The Pursuit of Human Well-Being: The Untold Global History (International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life)

This handbook informs the reader about how much progress we, the human race, have made in enhancing the quality of life on this planet. Many skeptics focus on how the quality of life has deteriorated over the course of human history, particularly given World War II and its aftermath. This handbook provides a positive perspective on the history of well-being. Quality of life, as documented by scientists worldwide, has significantly improved. Nevertheless, one sees more improvements in well-being in some regions of the world than in others. Why? This handbook documents the progress of well-being in the various world regions as well as the differences in those regions. The broad questions that the handbook addresses include: * What does well-being mean? * How do different philosophical and religious traditions interpret the concept of well-being within their own context? * Has well-being remained the same over different historical epochs and for different regions and subregions of the world? * In which areas of human development have we been most successful in advancing individual and collective well-being? In which sectors has the attainment of well-being proven most difficult? * How does well-being differ within and between different populations groups that, for a variety of socially created reasons, have been the most disadvantaged (e.g., children, the aged, women, the poor, racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities)? Front Matter....Pages i-xxxvi Front Matter....Pages 1-2 The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times....Pages 3-30 Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being....Pages 31-57 East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being....Pages 59-82 Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report....Pages 83-107 Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being....Pages 109-131 Front Matter....Pages 133-134 How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being....Pages 135-157 Front Matter....Pages 159-160 New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa....Pages 161-215 Well-Being in Latin America....Pages 217-255 Well-Being in Canada and the United States....Pages 257-299 The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership....Pages 301-348 The History of Well-Being in South Asia....Pages 349-380 The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia....Pages 381-408 The History of Well-Being in Europe....Pages 409-452 The History of Well-Being in Oceania....Pages 453-491 Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former Soviet Union: The Challenges of Change....Pages 493-521 The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)....Pages 523-563 Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity....Pages 565-605 Front Matter....Pages 607-608 The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women....Pages 609-637 The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time....Pages 639-687 Front Matter....Pages 689-690 The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective....Pages 691-741 Back Matter....Pages 743-808