This is a pioneering work on "karayuki-san", impoverished Japanese women sent abroad to work as prostitutes from the 1860s to the 1920s. The narrative follows the life of one such prostitute, Osaki, who is persuaded as a child of ten to accept cleaning work in Sandakan, North Borneo, and then forced to work as a prostitute in a Japanese brothel, one of the many such brothels that were established throughout Asia in conjunction with the expansion of Japanese business interests. Yamazaki views Osaki as the embodiment of the suffering experienced by all Japanese women, who have long been oppressed under the dual yoke of class and gender. This tale provides the historical and anthropological context for understanding the sexual exploitation of Asian women before and during the Pacific War and for the growing flesh trade in Southeast Asia and Japan today. Young women are being brought to Japan with the same false promises that enticed Osaki to Borneo 80 years ago. Yamazaki Tomoko, who herself endured many economic and social hardships during and after the war, has devoted her life to documenting the history of the exchange of women between Japan and other Asian countries since 1868. She has worked directly with "karayuki-san", military comfort women, war orphans, repatriates, women sent as picture brides to China and Manchuria, Asian women who have wed into Japanese farming communities, and Japanese women married to other Asians in Japan.

Forgotten People deals with people living at the fringes of the Indonesian society. It describes and analyses their livelihoods and styles of making a living from an insider perspective. While Indonesia has experienced steady economic growth for more than a decade, the livelihoods and lifestyles of poor people and migrants confronted with poverty and insecurity have received less attention. This book describes and analyses diversity in livelihood strategies, risk-taking and local forms of social security (social welfare) of people living below or close to the Indonesian poverty line. It puts two categories of forgotten people at the centre. Peasants, living in remote areas in rural Java, and Madurese migrants craving for a better life in urban and rural East Kalimantan.

This important collection of Margaret Pelling's essays brings together her key studies of health, medicine and poverty in Tudor and Stuart England - including a number published here for the first time. They show that - then as now - health and medical care were everyday obsessions of ordinary people in the Tudor and Stuart era. Margaret Pelling's book brings this vital dimension of the early modern world in from the periphery of specialist study to the heart of the concerns of social, economic and cultural historians.

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 is one of the most important pieces of social legislation ever enacted. Its principles and the workhouse system dominated attitudes to welfare provision for the next 80 years. This new "Seminar Study" explores the changing ideas to poverty over this period and assesses current debates on Victorian attitudes to the poor. David Englander reviews the old system of poor relief; he considers how the New Poor Law was enacted and received and looks at how it worked in practice. The chapter on the Scottish experience will be particularly welcomed, as will Dr Englander's discussion of the place of the Poor Law within British history.

This book addresses the long-standing global issue of poverty. An introductory chapter explores concepts and definitions of poverty, the subsequent chapters providing detailed examinations of poverty in ten different countries: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malta, The Netherlands, The Philippines and Zimbabwe.
Each chapter follows a consistent format, to facilitate comparison and focuses on the following issues:-
* the socio-economic and historical context within which poverty exists
* the extent and nature of poverty
its causes
* the measures that have been taken to mitigate it.
This book will be essential reading for students of social policy and administration as well as development studies and anthropology.

Addressing the topic of hunger and food security in Western Africa, the contributing authors to this volume are anthropologists who seek to understand the sociocultural factors involved in the environmental and economic aspects of food production. With an emphasis on technology and the changing patterns of resource use, case studies from regions of Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone reveal how local farmers are responding to change and to the problems of food security. The book also offers a comparative approach to discussions of diverse agricultural systems, both within and across cultural areas, to present wide-ranging implications for planning and policy.

Are poverty, misery, famine, disease and war inevitably part of the human condition? Will the creations of science become uncontrollable and socially dangerous, like Frankenstein's monster? Or can science and education create a world of material plenty - a war-free world, where the benevolent, creative and intellectual sides of human nature will have a chance to flourish?

The idea that Britain, the US and other western societies are witnessing the rise of an underclass of people at the bottom of the social heap, structurally and culturally distinct from traditional patterns of "decent" working-class life, has become increasingly popular in the 1990s. Anti-work, anti-social, and welfare dependent cultures are said to typify this new "dangerous class" and "dangerous youth" are taken as the prime subjects of underclass theories. Debates about the family and single-parenthood, about crime and about unemployment and welfare reforms have all become embroiled in underclass theories which, whilst highly controversial, have had remarkable influence on the politics and policies of governments in Britain and the US. This text addresses the underclass idea in relation to contemporary youth. It focuses upon unemployment, training, the labour market, crime, homelessness, and parenting. It should be of interest to students of social policy, sociology and criminology.

"Hunger and Shame" is a passionate account of child malnutrition in a relatively wealthy populace, the Chagga in Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Views of family members, health workers and government officials provide insights into the complex of ideas, institutions and human fallibility that sustain the shame of malnutrition in the mountains.
Discussing the moral and practical dilemmas posed by the presence of malnourished children in the community, the authors explore the shame associated with child hunger in relation to social organization, colonial history and the global economy. Their discussions challenge the reader to ask fundamental questions concerning ethics, the politics of poverty and shame and social relations.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415916135

Drawing on research from around the world, this atlas gives shape and meaning to statistics, making it an indispensable resource for understanding global inequalities and an inspiration for social and political action. Inequality underlies many of the challenges facing the world today, and "The Atlas of Global Inequalities" considers the issue in all its dimensions. Organized in thematic parts, it maps not only the global distribution of income and wealth, but also inequalities in social and political rights and freedoms. It describes how inadequate health services, unsafe water, and barriers to education hinder people's ability to live their lives to the full; assesses poor transport, energy, and digital communication infrastructures and their effect on economic development; and highlights the dangers of unclean and unhealthy indoor and outdoor environments. Through world, regional, and country maps, and innovative and intriguing graphics, the authors unravel the complexity of inequality, revealing differences between countries as well as illustrating inequalities within them.
Topics include: the discrimination suffered by children with a disability; the impact of inefficient and dangerous household fuels on the daily lives and long-term health of those who rely on them; the unequal opportunities available to women; and the reasons for families' descent into, and reemergence from, poverty.

World Hunger explores the nature and extent of contemporary world hunger, explaining why hunger still persists while agricultural production increases and genetic engineering revolutionises food production and distribution. Numerous case studies, drawn from the North and South, illustrate the diversity of diets in the world and the connections between the global and local. Globalisation and access to food in the global supermarket is examined.
Explaining the essential political character of hunger, the author exposes popular myths and identifies positive changes where prevailing inequalities and ideologies are challenged and it becomes possible to envisage a world where hunger is history.

eBook available with sample pages: 020313687X

Series Information:
Nissan Institute/RoutledgeCurzon Japanese Studies

This title was first published in 2000: Analyzing the poverty trends in Mexico during the 1980s and early 1990s, this work is concerned with the extent to which changes in the levels of poverty have modified the extent of participation in the labour market. The period covered is 1982 to 1994, when the Mexican economy experienced an economic crisis and the government set in motion the main stabilization policies and structural adjustment reforms. The author challenges the idea that adjustment reforms have had "social costs" in terms of income and formal employment loss. Despite income losses, well-being indicators continued to improve; and employment statistics show that employment grew despite the economic crisis and adjustment. The paradox of household income decline and the increase in income poverty is explained.

Calcutta is notorious for its pavement dwellers, street children, and scavengers that have become a portrait of the worst sort of human degradation. In this illuminating critique, Thomas investigates the standard solutions - improved housing, increased job creation, and intervention of social services agencies - only to come to the conclusion that such initiatives have little effect on the inherent nature of the problem of poverty. Based on historical and anthropological findings, and the author's visits to the slums of Calcutta, what becomes clear is that even in the midst of great poverty, there is a nobility of character, a vitality of ethnic and cultural ties, and an energy that bring out inventiveness and ingenuity in the lives of the poor. If Calcutta's poverty is not to be an intractable problem, these internal forces must be awakened to generate solutions. Illustrated with stunning photographs, Thomas's reflections provide new insight into an age-old problem.

"A provocative and powerful collection of eclectic writings on the central moral issue of our times". -- Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation

"Double Exposure delivers a double dose of smart writing, controlled anger, and devasting common sense". -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed

This book provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major topics surrounding our country s most troublesome and seemingly intractable social problem: the intersection of race and poverty.

The sixty-three contributions -- by some of the nation's leading thinkers and activists (Nathan Glazer, Roger Wilkins, Senator Bill Bradley, Brent Staples, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Manning Marable, Howard Winant, Benjamin DeMott, Max Frankel, Herbert Gans, Henry Hampton, Julian Bond, and many others), representing a variety of disciplines and backgrounds -- are organized under seven key topics: affirmative action; the "permanence of racism" thesis; the use and utility of racial and ethnic categories; multiculturalism; immigration; the "underclass" debate; and democracy/equality.

After more than 20 years of mass unemployment in Britain and throughout much of Europe can the aspiration of "jobs for all" once again become a reality? This text considers the feasibility of full employment in a modern market economy. The book is written by aothors who were pivotal in pushing full employment up the political agenda in the mid 1990s. They identify the hard choices which policy makers must face and discuss why full employment has been so elusive for the past 20 years. The authors examine: the effects of new technology and increased trade; the increased participation of women in the labour market; the impact of labour market regulation on employment; worksharing; how welfare reform can help the long term unemployed into jobs; the role of industrial policy; and reform of pay bargaining.

Working For Full Employment draws upon contributions from experienced labour market experts and public policy analysts. Together they provide a readable and stimulating perspective on new ways to combat mass joblessness. Topics covered include the effects of new technology and increased trade, the increased participation of women in the labour market, the impact of labour market regulation on employment, worksharing, how welfare reforms can help the long-term unemployed into jobs, the role of industrial policy, and reform of pay bargaining. The book's central arguments are also relevant to the concepts of 'social cohesion' and the 'stakeholder economy' which are set to become dominant political themes in the next few years. This accessible book will be a valuable guide to economists, policy-makers and everyone with an interest in employment changes.

In two volumes these books review and expand the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs. Volume 1 provides detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in this field. Volume 2 presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries. The work assesses the success of this policy and provides some startling conclusions. This is essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415095441

Over the last decade, the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs has become increasingly popular. This volume examines the effectiveness of this theory when put into practice. The book presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries and produces some startling conclusions. This work should be essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance. Volume One provides a detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in the field.

Over the last decade, the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs has become increasingly popular. This volume examines the effectiveness of this theory when put into practice. The book presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries and produces some startling conclusions. This work should be essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance. Volume One provides a detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in the field.

Cheal argues that the sociology of poverty has entered a new postmodern phase. The new poverty is about loss of faith-in relationships that were once believed to last a lifetime, and in government programs that we used to think would last for generations. The new poverty is about the economic fall of individuals and countries who used to be affluent and who once dreamed that their affluence would go on forever. It is about the experience of free-falling, without a parachute and without much of a safety net. The new poverty is about people who lose their jobs when their company downsizes. It is about people whose hours of employment are cut in half when the work runs out. And it is about couples who separate, thereby plunging one of them-and probably their children-into a low income level that they had never anticipated. What is new about the new poverty is the sense of surprise-that poverty can hit so suddenly, that people can fall so far before they are caught and lifted up, that the poverty of children still troubles us after a century of progress. The new poverty is about our loss of faith not only in relationships that were once thought to last a lifetime, but also in government programs that we believed would last for generations. Cheal translates the experience of the new poverty into sociological theory and into social statistics. His purpose is to provoke serious, critical reflection about families today and the risks of being poor. An important study for scholars and researchers involved with family issues and social policy.

This study, first published in 1993, analyses the relationship among poverty, food insecurity and commercialization in rural China by employing agricultural household models. Data are derived from a 10,000 household subsample of the annual rural household consumption and expenditure survey.

In this new edition of his acclaimed study of American poverty, Harrell Rodgers carefully analyzes the most recent data on the profile of poor families and the underlying causes of the dramatic increase in chronically poor, mother-only households. After evaluating the record of past anti-poverty efforts, Rodgers examines the many new and proposed approaches to welfare reform, their prospects of success, and the consequences of failure - both for the children of poverty and for a nation that leaves such a high proportion of its citizenry, its future, at risk.

This concise analysis of America's welfare crisis has been fully updated to evaluate the status of anti-poverty efforts on the eve of welfare reform.

"A very readable, well-organized overview of the factors which have created poverty among white, black, and hispanic female-headed families". -- Women & Politics (on a previous edition)