Chapter 5 turns to social embeddedness, describes this in terms of two kinds of social identities people have, and explains how a world stratified by social groups produces two kinds of shortfalls in the capability development of people in disadvantaged social groups. First, a microlevel mechanism, social group stigmatization, or social identity stereotyping operates in relational social identity settings, limits stigmatized individuals’ ability to develop their capabilities, and results in what I call capability devaluations. Second, a macro-level process, sorting people over club goods and common pool goods types of social economic locations, produces social group inequalities especially by race/ethnicity and gender, limits lower ranked groups’ capability development, and results in what I call capability deficits. How these two kinds of capability shortfalls combine and reinforce a hierarchical ordering of social groups is explained using a basic complexity theory analysis from Simon. Combatting these two capability shortfalls – motivated by the goal of creating nonhierarchical, democratic societies that promote individuals’ capability development irrespective of social identity – is associated with policies to eliminate social discrimination in the case of capability devaluations and to advance social group reparations in the case of capability deficits.

The chapter begins by describing the content of the micro and meso levels that make up the ecosystem necessary to promote learning. In the past decades, knowledge generated on quality education has led to “discrete and disruptive” interventions with manageable and disaggregated components that fit into the worldview of the mostly distant donor (a “hawk’s eye” approach). An organically integrated approach is constructively worked out, which provides a framework for analyzing micro and meso levels (a “turtle’s feet” approach). The conceptual framework that structures this knowledge generation includes three areas that define micro and meso institutions: composite history, tangled milieus, and embedded mindsets. This research framework allows for the design and implementation of interventions that fit the ecosystem in a country that drives how things work on the ground. The chapter argues that such a shift in knowledge generation will help to design interventions that enable meso institutions to intervene for consistent and effective teaching and learning to take place in schools in developing countries.