The monetization of global poverty: the concept of poverty in World Bank history, 1944–90

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Konkel
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Underdeveloped Countries ◽  
Poverty Threshold ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Absolute Concept

AbstractThis article traces the history of the concept of poverty within the institutional framework of the World Bank, from its inception to its establishment of the dollar-a-day global poverty threshold. The Bank's evolving conceptualization of poverty and how it related to the development process affected the policies that were advanced to boost the productivity of underdeveloped countries. Internal and external influences and constraints conditioned the Bank's approach to poverty and its alleviation from the beginning, when poverty was conceived as a political issue beyond the scope of the Bank's mandate. Separating the political implications of poverty alleviation from the Bank's development agenda was tenuous, and by the 1970s a universal, absolute concept of poverty became the focal point of Bank operations. The eventual monetization of global poverty reflected the increasingly technical nature of the Bank's development work and its need for a practical yardstick by which to measure the success of its anti-poverty policies.

scholarly journals Capitalism and poverty. Automation signals the final stage of capitalism. Basic income for a peaceful transition to post-capitalism

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Julio Boltvinik ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Main Mechanism ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

This article provides an impressionistic history of recent capitalism by describing its intrinsic tendencies to produce poverty and crises. It argues that the automation revolution and globalization are generalizing and globalizing poverty, especially since neoliberalism replaced Keynesianism. This picture is contradicted by the poverty statistics of the World Bank, but when these are examined carefully it is shown that the decrease in global poverty that they show is false. An examination of Marxist and mainstream theories of capitalist crises shows both that financiarization has become the main mechanism to keep afloat financial monopoly capitalism, and that conventional economic theory is impotent to deal with the current crises. Total automation is bringing to an end the wage-based society, which is incompatible with generalized automation. This in turn opens up the possibility of human emancipation from «forced», alienated work. Finally, Universal Citizen Income is regarded as an alternative that solves the aforementioned contradiction by saving and radically transforming capitalism.

An American Language

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Language Recognition ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Innes ◽  
Michael J. Braddick
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Early Modern History ◽  
History Of Emotions ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Political Economy ◽  
Later Phase

The Introduction offers a brief overview of Paul Slack’s contribution to early modern history, distinguishing between an earlier phase concerned with social policy and the ideas which informed it, and a later phase concerned with the history of political economy, and particularly the shifting discourse of happiness which, he argued, informed it. It then explores recent interest in the history of emotions, distinguishing a variety of approaches to that subject. Reviewing three broad approaches taken by the contributors to the volume, it goes on to suggest that the history of emotions is most stimulating when seen as a focal point for different kinds of history rather than as a discrete subject of enquiry. A further implication is that a variety of forms of expertise need to be brought to bear.

scholarly journals Ethnic Fundraising in America and the Irish and Lithuanian Wars of Independence, 1918–1923

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
R. J. C. Adams ◽  
Vaida Nikšaitė
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
War Bonds ◽  
First World

Abstract The close of the First World War signalled a proliferation of newly established nation-states across Europe. However, the unilateral proclamations of these states’ independence did not guarantee their international recognition, nor did it guarantee their financial viability. This article examines the funding of two such states: the unrecognized Lithuanian (1919–23) and Irish (1919–21) republics. Both funded their wars of independence by selling ‘war bonds’ to their respective diasporas in the United States; the Lithuanians raising almost $1.9m from c. 28,000 subscribers and the Irish raising $5.8m from c. 300,000 subscribers. Communication between the organizers of these bond drives was virtually non-existent, but following the example of the US Liberty Loans they employed remarkably similar tactics. Yet, issued by self-proclaimed nation-states with neither territorial integrity nor a credible history of borrowing, the Lithuanian and Irish war bonds promised a return only when the states had received international recognition. In this sense, they were examples of what the authors term Pre-Sovereign Debt. Practically, they were a focal point for agitation for governmental recognition and rousing of American public opinion. Symbolically, they were tangible representations of the Lithuanian and Irish pretensions to statehood.

Legalising the Drug Wars

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Collins
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Drug Regulations ◽  
Single Convention ◽  
History Of ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

Where did the regulatory underpinnings for the global drug wars come from? This book is the first fully-focused history of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the bedrock of the modern multilateral drug control system and the focal point of global drug regulations and prohibitions. Although far from the propagator of the drug wars, the UN enabled the creation of a uniform global legal framework to effectively legalise, or regulate, their pursuit. This book thereby answers the question of where the international legal framework for drug control came from, what state interests informed its development and how complex diplomatic negotiations resulted in the current regulatory system, binding states into an element of global policy uniformity.

Pragmatism, Practice and the Politics of Critique

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Livingston
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
James Baldwin ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
American Pragmatism ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Practices

Colin Koopman’s Pragmatism as Transition offers an argumentative retelling of the history of American pragmatism in terms of the tradition’s preoccupation with time. Taking time seriously offers a venue for reorienting pragmatism today as a practice of cultural critique. This article examines the political implications third wave pragmatism’s conceptualization of time, practice, and critique. I argue that Koopman’s book opens up possible lines of inquiry into historical practices of critique from William James to James Baldwin that, when followed through to their conclusion, trouble some of the book’s political conclusions. Taking time and practice seriously, as transitionalism invites pragmatists to do, demands pluralizing critique in a way that puts pressure on familiar pragmatist convictions concerning liberalism, progress, and American exceptionalism.

Documenting fashion practice at the Royal College of Art: the RCA archive and image resources

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-139
Author(s):  
Cathy Johns
Keyword(s):  
Royal College ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Fashion Design ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Contemporary Practice

What can an institutional archive tell us about the history of fashion education? The Royal College of Art's archive, in documenting the legacy of study and practice at the college, a key focal point of fashion education since 1948, illuminates in diverse ways the establishment and development of fashion design as an academic discipline. The print and digital collections in the RCA archive thus provide a rich resource that informs both contemporary practice and historical research, highlighting in addition issues raised by the increasingly digital access to this documentation for the archivist and the research community.

scholarly journals Jesuit Sanctity: Hypothesizing the Continuity of a Hagiographic Narrative of the Modern Age

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Franco Motta ◽  
Eleonora Rai
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Late Medieval Period ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of

Abstract The introduction to this special issue provides some considerations on early modern sanctity as a historical object. It firstly presents the major shifts in the developing idea of sanctity between the late medieval period and the nineteenth century, passing through the early modern construction of sanctity and its cultural, social, and political implications. Secondly, it provides an overview of the main sources that allow historians to retrace early modern sanctity, especially canonization records and hagiographies. Thirdly, it offers an overview of the ingenious role of the Society of Jesus in the construction of early modern sanctity, by highlighting its ability to employ, create, and play with hagiographical models. The main Jesuit models of sanctity are then presented (i.e., the theologian, the missionary, the martyr, the living saint), and an important reflection is reserved for the specific martyrial character of Jesuit sanctity. The introduction assesses the continuity of the Jesuit hagiographical discourse throughout the long history of the order, from the origins to the suppression and restoration.

scholarly journals Ethnographic Memories

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Maxime Polleri
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Politics Of Knowledge ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of

This article explores the similarities between a memoir and an ethnographic work. A memoir stands as an historical account written from personal knowledge. It is a form of writing that should resonate deeply within the heart of the anthropologist, whose very own specificity is to be, first and foremost, an ethnographer. That is, anthropologists are individuals full of (hi) stories, contingence, and subjectivity, who nevertheless struggle to bring “objective” accounts of what had happened under their eyes during fieldwork. I use this short comparative act as a jumping board to examine the politics of knowledge in the history of anthropological inquiry since the Enlightenment. More precisely, this comparison represents an opportunity to look at what is silently invested in the practices of ethnographical writing. In a brief discussion, I highlight the political implications that surround issues of knowledge production, expert voices, and translation amidst the discourse and narrative of anthropologists.

USURPATION AND “THE SOCIAL” IN BENJAMIN CONSTANT'S COMMENTAIRE

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIANNA ENGLERT
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religious Elements ◽  
Liberal Thought

As part of Benjamin Constant's academic “revival,” scholars have revisited the political and religious elements of his thought, but conclude that he remained uninterested in the nineteenth century's major social and economic questions. This article examines Constant's response to what would later become known as “the social question” in his Commentary on Filangieri's Work, and argues that his claims about poverty and its alleviation highlight central elements of his political liberalism, especially on the practice of citizenship in the modern age. By interpreting social issues through his original political lens of “usurpation,” Constant encouraged skepticism of social legislation and identified the political implications of a “disinherited” poor class. The lens of usurpation ultimately limited the scope of Constant's solutions to poverty. But his attention to social and economic issues prompts us to reexamine the category of “the social” and its uses in the history of liberal thought, particularly the place of class concerns in the French liberal tradition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document