The rapid growth over the past three decades has been instrumental in lifting over 600 million people in China out of poverty, and people want to know why and how it happened. International evidence has made it clear that a global economy based on current patterns of consumption and production is simply not sustainable. Policymakers have repeatedly been advised that economic growth, poverty reduction, equity, and environment and resource sustainability must be integrated into national development strategies. What about China? The principle limitation of existing China-focused economic studies lies in its imbalances from the perspective of analysis and the impact of growth on poverty and inequality. A limited number of studies are devoted to structural transformation and China's structural imbalances, social disparities and the impact of science and technology on growth and productivity. This book addresses the alarming environmental consequences of China's growth patterns within an overall quality growth framework. It contributes to the economic growth and development literature and current policy discourse on China by expanding the policy analysis to include several important new areas using the most recent data available. This includes analyzing the macroeconomic factors that underlie the need for China to advance its economic transformation; examining how social inequalities, including health, education and gender, have evolved and presenting the scale of environmental problems associated with China's growth miracle. This report represents the first attempt to integrate the issue of environmental sustainability and climate change into the quality growth context, providing readers with a comprehensive account of China's success and challenges in its three decades of rapid economic growth.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, the present 'age of austerity' has repeatedly been compared to the wartime and postwar austerity years. For many, the rise of austerity nostalgia suggests a compliant public in thrall to the command to 'keep calm and carry on' while the welfare state is dismantled around them. Yet, at the same time, the idea that the Second World War can serve as a compelling historical precedent for sustainable living has found favour in environmental and anti-consumerist debate. Challenging dominant approaches to 'austerity', Rebecca Bramall explores the presence and persuasiveness of the past in contemporary popular culture, focusing intensively on the contradictions, antagonisms, alternatives and possibilities that the current conjuncture presents. In doing so, she exemplifies a new approach to emergent uses of the past, questioning longstanding assumptions about the relationship between history, culture and politics.

The contributors respond to the absence of critical debate surrounding the ways in which spaces of the city do not merely contain, but also constitute, urban poverty. The volume explores how the spaces of the city actively produce and reproduce urban poverty.

Most, if not all of the global biogeochemical cycles on the earth have been broken or are at dangerous tipping points. These broken cycles have expressed themselves in various forms as soil degradation and depletion, ocean acidification, global warming and climate change. The best proposal for an organic solution to fixing the myriad broken cycles is a deliberate investment in solutions that first acknowledge the historic roles played by both the subjugated peoples, and the economic beneficiaries of the environmental exploitations of the past. Ever since Europeans made contact with the West, a series of global circumstances including the genocide of the indigenous people of the Americas, the enslavement and global subjugation of Africans, and the emergence of Western concepts of trade dominance and capitalism, have led to deleterious impacts on the global biogeochemical cycles. Addressing the broken biogeochemical cycles should be done with a clear understanding that it was not only human subjects which were subjugated, but also land, water, and air. These three global stores must be replenished from the ideological position that poverty is not simply the absence of money, but is also the lack of access to non-polluting energy sources, to clean air devoid of runaway greenhouse gasses, and to local conditions devoid of climate change instabilities. With this in mind, the global powerbrokers can enter into a new deal with developing nations, shifting the paradigm toward a new ecological approach that rewards good behavior and sets new standards of worldwide relations based on ecologic inclusivity rather than the exclusive economic arrangements currently in order. Harnessing a forward thinking approach to analyzing the current global environmental crisis, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development, political ecology, sustainable agriculture, climate change and environmental justice.

This authoritative reference work explores the factors driving the much-debated increase in economic inequality in U.S. society, as well as the impact that this divide is having on U.S. culture, politics, families, communities, and institutions. This reference work provides an authoritative and comprehensive resource for both students and scholars who are interested in learning more about the rich-poor divide in the United States-a divide regarded by many lawmakers, researchers, pundits, and concerned citizens as one of the nation's most serious problems. The book provides important historical background for understanding how the nation has grappled with (or ignored) this issue in the past, examines specific causes of inequality identified by observers across the political spectrum, and summarizes the potential consequences (both present and future) of economic inequality. This book examines more than 25 issues frequently cited as factors contributing to the rapidly widening gap between socioeconomic classes in the U.S., ranging from such demographic factors as race and gender to tax code provisions and differences in access to quality education and health care. The book also provides both a retrospective and prospective look at government policies aimed at addressing inequality or assisting the poor. Finally, the book looks ahead to survey the future of inequality in America. Coverage of more than 25 distinct factors contributing to the widening rich-poor divide in the U.S. Evenhanded presentation of both progressive and conservative perspectives on key economic issues Authoritative but accessible entries that provide illumination and insights for academics and students alike

aiThis book maps the latest developments in the policy relevant analysis on poverty, inclusion and the social agenda in the Western Balkans. It does so by presenting a selection of recent papers which explore from a methodological and analytical point of view how the inclusion agenda can be monitored and adapted to understand the challenges in the region. The volume includes an overview and four sections, covering respectively: (1) innovations in terms of measurement of poverty and inclusion in the region (the concept of inclusion as elaborated at the EU level, innovations in survey design to suit the measurement of inclusion, methodological insights from qualitative work); (2) innovative country level analysis (updating poverty mapping in inter-censual years, the analysis of material deprivation, the analysis of determinants of social inclusion, subjective wellbeing of public work programs participants); (3) examples of country level analysis of drivers of exclusion (barriers to formalization in the labour market, gender disparities in the labour market, disruption in social networks following urbanizations, attitudes towards multi-ethnic states); (4) building inclusive safety nets (an assessment of safety nets in the region, the political economy of welfare reform, micro-simulations of social assistance reform, the adoption of better tools to improve targeting performance). The chapters combine sophisticated techniques which are at the frontiers of poverty analysis (small area estimation, efficiency analysis applied to household welfare, micro-simulations) with less ground-breaking papers which take advantage of innovative datasets or perspectives deeply grounded in the policy dialogue in the countries of the region. By providing a wide spectrum of innovative and policy relevant analytical contributions this book will be of broader interest than for observers of the region.

What are the poverty reduction goals of the European development cooperation agencies? This work examines the credibility of their actual record in terms of their commitment and approaches to poverty reduction. The poverty impact of their aid programmes and their good and bad practices are assessed based on field studies in seven poor countries. Ways of maximising benefits to poor people are explored and changes in agency management systems and dialogue are recommended.

The countries of the European community are building a single market, to go beyond economic integration and embody a Social Dimension. This, in turn, embraces three key ideas: First, that the fruits of economic progress must be of early and direct benefit to the living and working conditions of the ordinary citizen; Second, that there must be specific compensation for the social dislocations which an accelerated pace of economic change will produce and Finally, that in a labour market which will become Community wide, there must be a concomitant "Europeanization" of workers' rights of industrial citizenship.;These developments have been, and will continue to be, the subject of much heated political debate. This series, which brings together academic contributions to these debates, is likely to be of interest to social policy academics, students and policy-makers.

A "New York Times" Notable Book of the Year
Fifty years after Michael Harrington published his groundbreaking book "The Other America," in which he chronicled the lives of people excluded from the Age of Affluence, poverty in America is back with a vengeance. It is made up of both the long-term chronically poor and new working poor--the tens of millions of victims of a broken economy and an ever more dysfunctional political system. In many ways, for the majority of Americans, financial insecurity has become the new norm.
"The American Way of Poverty" shines a light on this travesty. Sasha Abramsky brings the effects of economic inequality out of the shadows and, ultimately, suggests ways for moving toward a fairer and more equitable social contract. Exploring everything from housing policy to wage protections and affordable higher education, Abramsky lays out a panoramic blueprint for a reinvigorated political process that, in turn, will pave the way for a renewed War on Poverty.
It is, Harrington believed, a moral outrage that in a country as wealthy as America, so many people could be so poor. Written in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse, in an era of grotesque economic extremes, "The American Way of Poverty" brings that same powerful indignation to the topic.

"This collection of 17 essays examines poverty and its causes from a variety of angles. The common thread is a concern for the structural causes of poverty; the book therefore offers a welcome alternative to the dominant ideological views that portray poverty as a result of individuals' decisions, attributes and/or moral failings...The authors show the connections between capitalism, slavery and the development of state policies and ideologies that maintained the oppressed and exploited status of African Americans after the Civil War and constituted the basis for the emergence of white identity and privilege to the detriment of working class identities based on a recognition of the common plight of workers, regardless of skin color...this is an outstanding collection, useful for courses in social stratification, the sociology of work, and race and ethnic relations."
"--Science and Society"

Since the end of the Second World War, poverty in the United States has been a persistent focus of social anxiety, public debate, and federal policy. This volume argues convincingly that we will not be able to reduce or eliminate poverty until we take the political factors that contribute to its continuation into account.

Ideal for course use, A New Introduction to Poverty opens with a historical overview of the major intellectual and political debates surrounding poverty in the United States. Several factors have received inadequate attention: the impact of poverty on women; the synergy of racism and poverty; race and gender stratification of the workplace; and, crucially, the ways in which the powerful use their resources to maintain the economic status quo.

Contributors include MimiAbramovitz, Peter Alcock, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Raymond Franklin, Herman George Jr., Michael B. Katz, Marlene Kim, Rebecca Morales, Sandra Patton, Valerie Polakow, Jackie Pope, Jill Quadagno, David C. Ranney, Barbara Ransby, Bette Woody, and Maxine Baca Zinn.

This book explores the complex relationship between social security and economic development, arguing that social security contributes positively to economic development by promoting social investments that not only foster economic growth but enhance social welfare for all. The contributors analyse the various forms of social security, and, through comprehensive analysis of country experiences, demonstrates that the relationship between social security and economic development defies the simplistic interpretations currently popular in literature on the subject. A variety of country case studies are explored including Britain, Chile, China, India, Korea, Norway, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. This topical volume is a vital companion for all interested in the dynamics of the relationship between social security and the economy.

The number of children living in families with incomes below the federal poverty level increased by 33 percent between 2000 and 2009, resulting in over 15 million children living in poverty. Some of these children are able to overcome this dark statistic and break the intergenerational transmission of poverty, offering hope to an otherwise bleak outlook, but this raises the question-how? In Fostering Resilience and Well-Being in Children and Families in Poverty, Dr. Valerie Maholmes sheds light on the mechanisms and processes that enable children and families to manage and overcome adversity. She explains that research findings on children and poverty often unite around three critical factors related to risk for poverty-related adversity: family structure, the presence of buffers that can protect children from negative influences, and the association between poverty and negative academic outcomes, and social and behavioral problems. She discusses how the research on resilience can inform better interventions for these children, as poverty does not necessarily preclude children from having strengths that may protect against its effects. Importantly, Maholmes introduces the concept of "hope" as a primary construct for understanding how the effects of poverty can be ameliorated. At the heart of the book are interviews with family members who have experienced adversity but managed to overcome it through the support of targeted programs and evidence-based interventions. Student leaders provide unique perspectives on the important role that parents and teachers play in motivating youth to succeed. Finally, professionals who work with children and families share their observations on effective interventions and the roles of culture and spirituality in fostering positive outcomes. Excerpts from these interviews bring research to life and help call attention to processes that promote hope and resilience. This book will be invaluable for policymakers, educators, and community and advocacy groups, as well as scholars and students in family studies, human development, and social work.

Have slums become 'cool'? More and more tourists from across the globe seem to think so as they discover favelas, ghettos, townships and barrios on leisurely visits. But while slum tourism often evokes moral outrage, critics rarely ask about what motivates this tourism, or what wider consequences and effects it initiates.

In this provocative book, Fabian Frenzel investigates the lure that slums exert on their better-off visitors, looking at the many ways in which this curious form of attraction ignites changes both in the slums themselves and on the world stage. Covering slums ranging from Rio de Janeiro to Bangkok, and multiple cities in South Africa, Kenya and India, Slumming It examines the roots and consequences of a growing phenomenon whose effects have ranged from gentrification and urban policy reform to the organization of international development and poverty alleviation.

Controversially, Frenzel argues that the rise of slum tourism has drawn attention to important global justice issues, and is far more complex than we initially acknowledged.

This volume is constituted of a collection of leading contributions, each focusing on understanding the global dynamics of poverty and wealth together, from a psychological (particularly social psychological) perspective. It is one of few (if any) books on the subject that combines psychological theory and research with community development and practice.

Do we judge the poor? Do we fear them? Do we have a moral obligation to help those in need? The moral and social grounds of solidarity and deservedness in relation to aid for poor people are rarely steady. This is particularly true under contemporary austerity reforms, where current debates question exactly who is most 'deserving' of protection in times of crisis. These arguments have accompanied a rise in the production of negative and punitive sentiments towards the poor. This book breaks new ground in the discussion of the moral dimension of poverty and its implications for the treatment of the poor in mature welfare states, drawing upon the diverse political, social and symbolic constructions of deservedness and otherness. It takes a new look at the issue of poverty from the perspective of public policy, media and public opinion. It also examines, in a topical manner, the various ways in which certain factions contribute to the production of stereotyped representations of poverty and to the construction of boundaries between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' in our society. Case studies from the UK and Italy are used to examine these issues, and to understand the impact that a moralising of poverty has on the everyday experiences of the poor. This is valuable reading for students and researchers interested in contemporary social work, social policy and welfare systems.

This volume addresses issues of precariousness in a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, looking at socio-economic transformations as well as the identity formation and political organizing of precarious people. The collection bridges empirical research with social theory to problematize and analyse the precariat.

This original and topical book tells the untold stories of migrants' experiences of, and responses to, financial exclusion in London. Breaking important new ground, it offers an insight into migrants' lives which is often overlooked, yet is increasingly vital for their broader integration into advanced financialised societies. Adopting a holistic focus, Migrants and their Money investigates migrants' complex financial lives which extend far beyond remittance sending, exploring their banking, saving, credit and debt related practices. It highlights how migrants negotiate the complex financial landscape they encounter and the diverse formal and informal ways in which they manage their money in the financial capital of the world. Drawing upon a rich evidence base, this book will be of particular interest to academics, local authorities, policy makers and the financial services industry.

The intention of this book is threefold: presenting and advancing German reporting on income distribution and poverty, looking at experiences with advanced reporting schemes in two other EU countries, and discussing concepts for comparable social monitoring in the European Union. The first group of papers elaborates on recent findings for Germany (trends in the personal distribution of income and income poverty, multidimensional approaches to measure poverty and extreme poverty, redistribution). Of special interest is a critical methodological review of the two main German databases for distribution analyses, taking the suggestions of the Canberra Group as a reference. The second group of contributions reviews research on income distribution and poverty in Great Britain and Ireland. The last paper discusses concepts of comparable indicators for poverty and social exclusion in the EU.

Land reform and the possibility of expropriation without compensation are among the most hotly debated topics in South Africa today, met with trepidation and fervour in equal measure. But these broader issues tend to obscure a more immediate reality: a severe housing crisis and a sharp increase in urban land occupations.

In Promised Land, Karl Kemp travels the country documenting the fallout of failing land reform, from the under-siege Philippi Horticultural Area deep in the heart of Cape Town’s ganglands to the burning mango groves of Tzaneen, from Johannesburg’s lawless Deep South to rural KwaZulu-Natal, where chiefs own vast tracts of land on behalf of their subjects. He visits farming communities beset by violent crime, and provides gripping, on-the-ground reporting of recent land invasions, with perspectives from all sides, including land activists, property owners and government officials. Kemp also looks at burning issues surrounding the land debate in South Africa – corruption, farm murders, illegal foreign labour, mechanisation and eviction – and reveals the views of those affected.

Touching on the history of land conflict and conquest in each area, as well as detailing the current situation on the ground, Promised Land provides startling insights into the story of land conflict in South Africa.

Globalization is characterised by persistent poverty and growing inequality. Conventional wisdom has it that this global poverty is residual - as globalization deepens, the poor will be lifted out of destitution. The policies of the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO echo this belief and push developing countries ever deeper into the global economy.
Globalization, Poverty and Inequality provides an alternative viewpoint. It argues that for many - particularly for those living in Latin America, Asia and Central Europe - poverty and globalization are relational. It is the very workings of the global system which condemn many to poverty. In particular the mobility of investment, and the large pool of increasingly skilled workers in China and other parts of Asia, are driving down global wages.
This poses challenges for policy makers in firms and countries throughout the world. It also challenges the very sustainability of globalisation itself. Are we about to witness the implosion of globalisation, as occurred between 1913 and 1950?
Using a variety of theoretical frameworks and drawing on a vast amount of original research, this book will be an invaluable resource for all students of globalization and its effects.

This book explores the philosophical, and in particular ethical, issues concerning the conceptualization, design and implementation of poverty alleviation measures from the local to the global level. It connects these topics with the ongoing debates on social and global justice, and asks what an ethical or normative philosophical perspective can add to the economic, political, and other social science approaches that dominate the main debates on poverty alleviation. Divided into four sections, the volume examines four areas of concern: the relation between human rights and poverty alleviation, the connection between development and poverty alleviation, poverty within affluent countries, and obligations of individuals in regard to global poverty. An impressive collection of essays by an international group of scholars on one of the most fundamental issues of our age. The authors consider crucial aspects of poverty alleviation: the role of human rights; the connection between development aid and the alleviation of poverty; how to think about poverty within affluent countries (particularly in Europe); and individual versus collective obligations to act to reduce poverty. Judith Lichtenberg Department of Philosophy Georgetown University This collection of essays is most welcome addition to the burgeoning treatments of poverty and inequality. What is most novel about this volume is its sustained and informed attention to the explicitly ethical aspects of poverty and poverty alleviation. What are the ethical merits and demerits of income poverty, multidimensional-capability poverty, and poverty as nonrecognition? How important is poverty alleviation in comparison to environmental protection and cultural preservation? Who or what should be agents responsible for reducing poverty? The editors concede that their volume is not the last word on these matters. But, these essays, eschewing value neutrality and a retreat into technical mastery, challenge us to find fresh and reasonable answers to these urgent questions. David A. Crocker School of Public Policy University of Maryland

Globalization and unemployment are two phenomena which are amongst the most widely discussed subjects in the economic debate today. Often, globalization is regarded as being responsible for the increase in unemployment, particularly in unskilled labor. This book deals with the correlation between globalization and unemployment under various aspects: historical aspects of globalization, empirical trends and theoretical explanations of unemployment, effects of globalization in general and of European Monetary Union in particular on umemployment, labor market policy in a global economy, the impact of fiscal policy on unemployment in a global economy, as well as the effects of globalization on inflation and national stabilization policy.