World Poverty: New Policies to Defeat an Old Enemy (Studies in Poverty, Inequality & Social Exclusion)

WORLD POVERTY......Page 2
Contents......Page 4
Notes on contributors......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction: The human condition is structurally unequal......Page 12
International anti-poverty policies......Page 15
Anti-poverty policies in rich countries......Page 17
Anti-poverty policies in poor countries......Page 19
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international......Page 23
Poverty......Page 28
Social exclusion......Page 29
Building on international agreement......Page 30
Social polarisation......Page 31
A personal history of social polarisation......Page 32
A global trend......Page 33
Explaining polarisation......Page 34
Conclusion: the invention of the international welfare state......Page 42
Introduction......Page 50
Rising inequality and the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’......Page 52
An alternative approach to explaining earnings inequality......Page 59
Can redistribution offset market inequality?......Page 64
Conclusions......Page 69
International anti-poverty policies......Page 78
European Union anti-poverty policies......Page 79
Implications for poverty measurement......Page 83
Absolute and overall poverty......Page 84
The measurement of poverty by international agencies......Page 85
Poverty measurement in the European Union......Page 89
Producing meaningful and internationally comparable poverty statistics......Page 91
International measurement of standard of living (deprivation)......Page 92
Cost of ending poverty......Page 96
Conclusions......Page 99
Administrative trends......Page 108
Poverty-related trends......Page 110
Welfare: its beginning and evolution......Page 111
The beginning of ‘reform’......Page 113
The birth of workfare......Page 114
The success debate: what are TANF’s outcomes?......Page 116
Programme ‘successes’......Page 117
Purported successes and the necessity of close examination......Page 118
Critiquing TANF’s success: faulty criteria and areas for improvement......Page 120
Evaluating TANF on broader criteria......Page 121
Reauthorisation of TANF: an opportunity for reflection on workfare in the US......Page 123
Changing the low-wage labour market......Page 125
Improving other social programmes......Page 129
Implications for other nations......Page 130
What will be done?......Page 134
Social exclusion: the new paradigm......Page 144
The fight against social exclusion in European Union member states......Page 147
Trends in poverty and social exclusion in the EC member states......Page 148
Minimum incomes......Page 155
Access to the labour market......Page 161
Access to social services......Page 163
EC law and policies with regard to social exclusion......Page 165
Introduction......Page 172
Transformation of the social security systems in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands......Page 173
The Czech Republic......Page 174
The Netherlands......Page 177
Conditionality of solidarity and the legitimacy of the social security system......Page 180
Conditionality of solidarity......Page 181
Perception of the present social security system and its legitimacy......Page 184
Conclusions......Page 189
Introduction......Page 196
Functions and dysfunctions of the means test......Page 198
The poverty trap......Page 201
Means testing and social division......Page 203
Non-take-up......Page 206
Conclusions......Page 211
The historical setting......Page 222
A theory of adjustment......Page 223
Composition of adjustment......Page 224
Facilities of adjustment......Page 225
The Ghanaian situation......Page 226
Political......Page 228
Character of adjustment......Page 230
Segments of reform......Page 232
Poverty in Ghana......Page 234
Adjustment effects on poverty......Page 246
Distributional effects......Page 247
Labour......Page 248
Increased inequality......Page 249
National debt......Page 250
Poverty alleviation under adjustment......Page 251
Conclusion: poverty reduction strategy in Ghana......Page 252
Social funds in the context of structural adjustment......Page 258
Overview of social funds......Page 260
Key organisational concerns of social funds......Page 262
Social funds, targeting and poverty reduction......Page 268
Conclusions......Page 271
Introduction......Page 276
Environmental health and the ‘brown agenda’......Page 277
The social dimensions of urban water supply and sanitation......Page 278
Technical and managerial issues in urban water supply and sanitation......Page 279
Urban water supply and sanitation in post-apartheid Johannesburg......Page 281
The politics of urban services in Johannesburg......Page 285
Policies for water supply and sanitation......Page 287
Conclusions......Page 290
Introduction......Page 296
Living in an urbanising world......Page 298
Changing perspectives on poverty......Page 300
Widening perspectives on urban poverty......Page 301
Livelihoods: recognising the multidimensional nature of urban poverty......Page 304
International housing policy iterations......Page 305
Tenants, landlords and housing tenure......Page 307
Social relations and rental housing markets......Page 308
Opportunity as an asset......Page 309
Conclusion: the starting point matters in determining tenure choice......Page 312
Introduction......Page 322
Incidence and patterns of urban poverty......Page 323
Safety nets for the urban population......Page 331
Assessment of UI and MLSI......Page 334
Improving the social safety net......Page 343
Appendix: Derivation of poverty lines for measuring urban poverty......Page 345
Introduction......Page 350
Inter-generational relations and the mechanisms of redistribution......Page 352
The South African context......Page 354
Health......Page 355
Welfare policy reform......Page 356
Social grants and the old-age pension......Page 357
The contribution of older persons......Page 358
The meaning of old age
......Page 359
Organisational activities......Page 360
Livelihood activities......Page 361
Poverty and vulnerability......Page 362
Abuse of older persons......Page 364
Access to support and services......Page 366
Conclusion......Page 367
Theoretical context......Page 376
The powers behind the scene
......Page 377
The reassessment of the power of transnational corporations......Page 379
International financial agencies......Page 380
The World Bank......Page 381
Technical limitations of the World Bank’s ‘partial’ poverty line......Page 383
The Bank’s definition of poverty assessed......Page 386
Approaches by other agencies......Page 389
Developing an alternative poverty line......Page 391
Conclusion......Page 392
Introduction......Page 402
Global poverty trends......Page 403
Is $1-per-day a valid poverty gauge?......Page 405
Are statistics for China unduly biasing global poverty trends?......Page 407
Is much of the global poverty debate about ‘misplaced concreteness’?......Page 409
Is equity good for the poor?......Page 410
Is a social shock absorber feasible and affordable?......Page 412
Conclusion......Page 416
The case for an EU aid target: important and opportune......Page 426
An EU target......Page 429
Arguments against an EU aid target......Page 431
17. Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy......Page 438
Mass poverty......Page 440
The problems of the Washington Consensus......Page 441
Steps to moderate the international hierarchy of power......Page 443
World trade and employment......Page 444
Redistribution and human rights......Page 446
The key role in an anti-poverty strategy for social security, linked to human rights......Page 448
Appendix A; Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty......Page 458
Appendix B: Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national......Page 462
Index......Page 468