The World Bank's concern for global poverty is described as "affected" & argued to be a response to two contradictory needs of global capitalism: (1) to represent the interests of a single class as those of society as a whole & (2) to operate as a single system across a "fragmented world of competing states with no overarching political authority." After reviewing Karl Marx's perspective on the relationship between poverty & capitalism, the mechanisms used by the World Bank in its attempt to eradicate poverty are analyzed. Focus is on the Comprehensive Development Framework & its Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, which, it is argued, are actually an attempt to make poverty "work" for capitalism. It is contended that, in concert with the International Monetary Fund & the World Trade Organization, the World Bank is promoting & enacting programs in both poor & middle-income countries that are, in reality, designed to "impose universally the conditions through which poverty is created & maintained," ie, proletarianization, exploitation, & market dependence. K. Hyatt Stewart
The World Bank's concern for global poverty is described as "affected" & argued to be a response to two contradictory needs of global capitalism: (1) to represent the interests of a single class as those of society as a whole & (2) to operate as a single system across a "fragmented world of competing states with no overarching political authority." After reviewing Karl Marx's perspective on the relationship between poverty & capitalism, the mechanisms used by the World Bank in its attempt to eradicate poverty are analyzed. Focus is on the Comprehensive Development Framework & its Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, which, it is argued, are actually an attempt to make poverty "work" for capitalism. It is contended that, in concert with the International Monetary Fund & the World Trade Organization, the World Bank is promoting & enacting programs in both poor & middle-income countries that are, in reality, designed to "impose universally the conditions through which poverty is created & maintained," ie, proletarianization, exploitation, & market dependence. K. Hyatt Stewart
The focus of this chapter is the rise of Indian, rural-based farmer led social movements, & their relationship to poverty & economic reform. These movements, among others, were labeled "new social movements" because they organized sections of the population that had never been organized, & because they developed new concepts & strategies to push their agenda. The political & economic conditions in post-independence India & the government's neglect of the nation's poor are considered the movements' spark. In addition, the author reviews the evolution of the movements' positions on rural poverty, exploitation, & economic liberalization. Finally, the author reviews the progress of poverty reduction in India. K. Hyatt Stewart
Explores human capital investment across the life course as a means of poverty reduction. Intervention strategies targeting at-risk preschool children are considered, focusing on the effectiveness of early interventions, eg, Head Start, & a cost-benefit analysis of such programs. Investments for school-age children & adolescents include those geared toward school quality & access, dropout prevention, & school-to-work transition programs (eg, JOBSTART & the Job Training Partnership Act). Discussion of increasing the human capital of disadvantaged adults centers on job training & welfare reform, providing evidence that adult education & welfare-to-work programs are not entirely effective. A cost-benefit analysis of adult human capital investment programs is also briefly described. Policy issues pertinent to human capital investment include program targeting, design, & scale & determining an optimal investment strategy. Reasons for pursuing such strategies are provided: (1) Not all at-risk children will be identified. (2) Ongoing intervention might be required for the most disadvantaged. (3) A continuum of human capital investment opportunities might have a greater cumulative impact than any one investment at any one time. Five chronological approaches are cited as having the most merit. 7 Tables. J. Zendejas
The social and solidarity economy concept refers to enterprises, organizations, and innovations that combine production of goods, services, and knowledge with achieving economic and social goals as well as solidarity building.
Explores the potential for economic growth to reduce poverty, focusing on the labor market effects. It is contended that full employment can reduce poverty, but the characteristics & the context of the poor will not drop rate below 6%-7% for families or 8%-9% for individuals. Links between secular & cyclical economic growth & poverty among families are examined, finding that shifts in macroeconomic performance do not adequately predict poverty trends because of factors intervening between aggregate economic performance & the poor: demographic change (eg, rise of single-parent, female-headed families), bell-shaped income distribution curve, poverty-reduction policies, & labor market factors (eg, real wages & income inequality). The impact of real earnings & inequality levels on the official poverty rate is assessed via time-series analysis linking national family poverty rate to unemployment & pooled, cross-section time-series analysis of individual states. Further, the poverty status of workers of differential work experience, age, gender, & ethnicity is analyzed using census data. Changes in real wages & poverty reduction during the late-1990s economic boom indicates that when growth results in "genuine" full employment, ie, increased real wages & employment, poverty will fall, particularly among those groups with the highest poverty rates. A look at this growth trend in terms of how far poverty will be reduced reveals that said boom coupled with full employment is insufficient to cut two key dimensions of poverty: homelessness & hunger. Caution is advised in relying solely on economic growth for poverty reduction. 8 Tables, 3 Figures, 1 Appendix. J. Zendejas
A discussion of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the context of changing state-society relations over three distinct periods in post-independence India -- 1947-1966, 1966-1988, & 1989-present -- with a focus on the NGOs' role in development issues & poverty reduction. In the first period, under Nehru, NGOs acted as "silent partners of the developmentalist state," in the second they began to proliferate & diversify, & by the Third established India as "the NGO capital of the world." Changes in NGO organizational structure, funding sources, strategies, & actions in the battle against poverty are chronicled. Finally, the conditions of NGO -- local government relations that are most amenable to the success of antipoverty efforts are identified. K. Hyatt Stewart
The crucial intervening variable in the globalization & inequality-poverty matrix is asserted to be the role of national economic governance to create & sustain forms of national economic governments associated with the maintenance of institutional capacities. The author argues that strategic economic planning continues to be vital to the types of economic structure & forms of economic growth that are most conducive to reducing inequality & poverty. A brief historical narrative discusses the nature of state institutions & their relation to economic growth from the Weberian tradition of bureaucratic incompetence economic governance as related to the cases of South Korea & Malaysia. Recent scholarship of the dramatic poverty reductions in Korea have identified a consequence of improvements in economic growth without significant recourse to anti-poverty or redistribution policies that is contrasted with the explicit anti-poverty & redistribution of policies of the Malaysian development project. The historical contingencies that sustain an institutional apparatus capable of the effective management of the domestic economy in an age of globalization has had the unsurprising result of national development projects that have their own hearings to poverty, inequality, & a reduction of both. Although the conclusion that national economic governance is vital to reducing inequality & poverty runs counter to neoliberal theorizing, and it is a conclusion that demand serious attention from national & international agencies & from the development community at large. References. J. Harwell
Questioning the recent World Bank contention that "growth is good for the poor," explored here are economic, financial, social, & ecological limits to & drawbacks of growth. Tracing the history of economic growth throughout the history of industrial capitalism, it is argued that growth has failed to narrow inequalities between the rich & the poor or between the developed & developing worlds. Statistical data are offered to challenge the notion that growth contributes to poverty reduction through equalizing distribution; the sustainability of economic growth is also refuted. Both productivity growth & real interest rates have been markedly higher than the rates of real growth (in terms of gross domestic product [GDP]), reflecting the declining profit rate on capital in much of the world. Additionally, growth has substantially increased unemployment. Reasons why quantitative growth is so important to capitalist systems are explored, & the possibility of reducing the real interest rate or curbing the growth of labor productivity rather than continuing to stimulate the real growth of GDP is considered. 3 Tables. K. Hyatt Stewart
Questioning the recent World Bank contention that "growth is good for the poor," explored here are economic, financial, social, & ecological limits to & drawbacks of growth. Tracing the history of economic growth throughout the history of industrial capitalism, it is argued that growth has failed to narrow inequalities between the rich & the poor or between the developed & developing worlds. Statistical data are offered to challenge the notion that growth contributes to poverty reduction through equalizing distribution; the sustainability of economic growth is also refuted. Both productivity growth & real interest rates have been markedly higher than the rates of real growth (in terms of gross domestic product [GDP]), reflecting the declining profit rate on capital in much of the world. Additionally, growth has substantially increased unemployment. Reasons why quantitative growth is so important to capitalist systems are explored, & the possibility of reducing the real interest rate or curbing the growth of labor productivity rather than continuing to stimulate the real growth of GDP is considered. 3 Tables. K. Hyatt Stewart
"The end of the Cold War refocused the European Union's (EU) attention both on its 'near neighbourhood' and on the needs of the world's poorest people. In view of the growing trend towards inclusion of 'first-world' security criteria in development policies, a discussion paper Whose security?, summarised here, was commissioned by Association of World Council of Churches related Development Organisations in Europe (APRODEV) to identify priority issues for advocacy on EU policies towards development and security. There are signs that donors want to change the conditions of aid to respond to the threat of global terrorism, but poor people suffer disproportionately from insecurity and development policy needs to be clear about whose security is the priority. The absence of global justice is a fundamental challenge. The paper explores the relationship between human development, human security and human rights as well as the need for improved women's participation in peacebuilding and security. The European Security Strategy, seen as a response to the unilateralist character of US strategy, takes a comprehensive, multilateralist approach, recognising that threats cannot be tackled by purely military means. Development assistance is seen as one of the instruments at the EU's disposal. This approach is supported by a 'human security doctrine for Europe', under which 'human security response forces', paid from the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) budget, would operate. The EU's development policy statement of 2000 is being revised with a view to including the complementarity of security and development. APRODEV believes that development and human rights should be seen as end goals and not simply as instruments to the achievement of other aims of EU external relations policy. The European Commission aims to rationalise the profusion of aid budgets, reducing them from 90 to just six new instruments. The parameters of some of these instruments would make it more difficult to monitor EU spending on poverty reduction. In the draft Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013, the largest instrument, meant to deliver the Union's contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is set to take a falling share of spending, relative to more security-focused instruments. The share allocated to the Development Cooperation and Economic Cooperation instrument (DCECI) should increase at least proportionately with the overall increase in external relations funding. The EU needs an instrument dedicated to the pursuit of poverty eradication in developing countries. The proposed Stability instrument, smaller in size than DCECI, was planned to support post-conflict reconstruction, including peacekeeping operations of third countries. APRODEV agencies feel that short-term military stabilisation may be necessary, perhaps with a stronger mandate from the United Nations (UN) or the African Union (AU), but that it should be financed by the CFSP, separately from development expenditure. A ring-fenced Stability instrument might produce greater clarity in protecting development expenditure through the DCECI. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) recently classified six new areas of quasi-military aid as official development assistance (ODA). APRODEV members may want to ensure that there is 'no further erosion' and explore the 'roll-back' of eligibility in the case of some existing items. While subscribing to policy coherence, APRODEV agencies believe in a division of labour and mandates. Integrity (of tasks, of budgets) is a value that APRODEV agencies would apply to the EU's work for poverty reduction. EU citizens are entitled to a clear picture of how much the Union is spending on poor people and the MDGs. The distinct contribution of development assistance is to improve the livelihoods of poor people with the ultimate objective of eradicating poverty." (author's abstract)
Examines the 1980s-1990s British economic model as a test case for modern conservative capitalism. The conservative capitalist model that emerged during the prime ministership of Margaret Thatcher had four unequivocal points: low taxes, small governments, production oriented to profit, & a naturalization of inequality. This model is shown to have reduced inflation, revitalized British management, & raised a number of economic indicators in the intermediate terms. However, as a long-term model, it is argued that conservative capitalism is a failure. The 1990s has seen a drastic rise in inequality, substantial growth in poverty, concerted loss of public morale, & net reduction in private ownership of property. The failure of conservative capitalism is traced to large macroeconomic mistakes, gross misunderstandings of microeconomics, & a hypercompetitive ethic that prevented cooperation, thus leading to a need for more governmental regulation. 1 Table. D. Ryfe
An examination of the impact of globalization on the national economy, cities, & employment structure in Germany contends that globalization reinforces the tendencies formerly observed for deindustrialization. A look at Germany's weakening economic position is followed by a discussion of the role played by transnational corporations, especially their location decisions, & their efforts to influence national policy toward deregulation. Employment changes between 1980 & 1994 are traced for Munchen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen, Duisburg, & Dortmund. Some cities, especially Dortmund, managed to attract new industries, supply land for development, & cooperate with universities in technology transfer activities. Although cities with the least diversity in employment opportunities had the most unemployment, poverty was found to be increasing in all six cities. Large companies have expanded their product lines & their international businesses but the new jobs created were outside the old industrialized cities/regions. Finally, the push toward deregulation of labor tariffs has led to reductions in welfare provisions, thereby worsening the positions of the poor & unemployed. 6 Tables, 1 Figure. J. Lindroth
