Suchergebnisse

Introduction 1. Developmental Pathways to Poverty Reduction-- Yusuf Bangura PART I: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES 2. Employment, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction-- James Heintz 3. Taxation, Developmental State Capacity and Poverty Reduction-- Jonathan Di John 4. The Effectiveness of IMF/World Bank-Funded Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers-- Ricardo Gottschalk 5. Poverty Reduction and the Politics of Bilateral Donor Relations-- Tom Lavers 6. Politics of Growth and Redistribution in a Democratic Context-- Yusuf Bangura 7. Agrarian Social Pacts and Poverty Reduction-- Adam Sheingate PART II: CASE STUDIES 8. Economic Development and Poverty Reduction in Korea: Governing Multifunctional Institutions-- Huck-ju Kwon and Ilcheong Yi 9. Growing Wealth, Poverty Avoidance and Management in Singapore-- Chua Beng Huat 10. Development Strategies and Poverty Reduction in China-- Jean C. Oi 11. The Unsocial Leviathan: Interests, Institutions and Social Policy in Brazil-- Marcus Andre Melo 12. Ireland's Boom-Bust Cycles: The Elusive Search for a Balanced Development-- Peadar Kirby

This article reviews the contribution of Björn Beckman, the Swedish political economist, in the study of development. It addresses three issues. The first is his engagement in theoretical debates on the political economy of development. These focus on the nature of the African state, capitalist development in poor countries, whether the military can act as a revolutionary vanguard in spearheading democratic and progressive social change, neoliberal theory of macro-economic adjustment, and the dynamics of state-civil society relations in advancing development and democracy. The second is his field research work in Ghana and Nigeria. This examines the role of organised farmers and the state in the production and marketing of cocoa in Ghana in the 1960s; the entrenchment of wheat import dependence and the failed project of wheat import-substitution in Nigeria; and the construction of a union-based labour regime in Nigeria's textile industry that enhanced the bargaining power of unions even as a worsening macro-economic environment and industrial restructuring impacted adversely on employment and wages. The third deals with his collaborative work on a variety of organised interest groups, including labour movements, scholar activists, the Nigerian student movement, and organised informal sector groups. The last part of the article discusses the costs of Björn's combative style of scholarship.






Yusuf Bangura, Formerly with the UN Research Institute for Social Development and Professor, Fourah Bay College (2013–2014), University of Sierra Leone, Nyon, Switzerland. Email: bangura.ym@gmail.com

Abstract

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ABSTRACTDespite the fall in global income inequality in the last two decades, levels of living among individuals in the world are still very different and are likely to remain so for a very long time. The uneven rate of decline in inequality and growth volatility in commodity‐dependent countries suggest that there is no reason to believe that global inequality will continue to fall until it reaches acceptably low levels. Global disparities in incomes and welfare, especially in social protection, are at the heart of the problem of migration and populism in Western democracies in recent years. They bring out in bold relief the lack of fit between claims of global convergence and people's perceptions on incomes and well‐being between the global North and South. In this regard, it is more realistic to talk about 'multiple geographies of 21st century development' than a 'one world' or single geography of global development. Issues of power, and the way global and national relationships and rules allocate advantages and disadvantages, or promote convergence and divergence, between and within countries, need to be front and centre in the discussion on global convergence.