Poverty and Development in Latin America: Public Policies and Development Pathways - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156549508X ISBN 13: 9781565495081

Publisher: Kumarian Press, 2013

Synopsis

Poverty is still widespread in Latin America, in spite of over five decades of international development efforts to eradicate it. While some progress was made during the first decade of the new Millennium, at least until the onset of the global food and economic crises, there are still over one hundred and eighty million people in the region who unable to meet their basic needs. This is the ‘poverty problematic’ that is at the center of this book. It addresses what are perhaps the most important questions of our time: What are the root causes of poverty? And how can it be overcome? Also, with regards to the recent progress in the so-called war against poverty, the editors ask: How real is this progress? What or whose actions are responsible for this achievement? Through a critical analysis of public policies and development pathways, Poverty and Development in Latin America provides nuanced responses to these questions. The major conclusion reached and shared by the editors is that poverty reduction cannot be sustained with an anti-poverty strategy based only on social inclusion and economic assistance, or humanitarian relief. It requires a substantive change in the structure of inequality, and a confrontation of the relations of production and power that sustain this structure.

About this title

About the Author:

Henry Veltmeyer lived and worked for six years in South America before coming to Canada to pursue a doctoral program in Political Science and subsequently beginning his academic career in the Sociology Department at St. Mary’s University. He has participated in the university’s Atlantic Canada Studies program and founded the program in International development in 1985. He also served for eight years as Coordinator of this program in addition to eight years as chair of the Sociology Department.

Review:

"At a time when almost all Latin American countries have either partially or completely abandoned disastrous Washington consensus policies, and when so many Latin American governments at all levels are successfully experimenting with radical new institution-driven poverty and local development policies, this edited volume by Henry Veltmeyer could not have come at a better time. It’s a triumph of passionate yet careful analysis. The individual chapter authors all succeed in cutting through the usual reflexively uplifting bumph surrounding most international donor-driven policy interventions, and in so doing they help to reveal both the real rationale and the genuine impact of such interventions on the poor. If your interest lies in resolving or simply researching poverty in Latin America, or anywhere else for that matter, you really need to get hold of this truly excellent book right away."

"Why yet another book on poverty? While ‘making poverty history’ was a slogan which captured the imagination of many, poverty continues to be the major development problem today. This book provides fresh insights into the reasons for this failure alongside some partial successes. The authors analyze the key theoretical strands in the debates on poverty and examine in a nuanced and evidenced based manner a variety of poverty reduction policies implemented in diverse contexts. The readers will also find in this instructive book an analysis of the struggles by social movements against this unequal world as well as proposals for tackling the structural causes of poverty."

About this edition

• Publisher: Kumarian Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 156549508X
• ISBN 13: 9781565495081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Veltmeyer Henry, Tetreault Darcy