This book examines how migrant remittances contribute to household social resilience in rural Bangladesh. Using a mixed methods approach, the authors show that remittances play a crucial role in enhancing the life chances and economic livelihoods of rural households, and that remittance income enables households to overcome immediate pressures, adapt to economic and environmental change, build economic and cultural capital, and provide greater certainty in planning for the future. However, the book also reveals that the social and economic benefits of remittances are not experienced equally by all households. Rural village households endure a precarious existence and the potentially positive outcomes of remittances can easily be undermined by a range of external and household-specific factors leading to few, if any, benefits in terms of household social resilience.

Based on ethnographic research in Contra Costa County, California (CCC), Pimping the Welfare System highlights a welfare program implemented after welfare reform that differed in significant ways from the predominant work first approach implemented by most welfare programs. The book argues that by imparting dominant economic, social, and cultural capital, CCC's welfare program empowered participants and improved their quality of life and life chances. Successfully transmitting these types of capital, however, was dependent upon the discourses, practices, and pedagogy deployed by welfare workers-as well as the policies, practices, and resources of the welfare program. In particular, CCC's welfare workers encouraged the acquisition and use of dominant capital (that which is desired by the labor market) by acknowledging and respecting the various types of capital welfare participants already had, and by encouraging participants to make strategic choices about deploying different types of capital. This book calls into question monolithic understandings of economic, social, and cultural capital and encourages a new conceptualization of capital that resists framing poor women as fundamentally "lacking." In addition, it points to ways welfare administrators and welfare workers can develop more empowering programs even within the confines of federal, state, and local regulations.

Originally published in 1981, Automatic Poverty provides a much-needed alternative to the Radical Right's analysis. The book argues that Britain's economic decline is symptomatic of an advanced stage of industrialisation in which productive processes are increasingly mechanised, but output remains static. Under these circumstances workers become redundant, the income of the working class diminishes, and dependence on the state increases. The 'Ricardo phenomenon' has become long-term feature of the British economy, and the author shows that neither Keynesian nor monetarist policies can remedy its consequences. It reflects a critical stage in the development of capitalism.

Drawing together multidisciplinary research exploring everyday life in Europe during times of economic crisis, this book explores the ways in which austerity policies are lived and experienced - often alongside other significant social, political and personal change. With attention to the inequalities produced by these processes and the measures used by individuals, families and communities to help them 'get by', it also envisages hopeful, affirmative socio-political futures. Arranged around the themes of intergenerational relations and exchanges, ways of coping through crises, and community, civic and state infrastructures, Austerity Across Europe will appeal to social scientists with interests in everyday life, family practices, neoliberal state policy, poverty and socio-economic inequalities.

This book investigates one of the most pervasive forms of modern slavery: bonded labour, whereby labour is linked with a credit agreement, leaving a debtor bound to repay their debt through long-term servitude. Drawing on cases from Nepal and India, the author adopts a human rights-based approach, interpreting slavery as a violation of human rights, and focusing on the empowerment of slaves as rights holders. Ultimately the book aims to explore the links between rights, power inequality and oppression, and to uncover ways to achieve the full liberation of bonded labourers. Identifying the factors and forces that contribute to and reinforce the situation of bonded labour in South Asia, the book demonstrates how systems of bonded labour are connected to long-term processes of colonisation, dispossession, migration, nationalisation of natural resources, and the introduction of private land ownership. Despite the fact that the United Nations has reported debt bondage as the most prevalent form of forced labour worldwide, there it is still little known about the real practical impacts of this approach to the lives of marginalised people. Based on extensive ethnographic research, this book will be a useful guide to students and scholars of modern slavery, international development, and South Asian studies.

Lost Childhood explores the everyday lives of street children in India. It presents insights on their life on the streets to provide a comprehensive understanding of why they are driven to extreme means of livelihoods. This volume, * Inquiries into the histories of street children, and discusses their socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics to provide a sense of their living conditions; * Sheds light on the social injustice experienced by these children, their health and hygiene, and also looks at the insecurities faced by the children in their interactions with the society; * Uses detailed field research data to highlight issues that affect the lives of street children such as education, gender discrimination, and their social networks; * Suggests a way forward that would not only benefit street children but will also be of use to the community in understanding their lives, problems, and help explore this issue in further detail. The book will be useful to scholars and researchers of human geography, development studies, child development, urban poverty, and social justice. It will also be of interest to policymakers, social workers, and field workers who work with street children.

This book presents an innovative analysis of the solidarity/social economy among low-income religious women in Iran. For years, the role of low-income women in community care and poverty reduction has been underestimated and under-researched in the broader academic community, due to the "invisible" nature of these informal and predominantly religious networks. As economic hardship in Iran increases, women in the community have mobilized to bring assistance to those struggling to make ends meet. The culmination of years of fieldwork in different parts of the country, this book sheds light on how religious women form the backbone of Iran's social safety net as the welfare state fails and social protection policies dwindle.

From both theoretical and practical perspectives, this book systematically expounds the important theories, key measures and major achievements in the field of poverty alleviation in China, and sums up the important experience of poverty alleviation, it answers the significant question why China has been able to lift itself out of poverty and build a moderately prosperous society in an all round way. China has accumulated experience for achieving the two centenary goals, and contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the global cause of poverty reduction.

This book investigates how, alongside Beatrice Webb's ground-breaking pre-World War One anti-poverty campaigns, George Bernard Shaw helped launch the public debate about the relationship between equality, redistribution and democracy in a developed economy. The ten years following his great 1905 play on poverty Major Barbara present a puzzle to Shaw scholars, who have hitherto failed to appreciate both the centrality of the idea of equality in major plays like Getting Married, Misalliance, and Pygmalion, and to understand that his major political work, 1928's The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism had its roots in this period before the Great War. As both the era's leading dramatist and leader of the Fabian Society, Shaw proposed his radical postulate of equal incomes as a solution to those twin scourges of a modern industrial society: poverty and inequality. Set against the backdrop of Beatrice Webb's famous Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law 1905-1909 - a publication which led to grass-roots campaigns against destitution and eventually the Welfare State - this book considers how Shaw worked with Fabian colleagues, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and H. G. Wells to explore through a series of major lectures, prefaces and plays, the social, economic, political, and even religious implications of human equality as the basis for modern democracy.

This book investigates the current level and trend of poverty in the Muslim World, including selected countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, East Asia, the Pacific and South America. Authors explore themes of poverty reduction, poverty alleviation and the extent of influences on social and economic development, particularly natural resource endowments (especially mineral resources) and their utilization. Chapters explore theory and practice, including governance and programmes, and take a detailed look at Zakat as a faith-based policy tool, to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods and thus contribute to better environmental stewardship. The final chapters look at development questions in the Muslim World and make policy recommendations, including a proposed multi-dimensional development collaboration model called the Development Collaboration Octagon Model (DeCOM). Readers will discover theoretical explanations of poverty and how poverty hampers the development of many nations because the poor are unable to partake actively in the development process. Poverty indicators and measurement are discussed, and trends of economic growth including productivity, manufacturing, trade patterns, investment and saving activity, and socio-economic developments are all explored: supporting data is presented in tables and figures, throughout this text. Authors explore the potency and success stories of public poverty alleviation strategies and programmes pursued in the Muslim world, especially the extent to which the institution of Zakat has been effectively incorporated into public poverty alleviation strategies. Policy options required to enhance social and economic development are proposed, to help pull the poor out of the poverty trap into the mainstream economy in the Muslim world. This work will appeal to anyone wishing to scrutinise poverty, its parameters and its relationship with the development of countries in the Muslim world. Scholars in the fields of economics, sociology, geography and Islamic studies will all find something of value here.

President Reagan's Conservative Fiscal Policy explores how the Reagan administration's (1981-1988) fiscal policy changed the national economy and adversely impacted unemployment among African Americans. This work features detailed analysis of Reaganomics, supply-side fiscal policies, and major budget cuts to domestic employment training programs, such as the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) Program, as they relate to African Americans' unemployment levels and President Reagan's style of leadership and conservative ideology. Author Chiazam Ugo Okoye also scrutinizes three specific tax relief acts: The Economic Recovery and Tax Act, 1981 (ERTA); The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 1982 (TEFRA); and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA).

This book investigates the best strategies for poverty alleviation in post-disaster urban environments, and the conditions necessary for the success and scaling up of these strategies. Using the case study of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the Philippines, the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall, the book aims to draw out policy recommendations relevant for other middle- and lower-income countries facing similar urban environmental challenges. Humans are increasingly living in densely populated and highly vulnerable areas, often coastal. This increased density of human settlements leads to increased material damage and high death tolls, and this vulnerability is often exacerbated by climate change. This book focuses on urban population risk, vulnerability to disasters, resilience to environmental shocks, and adaptation in relation to paths in and out of poverty. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including primary survey data from victims and those charged with overseeing the relief effort in the Philippines, Urban Poverty in the Wake of Environmental Disaster has significant implications for disaster risk reduction as it relates to the urban poor and is highly recommended for scholars and practitioners of development studies, environment studies, and disaster relief and risk reduction.

Originally published in 1924, Unemployment Relief in Great Britain takes up the history of unemployment relief in Great Britain, focusing on the after effects of the post-war period and the Great Depression. Primarily, the book provides a detailed study of England's experience with compulsory unemployment insurance and public employment exchanges. The book provides an intriguing study that will appeal to sociologists and historians alike, adeptly weaving practical aspects of the insurance acts, and the administration of employment exchanges.

Some 2.5 billion human beings live in severe poverty, deprived of such essentials as adequate nutrition, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, adequate shelter, literacy, and basic health care. One third of all human deaths are from poverty-related causes: 18 million annually, including over 10 million children under five.
However huge in human terms, the world poverty problem is tiny economically. Just 1 percent of the national incomes of the high-income countries would suffice to end severe poverty worldwide. Yet, these countries, unwilling to bear an opportunity cost of this magnitude, continue to impose a grievously unjust global institutional order that foreseeably and avoidably perpetuates the catastrophe. Most citizens of affluent countries believe that we are doing nothing wrong.
Thomas Pogge seeks to explain how this belief is sustained. He analyses how our moral and economic theorizing and our global economic order have adapted to make us appear disconnected from massive poverty abroad. Dispelling the illusion, he also offers a modest, widely sharable standard of global economic justice and makes detailed, realistic proposals toward fulfilling it.

Thoroughly updated, the second edition of this classic book incorporates responses to critics and a new chapter introducing Pogge's current work on pharmaceutical patent reform.

Under the rule of the current economic order, social injustice is ever-increasing. Issues such as poverty, inhumane working conditions, inadequate wages, social insecurity and an unhealthy labor market continue to persist. Many states are also unable to produce policies capable of resolving these problems. The characteristics of the capitalist system currently render it unable to provide social justice. In fact, on the contrary, the system reinforces these injustices and prevents economic and social welfare from reaching the masses. Many Muslim scholars have analyzed and, indeed, criticized this system for years. This book argues that an alternative and more equitable theoretical and practical economical order can been developed within the framework of Islamic principles. On the other hand, the experiences of societies under the rule of Muslim governments do not always seem to hold great promise for an alternative understanding of social justice. In addition, the behaviors of Muslim individuals within their economic lives are mostly shaped by the necessities of daily economic conditions rather than by the tenets of Islam that stand with social justice. Until 1990s, studies of Islamic economics made connections between finance and the notion of social justice, but work conducted more recently has neglected this issue. It is therefore evident that the topic of social justice needs to be revisited in a more in-depth manner. Filling an important gap in existing literature, the book uniquely connects social justice and Islamic finance and economics on this topic. Theory, practice and key issues are presented simultaneously throughout this book, which is based on the writings of a number of eminent scholars.

In comparison to other social groups, India's rural poor - and particularly Adivasis and Dalits - have seen little benefit from the country's economic growth over the last three decades. Though economists and statisticians are able to model the form and extent of this inequality, their work is rarely concerned with identifying possible causes. Employment, Poverty and Rights in India analyses unemployment in India and explains why the issues of employment and unemployment should be the appropriate prism to understand the status of wellbeing in India. The author provides a historical analysis of policy interventions on behalf of the colonial and postcolonial state with regard to the alleviation of unemployment and poverty in India and in West Bengal in particular. Arguing that, as long as poverty - either as a concept or as an empirical condition - remains as a technical issue to be managed by governmental technologies, the 'poor' will be held responsible for their own fate and the extent of poverty will continue to increase. The book contends that rural unemployment in India is not just an economic issue but a political process that has consistently been shaped by various socio-economic, political and cultural factors since the colonial period. The analysis which depends mainly on ethnography extends to the implementation of the 'New Rights Agenda', such as the MGNREGA, at the rural margin. Challenging the dominant approach to poverty, this book will be of interest to scholars working in the fields of South Asian studies, Indian Political Economy, contemporary political theories, poverty studies, neo-liberalism, sociology and social anthropology as well as development studies.

Originally published in 1987 Pressure for the Poor looks at the debate surrounding the role of pressure groups in policy making. It closely relates theories of pressure group behaviour with the findings of research into the poverty lobby in the UK. The analysis is based on interviews with leading activists in more than forty interest groups, which are all concerned with trying to influence social security policies of government in the field of income maintenance. The book examines the origins and maintenance of such a wide range of interest groups in in this field, the strategies they pursue, and their impact on policy outcomes.

Global economic recovery in the aftermath of the Great Recession has not been experienced equally: while the share of wealth owned by the richest 3% has grown, the share owned by the poorest 90% continues to decline, as reported by Oxfam in 2016. This wealth divide disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority communities. This book underscores the importance of financial capability and asset building (FCAB) practice, policy and research during a period when vulnerable populations face increasingly difficult economic and financial realities. At the same time, retrenchment and privatization of government-sponsored social services have eroded the safety net available for families experiencing poverty or near-poverty conditions. The proliferation of products and services available from both formal and informal financial institutions highlights the need to promote FCAB to avoid and/or recover from financial difficulties, crises and poverty. The contributors to this volume disseminate findings from interventions designed to increase financial knowledge, financial management and financial access across several vulnerable populations, including immigrant communities. Further, they demonstrate the need for culturally sensitive FCAB service delivery, considering opportunities and barriers posed by past and current life situations, experiences and environments experienced by different populations. The book is aimed at policymakers, researchers and practitioners who assist financially vulnerable people. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Community Practice.

This book illustrates the meaning and scope of lifelong learning and different types of poverty reduction programs prevalent generally in the African context and particularly in selected communities in Botswana. Lifelong learning is important for all stakeholders in poverty reduction to develop a better understanding of the scope and extent of poverty so that they can make informed decisions on best ways of tackling poverty. The book succinctly showcases community development and engagement initiatives and experiences from selected African universities and how the interaction of the universities and their respective communities resulted in a major transformation in the lives of poor families through exposure to some engagement strategies that effectively gave them a better future in their fight against poverty. This book develops in the reader a better understanding of the dynamics and dilemma of poverty and its negative effects on individuals and communities. But it answers the plight of the poor by equipping them with effective and practical tools to transform their lives and take full control of their destiny. * Provides a conceptual understanding of lifelong learning * Describes practical aspects and indicators of poverty and how it requires tackling through a multi-sectoral approach * Focuses on poverty reduction in all fronts, including development of an entrepreneurship mind-set

This book analyzes the discourse generated by pundits, politicians, and artists to examine how poverty and the income gap is framed through specific modes of representation. Set against the dichotomy of the structural narrative of poverty and the opportunity narrative, Lemke's modified concept of precarity reveals new insights into the American situation as well as into the textuality of contemporary demands for equity. Her acute study of a vast range of artistic and journalistic texts brings attention to a mode of representation that is itself precarious, both in the modern and etymological sense, denoting both insecurity and entreaty. With the keen eye of a cultural studies scholar her innovative book makes a necessary contribution to academic and popular critiques of the social effects of neoliberal capitalism.

The goal of this book is to join social movement analysis with collective action theory. To that end, the author introduces the organizational empowerment model of collective action. All social movement theories lack a discussion of the influence of movement organization on the tactics of an organization. A national survey of social movement organizations is employed to develop a model of how the organizational features of the local group, competition among social movement organizations, the political settings of the organization, and organizational empowerment influence collective action style. This model will allow for testing some long held assumptions about organizational change as well as assumptions about the efficacy of poor people organized to achieve change.

Manohar Pawar discusses the relevance and importance of social policy for water issues. By analysing several interrelated perspectives on water, he suggests core values as bases for formulating and implementing social policies so as to provide universal free access to safe drinking water for all, particularly for the most poor and disadvantaged.

That was the simple yet groundbreaking question William T. Vollmann asked in cities and villages around the globe. The result of Vollmann's fearless inquiry is a view of poverty unlike any previously offered.

Poor People struggles to confront poverty in all its hopelessness and brutality, its pride and abject fear, its fierce misery and quiet resignation, allowing the poor to explain the causes and consequences of their impoverishment in their own cultural, social, and religious terms. With intense compassion and a scrupulously unpatronizing eye, Vollmann invites his readers to recognize in our fellow human beings their full dignity, fallibility, pride, and pain, and the power of their hard-fought resilience.