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Ismail Serageldin

Bio: Ismail Serageldin is an academic researcher from World Bank. The author has contributed to research in topics: Water resources & Poverty. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 37 publications receiving 2102 citations. Previous affiliations of Ismail Serageldin include Johns Hopkins University & Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
05 Apr 2002-Science
TL;DR: In a special Perspective based on his plenary lecture at the 2002 AAAS Meeting, Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt and former Vice President of the World Bank, calls on scientists in developed and developing nations to unite to help solve the enormous challenges posed by world hunger and poverty.
Abstract: In a special Perspective based on his plenary lecture at the 2002 AAAS Meeting, Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt and former Vice President of the World Bank, calls on scientists in developed and developing nations to unite to help solve the enormous challenges posed by world hunger and poverty.

43 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Imhotep, who flourished about 5,000 years ago, is the first person whose name is recorded not for being a king or a conqueror, but for the way he contributed to knowledge: observation, diagnosis, and treatment.
Abstract: [first paragraph of article] From the banks of the Nile to the shores of the Mediterranean, it is in the land of Egypt where medicine probably started. This is the story of a great period in the history of medicine. But let us start at the beginning. Imhotep, who flourished about 5,000 years ago, is the first person whose name is recorded not for being a king or a conqueror, but for the way he contributed to knowledge 1 . He was a statesman: he advised Pharaoh Zoser. He was an engineer: he built the stepped pyramid of Saqqara, precursor to the many great pyramids to come. But above all he was a physician of talent, who launched the first true medical revolution: that disease was not something to be dealt with by magic, but by science: observation, diagnosis, and treatment. Egyptians would later deify him as the god of medicine.

30 citations

31 May 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the built environment, specifically the living historic cities, not the conservation of monuments and archaeological sites, where the challenge of protecting the heritage is greater.
Abstract: The protection of cultural heritage is an essential part of protecting a sense of identity. It underlines the present as a link from a well-defined past to a future. This essay focused on the built environment, specifically the living historic cities, not the conservation of monuments and archaeological sites. More focus will be given to the living cities of the developing world, where the challenge of protecting the heritage is greater. Intervening in these special places requires a combination of skills of a philosophy that simultaneously honors the past, celebrates the present, and invents the future. It will require sound policy, effective participation, innovative institutional arrangements, and public-private partnerships. Above all, it will require the mobilization of considerable investments, targeted specifically to the rejuvenation of these very special places.

28 citations

Book
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors survey many of the different facets of the complex problems of poverty in Africa and the policy and program interventions that impact on poverty, and the key to success will remain the extent to which poverty alleviation becomes a central concern of adjustment program design along with growth promotion.
Abstract: The book surveys many of the different facets of the complex problems of poverty in Africa, and many of the policy and program interventions that impact on poverty. Poverty alleviation in Africa requires a broad range of mutually reinforcing actions on such disparate issues as debt, the environment, the role of women, institutional development, food security, and basic social services. Assisting the governments and peoples of Africa in this broad range of activities is a daunting task. This is the ambitious agenda that the World Bank is trying to pursue. The key to success will remain the extent to which poverty alleviation becomes a central concern of adjustment program design along with growth promotion, and the systematic way in which this comprehensive vision of the problem and its solution is pursued. Ultimately, progress lies in the empowerment of the weak and the marginalized, so that they may become the producers of their welfare and bounty, and not the consumers of charity, or recipients of aid.

27 citations

Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The Architecture of Empowerment: A Survey as discussed by the authors is a survey of the current state of the art in the field of sustainable urban design, focusing on the following: Convergence, marginalization and inequality: Directions for the Urban Future.
Abstract: The Architecture of Empowerment: A Survey. ESSAYS. The New Landscape. Convergence, Marginalisation and Inequality: Directions for the Urban Future. Architecture to Change the World? CASE STUDIES. Redeeming the Legacy of the Past. Revitalising the City Centre. Reaching the Poorest: The Rural World. Reaching the Poorest: The Urban World. Upgrading the Slums and Densification. Building New Settlements. Creating Communities. Managing the Urban Environment. Micro-Finance: Reaching the Poorest. Epilogue. Bibliography. Photo Credits and Contributors.

24 citations


Cited by
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MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of Islam and politics in post-communist Europe and the United States is presented, focusing on the theory of existential security and the consequences of Secularization.
Abstract: Part I. Understanding Secularization: 1. The secularization debate 2. Measuring secularization 3. Comparing secularization worldwide Part II. Case Studies of Religion and Politics: 4. The puzzle of secularization in the United States and Western Europe 5. A religious revival in post-communist Europe? 6. Religion and politics in the Muslim world Part III. The Consequences of Secularization: 7. Religion, the Protestant ethic, and moral values 8. Religious organizations and social capital 9. Religious parties and electoral behavior Part IV. Conclusions: 10. Secularization and its consequences 11. Re-examining the theory of existential security 12. Re-examining evidence for the security thesis.

2,608 citations

Book
Avner Greif1
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a multi-disciplinary perspective to study endogenous institutions and their dynamics, including the influence of the past, the ability of institutions to change, and the difficulty to study them empirically and devise a policy aimed at altering them.
Abstract: It is widely believed that current disparities in economic, political, and social outcomes reflect distinct institutions. Institutions are invoked to explain why some countries are rich and others poor, some democratic and others dictatorial. But arguments of this sort gloss over the question of what institutions are, how they come about, and why they persist. They also fail to explain why institutions are influenced by the past, why it is that they can sometimes change, why they differ so much from society to society, and why it is hard to study them empirically and devise a policy aimed at altering them. This 2006 book seeks to overcome these problems, which have exercised economists, sociologists, political scientists, and a host of other researchers who use the social sciences to study history, law, and business administration. It presents a multi-disciplinary perspective to study endogenous institutions and their dynamics.

1,809 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The most threatened flood plains will be those in south-east Asia, Sahelian Africa and North America as mentioned in this paper, and the most threatened areas are the flood plains in south east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and south west Africa.
Abstract: Natural flood plains are among the most biologically productive and diverse ecosystems on earth. Globally, riverine flood plains cover > 2 × 106 km2, however, they are among the most threatened ecosystems. Floodplain degradation is closely linked to the rapid decline in freshwater biodiversity; the main reasons for the latter being habitat alteration, flow and flood control, species invasion and pollution. In Europe and North America, up to 90% of flood plains are already ‘cultivated’ and therefore functionally extinct. In the developing world, the remaining natural flood plains are disappearing at an accelerating rate, primarily as a result of changing hydrology. Up to the 2025 time horizon, the future increase of human population will lead to further degradation of riparian areas, intensification of the hydrological cycle, increase in the discharge of pollutants, and further proliferation of species invasions. In the near future, the most threatened flood plains will be those in south-east Asia, Sahelian Africa and North America. There is an urgent need to preserve existing, intact flood plain rivers as strategic global resources and to begin to restore hydrologic dynamics, sediment transport and riparian vegetation to those rivers that retain some level of ecological integrity. Otherwise, dramatic extinctions of aquatic and riparian species and of ecosystem services are faced within the next few decades.

1,753 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the theoretical and empirical literature to examine the use by different social groups of informal sources of information provided by friends, relatives, and acquaintances during job search and its consequences for the job market.
Abstract: This paper explores the theoretical and empirical literature to examine the use by different social groups of informal sources of information provided by friends, relatives, and acquaintances during job search and its consequences for the job market. It also addresses the role of network structure and size, the resource endowments of contacts, and nature of the links between contacts to explain differences in the effects of job information networks. In doing so, the paper also turns to the sociology literature on job information networks and provides an economic perspective on such sociological concepts as strong versus weak ties, inbreeding, distance from structural holes, etc. The paper distinguishes between models of exogenous job information networks, that is where individuals obtain job-related information through a given social structure, and endogenous job information networks, which are social networks that result from individuals' uncoordinated actions. The paper pays special attention to such issues as physical and social proximity and sharing of information and discusses them in the context of the recent social interactions and neighborhood effects literature. Finally, the paper outlines a model that integrates job information networks, where interactions occur in business cycle frequencies, with the dynamics of human capital formation, which include the joint effects of parental, community and neighborhood human capital, and are set in life cycle frequencies, for the purpose of organizing suggestions for future research and examining earned income inequality.

1,081 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article looked at the literature on social capital from the perspective of game theory and reviewed Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam and Social Capital: A Multifaceted Approach edited by Partha Dasgupta and Ismail Serageldin.
Abstract: This essay looks at the literature on social capital from the perspective of game theory. It reviews Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam and Social Capital: A Multifaceted Approach edited by Partha Dasgupta and Ismail Serageldin.

1,015 citations