Viviana Ramírez | Universidad de las Américas - Puebla (original) (raw)
Book Chapters by Viviana Ramírez
in Nebel, M., Garza-Vázquez, O., and Sedmak, C. (eds.), 'A Common Good Approach to Development: Collective Dynamics of Development Processes', Open Book Publishers: Cambridge, 2022
Chapter 3 presents a metric and indicators proposed to capture the quality of the common good dyn... more Chapter 3 presents a metric and indicators proposed to capture the quality of the common good dynamic at the municipal level. The chapter reflects on the challenges, and lessons, of translating the theoretical framework into a practical instrument of measurement in order to guide policy efforts. Oscar Garza-Vázquez and Viviana Ramirez begin by discussing the importance of developing a metric to operationalise a common good approach and how such a metric may contribute to development practice. They argue that this metric adds insight to development practice by making visible and tangible two factors that have been neglected in traditional measures of development: (a) the socio-structural aspect of development and (b) the relational dynamic processes underlying social change. They then present and discuss each of the dimensions and indicators used to bring to life the matrix of the common good dynamic presented in Chapter 2. They conclude by pointing out future challenges if the metric is used to guide policy and decision-making at the local level.
Garza-Vázquez, O. y Ramírez, V. (2018). Los programas de transferencias condicionadas y su contri... more Garza-Vázquez, O. y Ramírez, V. (2018). Los programas de transferencias condicionadas y su contribución al desarrollo humano. En S. Deneulin, J. Clausen y A. Valencia (eds). Introducción al enfoque de las capacidades: Aportes para el desarrollo humano en América Latina. Editorial Manantial/PUCP.
White and Ramirez present data from Chiawa, Zambia, where men and women villagers were subjects b... more White and Ramirez present data from Chiawa, Zambia, where men and women villagers were subjects both of a predominantly quantitative survey and of more in-depth, life history interviews. The research as a whole took a comprehensive approach to wellbeing, looking across a range of factors such as health and educational status and provision, livelihoods, and subjective dimensions of wellbeing. The concept of wellbeing used was relational. In this case two very different approaches of statistical and discourse analysis reinforce each other. Together they suggest the need for adjustment in the account of wellbeing, from the psychological subject generally assumed by much wellbeing research, to one that gives greater weight to the economic dimensions of subjectivity.
Esta publicación es parte de un libro editado que fue el resultado del proyecto "Cambio social y... more Esta publicación es parte de un libro editado que fue el resultado del proyecto "Cambio social y cooperación en el siglo XXI" organizado por la Universitat de Barcelona, Icária Editorial y la Fundación Educo en 2014. El capítulo analiza diversos enfoques del bienestar y la forma en la que incluyen a las relaciones humanas como un componente o determinante central, así como sus implicaciones para el diseño, implementación y evaluación de las políticas públicas.
Online Contributions by Viviana Ramírez
Happy Country, Happy Government: How Useful are International Happiness Rankings?
Books by Viviana Ramírez
Palgrave Macmillan, 2021
This book provides key insights into the nature of officer–recipient relationships and shows how ... more This book provides key insights into the nature of officer–recipient relationships and shows how they have non-negligible impacts on the way recipients feel and think about themselves and their lives using mixed methods and subjective and psychosocial well-being approaches. The importance of placing well-being at the heart of policy is widely accepted. Yet, it is far less clear how this can be translated into practice. Discussion has tended to focus on the outcomes of policy and particularly on the metrics to assess well-being. While these are important debates, they can obscure an equally vital dimension: the processes of policies and the effect that implementation can have on the experiences – and ultimately well-being outcomes – of the recipients. This is the subject matter of this book. By taking the world-renowned case of the Oportunidades-Prospera conditional cash transfer programme in Mexico, it provides an in-depth account of interactions between officers and recipients and how these influenced programme delivery and well-being outcomes. It particularly scrutinizes the implementation of the health conditionalities of Oportunidades-Prospera by physicians working in the health clinics of rural and indigenous localities.
La historia del Desarrollo desde mediados del siglo pasado muestra diversas alternativas de mayor... more La historia del Desarrollo desde mediados del siglo pasado muestra diversas alternativas de mayor o menor calado que se enfrentan a la comprensión estrecha y economicista del desarrollo entendido como crecimiento económico. En los últimos veinte años han surgido, en ese espacio alternativo, diversos enfoques entre los cuales encontramos los que entienden el Desarrollo como Bienestar.
Esta publicación, que explora las diferentes dimensiones del bienestar, significa para Educo un preludio al I Congreso Internacional de la organización que, bajo el título de El bienestar de la Infancia y sus derechos. La protección infantil a debate, se celebra en Madrid entre el 22 y 24 de octubre de 2015.
A su vez, se trata del cierre de un proceso de reflexión para la acción estratégica en el que se embarcaron, este último quinquenio, la Universitat de Barcelona, Icária Editorial y la Fundación Educo, conformando el proyecto Cambio social y cooperación en el siglo XXI. Los autores que participan en esta publicación que hoy presentamos han participado en dicho proyecto junto a otros profesionales de la cooperación internacional, el desarrollo y la transformación social.
El coordinador de estudios de la Fundación Educo, Gonzalo de Castro, presenta a modo de introducción a la temática general un artículo que da nombre a la publicación. Así, ‘El bienestar, una conversación actual de la humanidad’ presenta la consolidación de distintos enfoques de Bienestar Humano en el campo de los estudios y prácticas del Desarrollo. Esta publicación, permite una introducción a este campo del conocimiento y prácticas que se ha asentado en evidencias y metodologías que nos acercan a una concepción más amplia, más comprensiva y multidimensional del desarrollo.
De Castro, G. (2015) El bienestar, una conversación actual de la humanidad. Col. ‘Cambio Social y Cooperación en el siglo XXI (Vol. 4)’ ISBN: 978-84-9888-695-5. Ed. Icaria Editorial, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundación Educo. Barcelona, 2015.
Papers by Viviana Ramírez
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
Policy & Politics
The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019.... more The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019. CCTs seek to fight poverty under a social investment logic by promoting the formation of human capital through the compliance of behavioural conditionalities. The programme – the first of its kind introduced at national level – accomplished several achievements and was maintained and developed by three successive federal administrations. As the backbone of anti-poverty policy for more than two decades, its achievements included delivering positive results to a significant proportion of the population; and triggering the expansion of social policy beyond social insurance. As a result, it was emulated by governments across the globe. A programme of these characteristics would have been expected to generate path dependency and policy stability, yet it was swiftly terminated with practically no opposition. This article applies a framework of historical institutionalism to analyse the feedba...
A Common Good Approach to Development
We provide a brief description of each of these dimensions below, along with the items proposed t... more We provide a brief description of each of these dimensions below, along with the items proposed to measure each dimension.
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
This dissertation explores the role of relationships with front-line officers on the subjective w... more This dissertation explores the role of relationships with front-line officers on the subjective wellbeing of the recipients of the conditional cash transfer programme in Mexico, Oportunidades-Prospera. To do so, it builds bridges between the literatures on wellbeing, development and public policy. In recent decades, wellbeing has acquired greater significance in public policy with the interest of changing the conceptualization of progress from one driven by economic growth to one which takes quality of life as its ultimate aim. Much attention has been placed on measuring wellbeing for national policy deliberation. This dissertation, instead, is interested in understanding how taking a wellbeing approach may contribute to street-level development: to the design, practice and implementation of social policies and programmes. The value of wellbeing is that it draws attention to dimensions of experience that policy has tended to under-estimate or ignore. In this respect, one of the most...
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2020
Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of... more Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of the social, economic and political life in Mexico. Using the common good metric developed by the Institute for the Promotion of the Common Good (IPBC) for this purpose, we apply 450 surveys to evaluate the common good dynamics in the municipality of Atlixco, Puebla. With the use of a stratified sample, we show that social dynamics in the municipality are fragile in five dimensions (collective agency freedom, governance, justice, stability, and humanity), meaning that social order is fragile as well. We also show that collective life outside the municipal seat presents more healthy levels of social dynamics despite their lower performance in other indicators of development.
Social Policy and Society, 2020
This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidade... more This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidades-Prospera, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) in Mexico. Like other CCTs, Oportunidades-Prospera provided monetary transfers to families with the requirement of following certain conditions, including receiving preventive healthcare and workshops. This produced constant and compulsory physician-recipient interactions. This article examines these through observations of programme delivery and interviews with physicians at health centres of two localities of Puebla. The results show that officers’ strategies of implementation and attitudes towards recipients were influenced by the programme’s use of health services as conditionalities, promoting a relationship of authority and obedience. This, however, was exacerbated by the officer’s job position. Those with a permanent contract systematically fostered authoritarian interactions compared to officers with temporary contracts. Ultimately, t...
Social Policy and Society, 2016
This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transf... more This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes using a wellbeing lens. Most CCTs influence people's lives in overarching terms, including income, health and education. Their implementation process, however, also places policy participants in new and constant interactions with the front-line officers that implement the programmes. Wellbeing scholarship brings to our attention the centrality of social relationships in people's lives. This literature widely agrees that the quality of our relationships with others is possibly the most essential element of a good life. Therefore, given the recent entrance of wellbeing to the realm of policy, an exploration of the relationships created in policy contexts using a wellbeing lens is a necessary next step. This article examines this in the context of the Oportunidades/Prospera programme in Mexico, one of the most successfully regarded CCTs in Latin America. It prese...
Cultures of Wellbeing, 2016
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2020
In recent years, the international development agenda gave centre stage to the need of measuring ... more In recent years, the international development agenda gave centre stage to the need of measuring the multidimensionality of progress and quality of life. This trend led to the creation of a variety of metrics. The present article discusses a new metric which adopts a common good approach to development. It has the purpose of moving beyond individual measures and capture collective aspects of development. The metric of common good proposed by the Institute for the Promotion of the Common Good (IPBC) aims at empirically capturing social processes framed by (or generated by) five normative dimensions (Justice, Stability, Governance, Collective Agency Freedom, and Humanity), which together account for the quality of a nexus of common goods. This article explains the metric and its indicators, and critically discusses its contributions and future challenges.
in Nebel, M., Garza-Vázquez, O., and Sedmak, C. (eds.), 'A Common Good Approach to Development: Collective Dynamics of Development Processes', Open Book Publishers: Cambridge, 2022
Chapter 3 presents a metric and indicators proposed to capture the quality of the common good dyn... more Chapter 3 presents a metric and indicators proposed to capture the quality of the common good dynamic at the municipal level. The chapter reflects on the challenges, and lessons, of translating the theoretical framework into a practical instrument of measurement in order to guide policy efforts. Oscar Garza-Vázquez and Viviana Ramirez begin by discussing the importance of developing a metric to operationalise a common good approach and how such a metric may contribute to development practice. They argue that this metric adds insight to development practice by making visible and tangible two factors that have been neglected in traditional measures of development: (a) the socio-structural aspect of development and (b) the relational dynamic processes underlying social change. They then present and discuss each of the dimensions and indicators used to bring to life the matrix of the common good dynamic presented in Chapter 2. They conclude by pointing out future challenges if the metric is used to guide policy and decision-making at the local level.
Garza-Vázquez, O. y Ramírez, V. (2018). Los programas de transferencias condicionadas y su contri... more Garza-Vázquez, O. y Ramírez, V. (2018). Los programas de transferencias condicionadas y su contribución al desarrollo humano. En S. Deneulin, J. Clausen y A. Valencia (eds). Introducción al enfoque de las capacidades: Aportes para el desarrollo humano en América Latina. Editorial Manantial/PUCP.
White and Ramirez present data from Chiawa, Zambia, where men and women villagers were subjects b... more White and Ramirez present data from Chiawa, Zambia, where men and women villagers were subjects both of a predominantly quantitative survey and of more in-depth, life history interviews. The research as a whole took a comprehensive approach to wellbeing, looking across a range of factors such as health and educational status and provision, livelihoods, and subjective dimensions of wellbeing. The concept of wellbeing used was relational. In this case two very different approaches of statistical and discourse analysis reinforce each other. Together they suggest the need for adjustment in the account of wellbeing, from the psychological subject generally assumed by much wellbeing research, to one that gives greater weight to the economic dimensions of subjectivity.
Esta publicación es parte de un libro editado que fue el resultado del proyecto "Cambio social y... more Esta publicación es parte de un libro editado que fue el resultado del proyecto "Cambio social y cooperación en el siglo XXI" organizado por la Universitat de Barcelona, Icária Editorial y la Fundación Educo en 2014. El capítulo analiza diversos enfoques del bienestar y la forma en la que incluyen a las relaciones humanas como un componente o determinante central, así como sus implicaciones para el diseño, implementación y evaluación de las políticas públicas.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2021
This book provides key insights into the nature of officer–recipient relationships and shows how ... more This book provides key insights into the nature of officer–recipient relationships and shows how they have non-negligible impacts on the way recipients feel and think about themselves and their lives using mixed methods and subjective and psychosocial well-being approaches. The importance of placing well-being at the heart of policy is widely accepted. Yet, it is far less clear how this can be translated into practice. Discussion has tended to focus on the outcomes of policy and particularly on the metrics to assess well-being. While these are important debates, they can obscure an equally vital dimension: the processes of policies and the effect that implementation can have on the experiences – and ultimately well-being outcomes – of the recipients. This is the subject matter of this book. By taking the world-renowned case of the Oportunidades-Prospera conditional cash transfer programme in Mexico, it provides an in-depth account of interactions between officers and recipients and how these influenced programme delivery and well-being outcomes. It particularly scrutinizes the implementation of the health conditionalities of Oportunidades-Prospera by physicians working in the health clinics of rural and indigenous localities.
La historia del Desarrollo desde mediados del siglo pasado muestra diversas alternativas de mayor... more La historia del Desarrollo desde mediados del siglo pasado muestra diversas alternativas de mayor o menor calado que se enfrentan a la comprensión estrecha y economicista del desarrollo entendido como crecimiento económico. En los últimos veinte años han surgido, en ese espacio alternativo, diversos enfoques entre los cuales encontramos los que entienden el Desarrollo como Bienestar.
Esta publicación, que explora las diferentes dimensiones del bienestar, significa para Educo un preludio al I Congreso Internacional de la organización que, bajo el título de El bienestar de la Infancia y sus derechos. La protección infantil a debate, se celebra en Madrid entre el 22 y 24 de octubre de 2015.
A su vez, se trata del cierre de un proceso de reflexión para la acción estratégica en el que se embarcaron, este último quinquenio, la Universitat de Barcelona, Icária Editorial y la Fundación Educo, conformando el proyecto Cambio social y cooperación en el siglo XXI. Los autores que participan en esta publicación que hoy presentamos han participado en dicho proyecto junto a otros profesionales de la cooperación internacional, el desarrollo y la transformación social.
El coordinador de estudios de la Fundación Educo, Gonzalo de Castro, presenta a modo de introducción a la temática general un artículo que da nombre a la publicación. Así, ‘El bienestar, una conversación actual de la humanidad’ presenta la consolidación de distintos enfoques de Bienestar Humano en el campo de los estudios y prácticas del Desarrollo. Esta publicación, permite una introducción a este campo del conocimiento y prácticas que se ha asentado en evidencias y metodologías que nos acercan a una concepción más amplia, más comprensiva y multidimensional del desarrollo.
De Castro, G. (2015) El bienestar, una conversación actual de la humanidad. Col. ‘Cambio Social y Cooperación en el siglo XXI (Vol. 4)’ ISBN: 978-84-9888-695-5. Ed. Icaria Editorial, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundación Educo. Barcelona, 2015.
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
Policy & Politics
The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019.... more The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019. CCTs seek to fight poverty under a social investment logic by promoting the formation of human capital through the compliance of behavioural conditionalities. The programme – the first of its kind introduced at national level – accomplished several achievements and was maintained and developed by three successive federal administrations. As the backbone of anti-poverty policy for more than two decades, its achievements included delivering positive results to a significant proportion of the population; and triggering the expansion of social policy beyond social insurance. As a result, it was emulated by governments across the globe. A programme of these characteristics would have been expected to generate path dependency and policy stability, yet it was swiftly terminated with practically no opposition. This article applies a framework of historical institutionalism to analyse the feedba...
A Common Good Approach to Development
We provide a brief description of each of these dimensions below, along with the items proposed t... more We provide a brief description of each of these dimensions below, along with the items proposed to measure each dimension.
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
This dissertation explores the role of relationships with front-line officers on the subjective w... more This dissertation explores the role of relationships with front-line officers on the subjective wellbeing of the recipients of the conditional cash transfer programme in Mexico, Oportunidades-Prospera. To do so, it builds bridges between the literatures on wellbeing, development and public policy. In recent decades, wellbeing has acquired greater significance in public policy with the interest of changing the conceptualization of progress from one driven by economic growth to one which takes quality of life as its ultimate aim. Much attention has been placed on measuring wellbeing for national policy deliberation. This dissertation, instead, is interested in understanding how taking a wellbeing approach may contribute to street-level development: to the design, practice and implementation of social policies and programmes. The value of wellbeing is that it draws attention to dimensions of experience that policy has tended to under-estimate or ignore. In this respect, one of the most...
Relational Well-Being in Policy Implementation in Mexico, 2021
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2020
Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of... more Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of the social, economic and political life in Mexico. Using the common good metric developed by the Institute for the Promotion of the Common Good (IPBC) for this purpose, we apply 450 surveys to evaluate the common good dynamics in the municipality of Atlixco, Puebla. With the use of a stratified sample, we show that social dynamics in the municipality are fragile in five dimensions (collective agency freedom, governance, justice, stability, and humanity), meaning that social order is fragile as well. We also show that collective life outside the municipal seat presents more healthy levels of social dynamics despite their lower performance in other indicators of development.
Social Policy and Society, 2020
This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidade... more This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidades-Prospera, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) in Mexico. Like other CCTs, Oportunidades-Prospera provided monetary transfers to families with the requirement of following certain conditions, including receiving preventive healthcare and workshops. This produced constant and compulsory physician-recipient interactions. This article examines these through observations of programme delivery and interviews with physicians at health centres of two localities of Puebla. The results show that officers’ strategies of implementation and attitudes towards recipients were influenced by the programme’s use of health services as conditionalities, promoting a relationship of authority and obedience. This, however, was exacerbated by the officer’s job position. Those with a permanent contract systematically fostered authoritarian interactions compared to officers with temporary contracts. Ultimately, t...
Social Policy and Society, 2016
This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transf... more This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes using a wellbeing lens. Most CCTs influence people's lives in overarching terms, including income, health and education. Their implementation process, however, also places policy participants in new and constant interactions with the front-line officers that implement the programmes. Wellbeing scholarship brings to our attention the centrality of social relationships in people's lives. This literature widely agrees that the quality of our relationships with others is possibly the most essential element of a good life. Therefore, given the recent entrance of wellbeing to the realm of policy, an exploration of the relationships created in policy contexts using a wellbeing lens is a necessary next step. This article examines this in the context of the Oportunidades/Prospera programme in Mexico, one of the most successfully regarded CCTs in Latin America. It prese...
Cultures of Wellbeing, 2016
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2020
In recent years, the international development agenda gave centre stage to the need of measuring ... more In recent years, the international development agenda gave centre stage to the need of measuring the multidimensionality of progress and quality of life. This trend led to the creation of a variety of metrics. The present article discusses a new metric which adopts a common good approach to development. It has the purpose of moving beyond individual measures and capture collective aspects of development. The metric of common good proposed by the Institute for the Promotion of the Common Good (IPBC) aims at empirically capturing social processes framed by (or generated by) five normative dimensions (Justice, Stability, Governance, Collective Agency Freedom, and Humanity), which together account for the quality of a nexus of common goods. This article explains the metric and its indicators, and critically discusses its contributions and future challenges.
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2020
Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of... more Studying common good dynamics at the municipal level in Mexico provides a direct understanding of the social, economic and political life in Mexico. Using the common good metric developed by the Institute for the Promotion of the Common Good (IPBC) for this purpose, we apply 450 surveys to evaluate the common good dynamics in the municipality of Atlixco, Puebla. With the use of a stratified sample, we show that social dynamics in the municipality are fragile in five dimensions (collective agency freedom, governance, justice, stability, and humanity), meaning that social order is fragile as well. We also show that collective life outside the municipal seat presents more healthy levels of social dynamics despite their lower performance in other indicators of development.
Social Policy and Society, 2020
This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidade... more This article explores interactions between the front-line officers and recipients of Oportunidades-Prospera, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) in Mexico. Like other CCTs, Oportunidades-Prospera provided monetary transfers to families with the requirement of following certain conditions, including receiving preventive healthcare and workshops. This produced constant and compulsory physician-recipient interactions. This article examines these through observations of programme delivery and interviews with physicians at health centres of two localities of Puebla. The results show that officers’ strategies of implementation and attitudes towards recipients were influenced by the programme’s use of health services as conditionalities, promoting a relationship of authority and obedience. This, however, was exacerbated by the officer’s job position. Those with a permanent contract systematically fostered authoritarian interactions compared to officers with temporary contracts. Ultimately, this study reveals factors that influence officer-recipient relationships in CCTs and their centrality for programme delivery and for the success of social policies more broadly.
Social Policy and Society, 2016
This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transf... more This article explores the social relationships created in the delivery of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes using a wellbeing lens. Most CCTs influence people’s lives in overarching terms, including income, health and education. Their implementation process, however, also places policy participants in new and constant interactions with the front-line officers that implement the programmes. Wellbeing scholarship brings to our attention the centrality of social relationships in people’s lives. This literature widely agrees that the quality of our relationships with others is possibly the most essential element of a good life. Therefore, given the recent entrance of wellbeing to the realm of policy, an exploration of the relationships created in policy contexts using a wellbeing lens is a necessary next step. This article examines this in the context of the Oportunidades/Prospera programme in Mexico, one of the most successfully regarded CCTs in Latin America. It presents primary qualitative data about the officer–recipient relationship during the delivery of the health conditionalities and explores its implications on the wellbeing of recipients. The article concludes that the relationships created during policy implementation have far-reaching effects on wellbeing and need to be better acknowledged in policy design and evaluation.