The Specter of “The People”: Urban Poverty in Northeast China. MUN YOUNG CHO . Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2013. xxi + 207 pp. $24.95; £15.50. ISBN 978-0-8014-7864-2

In the period 1965 to 1985, the per capita consumption in the developing world went up by almost 70 percent. Yet one billion of the people in the developing countries today are living in poverty [World Development Report (1990)]. Despite the growth in incomes and consumption, the problem of poverty is enormous. In most development models a large reserve of low-paid workers (often rural based) is seen as a precondition for industrialization (often urban based), which in turn is seen as synonymous with development. It is the exploitation of these workers to generate the surpluses necessary for growth in the urban growth centres that forms the basis of policy in most developing countries. The very processes that generate this growth also make these workers the most vulnerable to poverty. And if stagnation or recession sets in, the results are disasterous. The book under review makes an effective contribution to focusing attention on the issues of urban poverty and the labour market.

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Marriage and Marriageability: The Practices of Matchmaking between Men from Japan and Women from Northeast China. By Chigusa Yamaura. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2020. 203 pp. ISBN: 9781501750144 (cloth).

The Journal of Asian Studies ◽

10.1017/s0021911821002217 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (4) ◽

pp. 1168-1169

Author(s):

Tuen Yi Chiu

Keyword(s):

Northeast China ◽

Cornell University

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Urban poverty, issues, policies and actions

Social Change ◽

10.1177/004908570003000204 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 30 (1-2) ◽

pp. 55-73

Author(s):

T. M. Vinod Kumar ◽

Gayatri

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Local Governments ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Urban Poverty ◽

Communications Networks ◽

The North ◽

The People ◽

Human Cost ◽

Global Exchange

“Urban poverty and its attendant human cost is perhaps the single greatest challenge of our time. The future of our towns and cities, which is where most humanity will live in the next century, hinges on our tackling it successfully. The centerpiece of urban policy as we enter the 21st Century must therefore be the struggle against poverty, with goals such as the integration of the informal city, the recovery and democratic use of public space, and the reversal of the trend towards the concentration of wealth and opportunities, which so often ends in a spiral of violence…. “The struggle against urban poverty is a world challenge. To succeed, we need to tap the experience of individuals and organizations in the South as well as in the North, promoting an exchange that, more than the answers, will teach us what questions to ask. To this end, people living in poverty must take part in communications networks, which are often monopolized by intermediaries and experts. The role of experts is important, but mechanisms should be developed to facilitate direct, horizontal, global exchange…. “Such horizontal, direct contacts must involve local governments, the pivate sector, non-governmental and community organizations. And if public pollicies are to respond to real needs, these must be built out of experience, and their formulation and implementation must involve the people for whom they are intended…. “To do this, safety nets are not enough. Let us resolve to invest in the struggle against urban poverty, to invest in the poor themselves. Let us help people confronted with poverty in their efforts. New means of communication and successful experiences demonstrate that this can be done in a demoy-lXcratic and affordable manner. The struggle against poverty cannot be relegated to second-class expertise and technology. It is a huge challenge. It deserves the best.” (’Recife Declaration March 1996 Habitat II on ‘Urban Poverty-a World Challenge’).

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