Anti-Poverty Policies and Anti-Poor Philosophies
Year: 2010
Type: preprint
Abstract: In this paper, the many policies, philosophies, and theories which claim to help the poor, but actually hurt them are discussed. The most prominent recent example is that of the Structural Adjustment Programs vigorously pushed by the World Bank. Their contribution to increasing poverty has been documented by many authors, and even the World Bank has acknowledged their failure. The main theme of this paper is that only a small minority (the top 1%) benefits from the exploitation of the poor. However, in democratic societies, they must acquire the support of the majority to carry out these policies. This process of generating support requires the fabrication of theories which support and justify such exploitation as necessary and reasonable.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: Asad Zaman
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1567810552