Challenge of Third World Development, The (4th Edition)

Book Description

This book explores political, economic, and social issues common to diverse Third World countries. It stresses the themes of democratization, modernization, and dependency theory, examining the nature of underdevelopment. The text analyzes the major political and socio economic rifts that divide many of these nations and the efforts being made to understand and address these challenges.

Customer Reviews:

Poor writing and lacks originality.......2007-06-28

This is an extremely dry book. There are no maps (which is hard to believe for a political science book/text) and the charts Handelman uses are irrelevant. The writing style is frustrating to follow. Every section is out of chronological order.
My biggest peeve of this book is that Handelman doesn't provide his own research. He basically paraphrases other works and combined them all into a book. Its a cop out way of writing a political science book. None of his ideas are his and he lacks critical analysis necessary for a good political science text.
For example, Handelmann associates modernization with westernization however this isn't necessarily accurate. Many countries modernize without westernizing. To be fair, many of these same countries do absorb few western qualities but after the initial modernization process, they shed any western values. In fact, this produces a sharper anti-western sentiment as these modernized countries believe that westernization is not a necessary component of modernization. Handelmann does not distinguish between modernization and westernization- it is too favorable an argument that lacks critical analysis. Basically, Handelmann is one lazy dude trying to make a quick buck! Don't buy this book. I had it for a political science course and I wanted to throw it in the trask after reading every chapter. If you have to read it for a course then critically analyze Handelmann's arguments because they are all flawed- bonus participation points~

Enlightening........2006-08-20

This was my text for an undergraduate sociology course. Handelman did an exceptional job in presenting the multiple inter-related facets that complicate the development of Third World nations. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the plight of these countries. My only disappointment was his underlyng premise that democracy is the answer. I suspect that is the belief in most of Western society. However, I am not convinced.

to better the understand the third world.......2002-11-20

Handelman provides what the third world has to deal with to become industrialized democracies. He foucses on underdevelopment, democratic changes. religion and politics, ethnic conflict, women in development, agrarian reform, and rapid uranization among other topics. THe book was published recently so it even has some information about 9-11 and its impact.

Good source for third world development.

Great Textbook and Resource Tool.......2002-04-14

I had to read this book for an undergraduate course on the politics of the developing world. It can be difficult to read at times if the reader does not have some understanding of the developing world or the theories that surround their slow development into modernity. Overall it is an wonderful text for building a knowledge base and an excelllent reference tool.

State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery

Average customer rating:

Provocative, but no new topic

State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery
Atul Kohli
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Developmental State (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)
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Embedded Autonomy

ASIN: 0521545250

Book Description

Why have some developing countries industrialized and become more prosperous rapidly while others have not? Focusing on South Korea, Brazil, India, and Nigeria, this study compares the characteristics of fairly functioning states and explains why states in some parts of the developing world are more effective. It emphasizes the role of colonialism in leaving behind more or less effective states, and the relationship of these states with business and labor in helping explain comparative success in promoting economic progress.

Customer Reviews:

Provocative, but no new topic.......2006-12-08

[CONTENT]
In his book State-Directed Development, Atul Kohli, Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, asks the long-discussed and controversial question why some countries have succeeded in creating wealth and raising the standards of living of their citizens while other countries have failed despite extensive efforts.

To approach the question, Kohli presents four country cases in a comparative study - Korea, India, Brazil and Nigeria - providing extensive information on each country's colonial history, its class structures as well as the political and economic decisions that took place since their independence.

Kohli divides the wide array of developing countries into three ideal-type categories of states: cohesive-capitalist states, fragmented-multiclass states, and neopatrimonial states. He points out that none of the four samples in the study ever reflected any of those ideal-type categories (though some have come close to one or another), and, in addition, that states tended at different times with varying governments and regimes to different categories.

Cohesive-capitalist states represent, according to Kohli, nations with a strong, centralized government and are organized along a professional and meritocratic bureaucracy. The state in this example is insulated from any elite or popular interests, utilizes nationalism to mobilize support and to overcome fragmentation within the population, cooperates closely with businesses and investors, and intervenes heavily in the economy to enforce a rapid industrialization process. The nations that came closest to this description in Kohli's sample of case studies are Korea under Park Chung Hee and Brazil during the Vargas regime. On the other extreme of the scale, Kohli identifies neopatrimonial states, which are depicted as structurally weak states, taken hostage by a small cliqué of corrupt leaders whose only interest is personal aggrandizement. In a neepatrimonial state, corruption and rent-seeking is endemic, and leaders have no commitment to any public greater good. The nation that comes closest to this description among Kohli's sample is Nigeria for most of its post-colonial history. Finally, Kohli describes the fragmented-multiclass state, a state in which the population is fragmented along ethnic, tribal, class, religious or regional lines, but which is nonetheless ruled by a democratic regime. To maintain the ability for political action, the leaders of the latter state frequently furnish conflicting promises to different interest groups, while falling short on delivering them accordingly. Kohli sees the latter category relected in post-independence India.

While neopatrimonial states are likely to fail in creating growth and development for understandable reasons in an environment of endemic corruption and rent-seeking, Kohli argues that "[c]ohesive-capitalist states have proved to be the most effective agents of rapid industrialization in the global periphery" (p381). This is due to their ability to define and to enforce narrow economic goals, as well as to align all domestic resources and rally all classes - workers as well as capital-endowed elites - along a common economic agenda. The economic performance of fragmented-multiclass states, Kohli argues, end up somewhere between cohesive-capitalist and neopatrimonial states, with middling economic results due to recurrent swings in their political focus to accommodate changing pressures of conflicting interest groups.

Up to here, Kohli's concept of state categories does not exceedingly differ from Peter Evans's theory of developmental states which classifies states according to their ability to act as agents of societal transformation and growth. Kohli's neopatrimonial state equals Evans's predatory state, the fragmented-multiclass state is similar to Evans's intermediate state, and the cohesive-capitalist state seems to be comparable to Evans's developmental state. (Evans, "Embedded Autonomy," 1995) Kohli, however, distinguishes his understanding between the concept of the cohesive-capitalist state and Evans's development state as follows: "[P]olitical capacities are rooted not in the levels of information exchanged between state and business [as in Evans's developmental state] but in the amount of power the states command to extract resources, to define priority areas of expenditure, and to instill a sense of discipline and purpose in society." (385) The `discipline' Kohli refers to materializes in the "control of labor, downward penetration of state authority so as to silence opposition and control behavior, and nationalist mobilization so as to put a peacetime economy on a war-time footing." (p389) In describing Brazil's experience, Kohli becomes more explicit in outlining what it takes to be a cohesive-capitalist state: "systematic labor repression which generally kept wage gains well behind productivity gains as workers were mobilized to work hard in the name of the nation."(p392)

With the repressive nature of Kohli's cohesive-capitalist state in mind, the book's principal thesis of a cohesive-capitalist state as a "necessary but not a sufficient condition for rapid industrialization in the developing world" (374) becomes provocative. Do developing countries in fact need authoritarian regimes for late late industrialization? Very troubling, at first sight, some prominent examples of recent history - Brazil, Chile, China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan among them - seem to offer some evidence for it. Indeed, the question whether rapid industrialization necessitates an authoritarian regime has aroused academics for several decades, and considerable academic work has been done.

Anti-authoritarians have pointed to several arguments. First, undoubtedly, development comprises much more than industrialization. While Kohli's book is titled State-Directed Development, his understanding of development is clearly restricted to the term's narrowest sense, which is industrialization. This is further reflected in the various illustrations of the country studies: while rich historical information is provided to each country, there is little information on the simultaneous repression and gross human rights abuses that took place under Korea's dictator Park Chung Hee, the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea, or the Vargas regime in Brazil. Equally, Kohli conveniently ignores in over 400 dense pages any discussion of the notion of development as anything beyond pure industrialization. (see e.g. Amartya Sen's capability approach in: Sen, "Development as Freedom," 1999)

Second, it is frequently argued that authoritarian regimes offer a better protection of property rights, thereby providing a greater incentive for local and foreign enterprises to invest. Barro ("A cross-country study of growth, saving, and government," NBER Working Paper No. 2855, 1989, p22) rejects this notion, arguing that he could only find three former dictatorships in the entire world (Chile, Singapore, and South Korea) that had not engaged in any expropriation.

Third, Pranab Bardhan, developmental economist at UC Berkely, challenges the assumption that the state is the sole potent actor that can bring about development, and refers to a decentralized, community-based approach to development (Bardhan, "Symposium on the State and Economic Development", Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 1990, Vol. 4, No. 3 pp3-9).

Finally, but most important, advocates of authoritarian regimes have not been able to pinpoint to any motivational causality why a dictatorial regime - once it was in power - would need to show any concern for the greater public good and long-term growth. Instead, in a realist framework, it was more likely that it joined with elite interests to minimize the risk of another coup d'état - the exact opposite of hoped-for state autonomy and insulation.

Bardhan summarizes that "it is not so much authoritarianism per se which makes a difference, but the extent of insulation (or `relative autonomy') that the decision-makers can organize against the ravages of short-run pork-barrel politics. Authoritarianism is neither necessary nor sufficient for this insulation." (ibid.: 5)

To conclude, Kohli's State-Directed Development sheds new light on a question that has long divided social science into different camps. The detailed historic knowledge presented in Kohli's book will certainly make an impact in development economics as well as cultural and colonial studies, and lead to further studies on the elusive origin of growth.

[STYLE]
The book consists of some massive 425 pages. Reading is tiring, since margins are kept very small on all sides of the page. Changing margines, using common font size and the distances between lines would probably result in a total of some 650 pages.

The book's overall structure is simple: an introductory chapter, 4 chapters (each presenting one case study) and a massive conclusion chapter (60 pages). Within the chapters, structure is kept minimal which makes it at times hard to follow. Historical facts are at times repeated over and over again. The conclusion chapter repeats the essence of every case country once again, which made it necessary to interject another 12-page section named "concluding reflections" within the conclusion chapter itself.

For busy readers, I would recommend to read the introductory and jump to the concluding chapter. Both combined are some dense 85 pages (which would be in common book printing standards still around 120 pages). If you would like to look into each country case, watch out for the paragraphs starting with "To sum up, ..."

December 2006

Average customer rating:

Development as rhetoric
a wonderful work
Connecting economic and political development
Freedom as a better goal than GDP
Excelent book

Development as Freedom
Amartya Sen
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375406190
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Book Description

Development as Freedom is a general exposition of the economic ideas and analyses of Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science. This brilliant and indispensable treatise compellingly analyzes the nature of contemporary economic development from the perspective of human freedom. Freedom, Sen persuasively argues, is at once the ultimate goal of economic life and the most efficient means of realizing general welfare. It is a good to be enjoyed by the world's entire population. Drawing on moral and political philosophy and technical economic analysis, this work gives the nonspecialist reader powerful access to Sen's paradigm-altering vision and vividly shows how he, in the words of the Nobel Prize committee, has both "restored an ethical dimension to the discussion of economic problems" and "opened up new fields of study for subsequent generations of researchers."

To a world divided between those who fear the ruthlessness of the free market under prevailing conditions of global capitalism and those who fear the terror of authoritarian states that stifle indi-
vidual liberty as well as initiative, Development as Freedom presents a necessary intellectual and moral framework of analysis and scrutiny. By rigorously addressing one of the largest questions of all--"What is the relation between our economic wealth and our ability to live as we would like?"--Sen allows economics once again, as it did in the time of Adam Smith, to address the social basis of individual well-being and freedom. He also confronts the human dilemma that "despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority--of people." This is a landmark work that shows how in individual human freedom--the exclusive possession, Sen shows, of no particular nation, region or historical, intellectual or religious tradition--lies the capacity for political participation, economic development and social progress.

Customer Reviews:

Development as rhetoric.......2007-06-17

This is Amartya Sen's, Nobel Prize winner in Economics and collaborator of Martha Nussbaum, most famous work. In "Development as Freedom" he gives a broad and general overview of his views on development economics, and in particular on the priorities that must be made in creating social and economic policy in the developing world. The general thesis of the book is that many economic advisors have far too much relied on measurements of real income alone, and ignored the fact that income and wealth are a means to an end, and that this end is freedom (broadly defined as capacity); and that for this reason any policy which increases income but decreases freedom must be rejected. This thesis of itself is strong and well-made, and a deserved rebuttal to the ideas of many Asian development economists and politicians who see a right-wing dictatorship à la Lee Kwan Yew as the most effective way to create economic growth, and therefore desirable.

But that is, unfortunately, the only point of the book. Sen's actual discussion of which economic policies would lead to the results of increasing freedom is so general as to be practically unusable. He has a completely unwarranted faith in the capacity of markets (albeit interventionist ones) to create these increases in freedom, and incorrectly claims that the proof is overwhelmingly in favor of markets leading to growth on their own, when the evidence is in reality wildly conflicting and the strongest proofs are against markets. What makes this even worse is his ignorant conflating of markets as such with capitalism, which leads to such silly canards as dismissing criticisms of capitalism as not understanding freedom, since after all, what can be more free than freedom of exchange? In this way, his defense of mainstream development policy is worse than undergraduate level.

Moreover, the very greatest part of the book is filled with meaningless and saccharine rhetoric of the most astonishingly unintelligent kind. In each short chapter addressing some major aspect of development economics and its problematic, he will, after much talk, come to such stunning conclusions as "take the middle road" and "there are arguments for and against interventionism and we must consider both", as well as the whopping conclusion that we need to take the whole spectrum of effects on people into account when suggesting policies. One hardly needs to have a Nobel Prize to come to these 'insights'.

To add insult to injury, his discussion of past economic policies and economists in general is incompetent and historically dubious. He claims that no democratic state has experienced famines, but then qualifies this by excluding colonies of such states, without however giving any reason for this - creating a wholly ad hoc argument for an unproven link between 'democracy' (which apparently includes pre-Reform Bill Britain) and well-being. Similarly, he constantly cherry-picks quotes from Adam Smith to cast him as a concerned and judicious proponent of development, while a more objective look at the entirety of Smith's oeuvre would quickly reveal the degree to which he appeared as a propagandist for the Glasgow mercantile and industrial interests. It must be said in Sen's favor though that he does recognize that famines can easily occur where free markets are present, which at least puts him at a level above most apologetics for economic orthodoxy.

On the whole this book is a major disappointment. Sen's vague and hand-waving rhetoric is useless for any kind of policy purpose and yet fills most of the book, even obscuring the one point he does have about freedom as end and means. With the idea he originally had, he could have done a lot better, but his unwarranted support for mainstream economics and its equivocations has made this impossible.

a wonderful work .......2007-05-21

This is a must read for all people, the work is not just on economics but how we live our lives. One of the top economists in the world, shows how there is more to economics then just markets. Freedom is more then just free speech, and is critical in human development.

Connecting economic and political development.......2006-09-13

What is economic development? This book argues that economic development is the expansion of human choice; i.e. freedom and capability to do what we want. The emphasis of this books is the duality: freedom and capability. Hence a society can give freedom to its citizens, but if they are not equipped with the mental and/or physical capabilities to use these freedoms, then the freedoms can be meaningless. Therefore, investing in education, providing health care, equal rights and other social programs that improve the capabilities of individuals are often as important to economic progress as building roads, airports and starting up businesses.

The Indian, Nobel-prize winning author of this book backs up this argument with empirical evidence from multiple countries and time periods across the world, with special emphasis on China, India, and other locales in Asia that one might not normally consider as textbook examples of economic development. By comparing specific actions taken by specific governments, the author shows how personal development, in terms of increasing literacy, providing family planning services, and spreading basic health care are often the prerequisite for economic development for a society as a whole. The book backs this up with examples of Japan, Korea, and the US itself; three countries where industrialization and economic growth came after social reform, the spread of basic education, and equalization of rights between genders.

Overall this is a great book. It connects economic policy to human actions, and shows how government policies connect the two. Great reading and highly recommended for all those interested in the social sciences.

Freedom as a better goal than GDP.......2006-07-28

Freedom as a better goal than GDP.

This book describes new concepts and presents important, controversial, conclusions. The concepts are relevant for developed and developing countries. The foundation is Sen's view of well-being formulated as follows: "We all want the capability to live long (without being cut off in our prime) have a good life (rather than a life of misery and unfreedom)" and "We would all like to lead a kind of life that we have reason to value". To achieve that goal requires the removal of unfreedoms like poverty, lack of ability to be accepted for a job, lack of economic opportunities, health problems, discrimination, repression and arbitrary justice.
Freedom is an end in itself a means to be able to lead a satisfactory life. Individual freedom is also a condition for being able to act responsibly. Without opportunities because of a lack of capability, no responsibility. Increasing freedom as a goal is more complete than increasing the GDP per person. People have good reason to want income and wealth precisely because it "produces" freedom. GDP/person and freedom are related. When people can act responsibly because they have capabilities and can a find job, the GDP will increase automatically. .
The book is very rich in "surprising" conclusions all convincingly documented and presented. Only a few will be referred to here.
(1) An important cause of poverty in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia is explosive population growth. If women have the freedom to decide the number of children to have the explosive population growth stops. There is no justification for using violent means to reduce family size. (2) All poor countries can afford basic healthcare and basic education as these are labour intensive and therefore low cost. (3) The opinion that democracy with free speech and elections is not suitable for Asians because of different Asian values has no factual basis.
(4) One of the fundamental freedoms people cherish is to buy what they want from whom they want and sell what they can to whom the want, that is the"free market". The idea that the free market can be left alone and will function perfectly as it is based on self-interest and greed is false. It requires effective legal structures that support the rights ensuing from contracts, that people can trust each and behave decently. Sen warns on the danger of "high minded sentimentality, assuming that all people are peculiarly virtuous and keen to be just" or the equally unrealistic "Low-minded sentimentality, which some economists appear to prefer, that we are only influenced by crude consideration of personal advantage". The free market" to function requires freedom, regulations and ethical values beyond greed and self-interest.
The book is brilliant but requires effort to read. Read at least chapter 1 The perspective on freedom, 6 The importance of democracy, 9 Population, food and freedom, 10 Culture and human rights and 11 Social choice and individual behaviour (100 pages).

Excelent book.......2006-03-23

The ideas presented by Professor Sen is beyond any research already made in the area of development. It's not only about economic development, but it's a new and wider approach to the concepts, theories and values that other scholars had made only superficially. Mr. Sen's development is beyond the general and simplified thought related to a so strict concept like economic and/or social development.

The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order

Average customer rating:

Another brilliant book by Chossudovsky!
Brilliant and Comprehensive
A rigged free market system
The Road to Serfdom
"There are none so blind . . . "

The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order
Michel Chossudovsky
Manufacturer: Global Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0973714700

Book Description

In this new and expanded edition of Chossudovsky's international best-seller, the author outlines the contours of a New World Order which feeds on human poverty and the destruction of the environment, generates social apartheid, encourages racism and ethnic strife and undermines the rights of women. The result as his detailed examples from all parts of the world show so convincingly, is a globalization of poverty.

This book is a skilful combination of lucid explanation and cogently argued critique of the fundamental directions in which our world is moving financially and economically.

In this new enlarged edition -which includes ten new chapters and a new introduction-- the author reviews the causes and consequences of famine in Sub-Saharan Africa, the dramatic meltdown of financial markets, the demise of State social programs and the devastation resulting from corporate downsizing and trade liberalisation.

Published in 11 languages. More than 100,000 copies sold Worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

Another brilliant book by Chossudovsky!.......2007-04-16

Chossudovsky is a brilliant economist and a burning torch for the truth that people are unable to see, hear, or accept due to the propaganda schemas that are embedded in their minds (like a microchip programming) by the global media cartel and the political demagogues.
Chossudovski analyzes the past and the present in relation to debt, globalization, and international financing. He dispels the myth of the good samaritan (like the IMF, the World bank, and the Federal Reserve, etc) that destroys economies of other countries, and impoverish them under the guise of capitalism (actually corporate socialism) and freedom, in order to own them. He clearly elucidates the dollarization process and its role in the New World Order. This book makes a powerful reading that sheds the light on a vanishing truth. I would highly recommend this volume to anyone who is interested in world finance as well as their future, and the future of their children.

Brilliant and Comprehensive.......2006-05-06

Although it saddens me to see a strong literature emerging today that was largely anticipated and ignored by people like David Barnett with his Global Reach work in the 1970's, it is a good thing that strong voices like those of this author are now making very comprehensive documented cases for how corporate power and privatized wealth are collapsing nations, bankrupting economies, and impoverishing more and more people unnecessarily.

The table of contents of this book is extraordinarily details and brilliant in its organization. Although the book is mostly case studies that one can read through rapidly if accepting of the author's key points, this may well be one of the finest itemizations of the ills of the 21st century: corporate power run amok, privatization and concentration of wealth (which is, incidentally, one of the precondition for revolution), the collapse of national and local economies (e.g. Wal-Mart), the dismantling of the welfare safety net in most countries, and the outbreak and spread of famine and civil war.

The author is probably the foremost scholar and commentator on how the "free" market is not so free, and how the existing capitalist system is predatory, aided by locked in privileges that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank impose on nations foolish enough to accept their intervention. In this the author is consistent with Jeffrey Sachs (The End of Poverty) who has put forward the need for a complete make-over of developmental economics, to include an end of the normal business practices of the IMF and the World Bank.

I was tempted to remove one star for lack of sufficient reference to the works of others, but the personal insights and comprehensive review caused me to leave the ranking at five stars. I see a clear pattern emerging in the literature (see my other 700+ reviews) and what I am waiting for is for someone to cut the spines off all these books and "make sense" of the total picture in a manner comprehensible to the indivdual voter.

If we are to restore informed democracy and moral capitalism, this book is one of the foundation stones.

A rigged free market system.......2006-03-30

M. Chossudovsky attacks head on the New World Order imposed by the World Bank (WB0), the IMF and the WTO, calling their economic 'reforms' enforced on countries in distress not less than genocides.

Their 'free market' system is rigged. The WTO agreements grant entrenched rights to the world's largest financial and industrial conglomerates, derogating the ability of national governments to regulate their economies. The IMF programs enforce governments to privatize big chunks of their national economy, liberalize their markets and downsize social provisions (education, health, social security).
Their 'free' market system is synonym of human poverty, destruction of the natural environment, social apartheid, racism and ethnic strife, undermining of women's rights, economic dislocations, forced displacements, landless farmers, shuttered factories and jobless workers.
More, he accuses the IMF of supporting the appropriation of global wealth by speculators through manipulation of currency and commodity markets. It even manipulates itself its economic statistics in order to show that its policies work. Finally, it cooperates with warmongerers and 'peace keepers'.

He illustrates his verdicts with a host of examples.
Somalia: the entire social fabric of the pastoralist economy was undone through duty-free beef and dairy products from the EU.
Rwanda: the restructuring of the agricultural system precipitated the population into destitution, leading to a genocide.
Ethiopia: the Structural Adjustment Programme caused starvation.
Bangladesh: a devaluation and price liberalization exacerbated famine. Deregulation of the grain market meant dumping of US grain surpluses.
Brazil: enhancement of social polarization by supporting the land-owning class.
Peru: after liberalization, the price of bread increased more than 12 times.
Russia: helping the oligarchs.
India (Andhra Pradesh): repeal of minimum wages and support of caste exploitation
Yugoslavia: serving the strategic interests of Germany and the US by cutting the financial arteries between Belgrade and the republics.
Korea, Thailand, Indonesia: the vaults of the central banks (100 billion $) were pillaged by international speculators. The bail-outs of those countries were underwritten and guaranteed by the same Wall Street banks involved in the speculative assaults.

The author proposes a solution which will be extremely difficult to implement in our actual world, where media and governments are controlled by the powerful: democratization of the economic system and ownership structures, disarming of speculation, redistribution of income and wealth and rebuilding the Welfare State.

Michel Chossudovsky's book constitutes a devastating denunciation of an inhuman system sold by economic strangulating wolves clad in sheepskins.
It confirms the forceful analysis of globalization by Joseph Stiglitz.

A must read.

I also recommend a voice from the South: Walden Bello.

The Road to Serfdom.......2005-01-11

I was originally born in Uganda and I can assure you that Africans have always been suspicious of the so-called "aid" they receive since it almost always comes after a crisis that they can't quite explain (like how did a bunch of poor, illiterate preteens get the money to buy those fancy weapons, or why won't aid agencies buy food from the local farmers and distribute THAT).

Suspicions and rumors are insufficient to counter what appears, on the surface, to be international generosity. That is why I am grateful for Chossudosky's contrarian masterwork. It confirms the fears and suspicions regarding a return to colonialism and economic slavery. The fact that Chossudosky was willing to put his career on the line to write this hard-hitting book is worthy of our attention. He shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is a deliberate and systematic campaign of "economic genocide" against Africa and all other resource-rich regions. Neoliberalism have mastered the British colonial-era double-speak of "liberty", "democracy", "markets", etc. "Market liberalization" is nothing more than armed robbery. And "investment" is really nothing more than "asset stripping". The Adam Smith phraseology of free-trade and free markets is used, much like their British predecessors, to recolonize the world. Chossudosky shows how the "Washington Consesus" has embarked on a foreign policy strategy of economic sabotage and "strangulation." As Kissinger famously ordered, in the now declassified National Security Memorandum 200, Africans should be kept from becoming consumers of their own raw materials.

Chossudosky does an enormous favors to us neophytes by decoding the neoclassical econo-babble. His brilliant deconstruction of IMF structural adjustment policies is worth the price of this book alone. But he goes beyond that. He shows how nations can be brought to their knees through currency devaluations and speculative attacks. The whole cynical process of creating the crisis then blaming it on the victims, i.e. the "Asian" Crisis which is in fact an American Crisis, or the excuse used to maintain Odious Debt on impoverished nations: "their corrupt leaders are to blame for the Odious Debt". Yes but those "corrupt" leaders were trained at American military bases (much like the 9/11 hijackers), and are killing us with American made weapons (thanks again Kissinger). Besides, everytimes Africans (or Latin Americans) try to put a reformer or socialist democrat in power, he develops a nasty habit of being assisinated.

This book will make you angry at how long and how often you've been lied to. Everything you thought you knew about economics will be tested as the Machiavellian machinations of international creditors, grain companies, and financial "investors" is revealed in page after riveting page. I also recommend Michael Hudson's Super Imperialism and Horowitz' Emerging Viruses. If it's not out of print then get The Merchants of Grain. Some publishing companies are refusing to publish some of these books because of their controvesial nature so get them before they're made "out of print".

"There are none so blind . . . ".......2004-03-29

With the North American governments and their media flacks noisily championing "economic liberalisation", dissenting voices are muted. The voices of those most directly affected by "globalisation" are fainter yet. Michel Chossudovsky attempts to overcome the raucous proponents of "international free trade" with an examination of just what it does and how it impacts civil societies. The picture he provides isn't pleasant. However, turning away will not cause it to fade from lack of our attention. In fact, reading this book is an eye-opening, if not eyebrow raising experience.

Among the rare critics of globalization Chossudovsky has "on-site" credentials beyond his academic base. He's been on the scene of several nations subjected to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies. He examines the results of these and other international financial agencies' policies. From Chile through Rwanda to Somlia and Korea, he shows how a new form of warfare is under way. Conquest no longer requires bullets to occupy a nation nor suppress a people. Conquerers now wield position papers, American dollars or Euros and trade impositions. Surrender agreements come in the form of "conditions" accompanying loans and investments. These dicta result in the stripping away of social programmes, alienation of subsistence farm holdings and displacement of vast numbers. These people, deprived of income, traditions and opportunity have become a new breed. They are the hopeless poor for which no amount of "aid" can provide succour.

As he demonstrates repeatedly, the mechanism is simple. The formation of the IMF gave financiers, chiefly North American, a cudgel to change governments, force farmers and pastoralists to convert to cash crop economies, and reduce or eliminate government services. The initial steps were instituted by the Bretton Woods conferences designed to restore nations devastated by World War II. Private financial institutions imposed conditions on loans granted to recovering countries. "Recovering" countries rapidly expanded into "developing" countries as these institutions recognised the value of cheap labour in them. Accepting "foreign investment" led to indebtedness difficult to repay. Defaulting was unacceptable to both borrower and lender, leading to new rounds of loans. These, however, rarely reached the borrowing nation since the new funds were set against the older debt. "Servicing the debt" meant imposition of stringent conditions, ranging from privatisation of services, amalgamation of small land holdings to produce crops to be purchased cheaply, but sold at inflated prices. The consumers of these goods are you and your neighbours.

Each of the nations Chossudovsky examines suffers the same schedule of "structural adjustment programmes" imposed by the IMF. These SAPs outline the changes a nation must endure to receive the "benefits" of globalization. Restrictions on outside investment must be eliminated, with the concomitant privatisation of state-owned facilities and services. Where workers aren't laid off, their wages are frozen or reduced. Local currencies must be adjusted to American dollars, which has the impact of intense inflation spirals almost overnight. The result is a populace under increasing pressure, marginal or famine-stricken and powerless. Civil unrest isn't an option, since disruption brings reprisals - often, of course, the withdrawal of investment, failure to renew loan guarantees or simply real military action.

Book Description

Why are some countries poor? What can they do to turn their situations around? What happens to countries and individuals when they move towards being "modern"? What does it mean to "develop" and be "modern" anyway? What are the social effects of the processes of worldwide economic, cultural, and political integration called globalization? From Modernization to Globalization is a reference for scholars, students and development practitioners on the issues of processes of social change and development in the 'Third World'. It provides carefully excerpted samples from both classic and up-to-date writings in the development literature, as well as, a general introduction. Part One reviews formative ideas on the transition to modern society with brief readings from classical theorists. The second part addresses the modernizationists' discussion of how development changes people. The response from dependency and world-system theorists is reviewed in Part Three. The final section includes eight of the most influential writings on the social effects of globalization. Together, this represents an unprecedented compilation important of writings on international development.

Customer Reviews:

S and S or Scholars and Students.......2000-03-29

Wonderful resource for a birdseye view of significant observations of the world changes for 2000plus. Stimulates individual thought and also excellent for a group discussion launching pad. Scholars and students will find it engaging and meaningful.

The Big Ten: The Big Emerging Markets and How They Will Change Our Lives

Average customer rating:

A Good Start
Thought-provoking vision of the future world economy.

The Big Ten: The Big Emerging Markets and How They Will Change Our Lives
Jeffrey E. Garten
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0465026516

Amazon.com

Jeffrey E. Garten has glimpsed the future of the world economy, and his vision has ten faces: China, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. Garten predicts these emerging markets will soon be viable economic and political forces, citing their abundant natural resources and recent embrace of free-market economies as key indicators of their potential. In an increasingly global economy, what is good for one theoretically can be good for all, particularly when new markets mean new jobs for both the importing and exporting countries. Not all of the sharing is positive, however; Garten believes this global economic expansion will bring about the rise of terrorism and a growing market for nuclear weapons. Issues such as human rights and governmental regulations further muddy the economic and political waters, making cooperation between nations often impossible. Despite its bold predictions, The Big Ten expands our view of international commerce by dividing the global market into more manageable portions.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Start.......2003-10-13

It now looks like there are really only two, maybe three at most, success stories among Garten's Top Ten choices: China, South Korea, and possibly India. Mr. Garten's next edition should focus on these.

Thought-provoking vision of the future world economy........1998-10-23

This is an excellent publication to read as you are putting together your future export marketing programs. It will provide you with fresh ideas on how to develop your most profitable foreign markets. It is primarily based upon Mr. Garten's experience as Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade during the first Clinton Administration. Although there is a definite political slant to its content, I recommend this book for all entrepreneurs and international trade executives who are responsible for establishing export strategies, forecasts and budgets.

Report on the State of the European Union: Volume 2 (Report on the State of the European Union)

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Report on the State of the European Union: Volume 2 (Report on the State of the European Union)
Jean-Paul Fitoussi , and Jacques Le Cacheux
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1403987408
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Book Description

The time has come to open a lucid debate on the ways and means to make Europe better deliver democracy and sustainable growth. The Report on the State of the European Union examines the progress of European integration and focuses on economic aspects of the process. This second volume in the series, explores the four crises of contemporary Europe, those of growth, trust, inequalities and unity. The report is written in an accessible way and will be a useful resource for academics, students, policymakers, journalists and government advisors.

Average customer rating:

There are many books that survey the social condition of poverty...

More Pathways Out of Poverty

Manufacturer: Kumarian Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story
A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and The Business Solution for Ending Poverty
Transforming Lives $40 at a Time, Women + Microfinance: Upending the Status Quo
Microfinance Handbook: An Institutional and Financial Perspective (Sustainable Banking With the Poor)
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

ASIN: 1565492293

Book Description

More Pathways Out of Poverty explores new practices in microfinance, some of them revolutionary, and draws on the success of the industry to illustrate the challenges involved in lifting clients out of poverty. Taken together, the contributions from leading microfinance leaders and institutions serve as a map for ensuring that microcredit contributes powerfully to cutting absolute poverty in half by 2015.

Customer Reviews:

There are many books that survey the social condition of poverty..........2007-02-09

If the title sounds familiar, it's because More Pathways Out of Poverty and its companion follows out the 2002 and 2006 books respectively, and offers new practices in microfinance and economics relating to poverty and social issues. There are many books that survey the social condition of poverty - but far less which examine economic strategies for circumventing poverty in the world. That's why college-level collections must have this - it provides a roadmap for recovery and comes not from ideals but from leading microfinance leaders and institutions determined to cut poverty by as much as half.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System: A Handbook for Development Practitioners

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Cogent, Succinct, and Informative

Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System: A Handbook for Development Practitioners
Jody Zall Kusek , and Ray C. Rist
Manufacturer: World Bank Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Impact Assessment for Development Agencies: Learning to Value Change (Oxfam Development Guidelines)
Learning from Change: Issues and Experiences in Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation
Participatory Workshops: A Sourcebook of 21 Sets of Ideas and Activities
Capacity-Building: An Approach to People-Centered Development (Oxfam Development Guidelines)
A Basic Guide to Evaluation for Development Workers (Oxfam Development Guidelines)

ASIN: 0821358235

Book Description

An effective state is essential to achieving socio-economic and sustainable development. With the advent of globalization, there are growing pressures on governments and organizations around the world to be more responsive to the demands of internal and external stakeholders for good governance, accountability and transparency, greater development effectiveness, and delivery of tangible results. Governments, parliaments, citizens, the private sector, NGOs, civil society, international organizations and donors are among the stakeholders interested in better performance. As demands for greater accountability and real results have increased, there is an attendant need for enhanced results-based monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects.

This Handbook provides a comprehensive ten-step model that will help guide development practitioners through the process of designing and building a results-based monitoring and evaluation system. These steps begin with a "Readiness Assessment" and take the practitioner through the design, management, and importantly, the sustainability of such systems. The Handbook describes each step in detail, the tasks needed to complete each one, and the tools available to help along the way.

Customer Reviews:

Cogent, Succinct, and Informative.......2005-07-26

With increasing pressure on public sector and non-profit organisations to move from activity-based management to a more results-based orientation, Ms. Kusek and Mr. Rist of the World Bank have written what they call a Handbook for Development Practitioners.
The challenges associated with moving towards a results-based monitoring and evaluation system are broken down into ten steps, each with relevant background material, and a set of questions to guide one through the process. For example, in step one - Conducting a Readiness Assessment, eight key questions are highlighted such as (i) what potential pressures are highlighting the need for an M&E system within the public sector? (v) how wil the system support better resource allocation and the achievement of program goals? (vii) where does capacity exist to support a results-based M&E system? Other chapters have similar guides, checklists, etc.
Though both authors are from the World Bank, examples from other donors and activities in other countries provide a wide perspective throughout the text.
I have been reading this book in conjunction with Paul Niven's Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies (ISBN: 0471423289) as both define and describe inputs, outputs, outcomes, and performance measures in great detail and put them all together in an "overall performance-based framework."
If you are interested in aid effectiveness, the Millennium Development Goals, monitoring of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries, and performance measurement, you must have a copy of this book.

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