated with heterogeneous networks have a positive effect on increasing consumption.

This paper emphasizes bequest motives by evaluating participation patterns in micro life insurance against insurance demand and supply side factors. Based on household survey data from Sri Lanka, it presents evidence on the determinants of micro life insurance participation of low-income households, using probit and tobit models. The results provide evidence that micro life insurance is positively correlated with measures of bequest motives such as the number of children or dependents. Besides, better off households are less excluded from micro life insurance markets than their poorer counterparts. The study finds a convincing need for the microinsurance sector to be more responsive to the needs of the poor, with a key role in providing financial education to understand the need for microinsurance.

This article explores to what extent decentralized structures can contribute to asset accumulation among disadvantaged groups, and improving livelihood choices. The process of asset accumulation is tied to the wider context of participatory institutions and opportunities within which social actors can transform assets into meaningful livelihood outcomes. Given its level of social development and civil society in the Indian state of Kerala, the Kudumbashree Initiative, an innovative community-based, decentralized participatory structure aims to build meaningful forms of assets at grassroots levels. Such participatory public action, based on social relationships as well as the combined efforts of the state and grassroots community organizations may provide valuable lessons for developing asset accumulation strategies.