Engaging with an emergent metanarrative: A critical exploration of the BOP proposition

Organization ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 888-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suparna Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Market Development ◽  
Bottom Of The Pyramid ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Critical Exploration ◽  
Future Work

Recently, market-based strategies for poverty alleviation have emerged central to discourses on global poverty. One of the main proponents of market oriented strategy for poverty eradication was C. K. Prahalad whose publication Fortunes at the Bottom of the Pyramid paved the way for future work on business and poverty. It is curious that despite widespread discussions on the validity and relevance of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) proposition by supporters and critics, there has been little sustained analysis of the foundational ideas, concepts and themes as outlined in the original BOP proposal. While by no means representative of the entire BOP field, Prahalad’s ideas deserve close attention because they provides the enabling conditions for the emergence of what I identify as the BOP ‘metanarrative’. In this article, I engage critically with Prahalad’s BOP proposition to highlight some of the theoretical and conceptual issues at stake in the BOP arguments. Specifically, I look at how globalization, partnerships, informality and enterprise, among others, are mobilized to accommodate and legitimize market development at the bottom of the pyramid. I conclude the article by emphasizing that the BOP project would be well served if it engaged in critical self-reflection as it may help to orient future iterations of the BOP strategy in ways that are less celebratory and more circumspect about the possibilities and potentials of linking the pursuit of profit with the goals of poverty relief and empowerment.

Effective Altruism

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Effective Altruism

The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of people who organize significant parts of their lives around two key ideas, represented in its name. Altruism: If we use a significant portion of the resources in our possession—whether money, time, or talents—with a view to helping others, we can improve the world considerably. Effectiveness: When we do put such resources to altruistic use, it is crucial to focus on how much good this or that intervention is reasonably expected to do per unit of resource expended (for example, per dollar donated). While global poverty is a widely used case study in introducing and motivating effective altruism, if the ultimate aim is to do the most good one can with the resources expended, it is far from obvious that global poverty alleviation is highest priority cause area. In addition to ranking possible poverty-alleviation interventions against one another, we can also try to rank interventions aimed at very different types of outcome against one another. This includes, for example, interventions focusing on animal welfare or future generations. The scale and organization of the effective altruism movement encourage careful dialogue on questions that have perhaps long been there, throwing them into new and sharper relief, and giving rise to previously unnoticed questions. In the present volume, the first of its kind, a group of internationally recognized philosophers, economists, and political theorists contribute in-depth explorations of issues that arise once one takes seriously the twin ideas of altruistic commitment and effectiveness.

scholarly journals The Dynamic Impact of Agricultural Fiscal Expenditures and Gross Agricultural Output on Poverty Reduction: A VAR Model Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5766
Author(s):  
Guanglu Zeng ◽  
Chenggang Zhang ◽  
Sanxi Li ◽  
Hailin Sun
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Var Model ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Fiscal Spending

China was the first developing country to achieve the poverty eradication target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 10 years ahead of schedule. Its past approach has been, mainly, to allocate more fiscal spending to rural areas, while strengthening accountability for poverty alleviation. However, some literature suggests that poor rural areas still lack the endogenous dynamics for sustainable growth. Using a vector autoregression (VAR) model, based on data from 1990 to 2019, we find that fiscal spending plays a much more significant role in reducing the poverty ratio than agricultural development. When poverty alleviation is treated as an administrative task, each poor village must complete the spending of top-down poverty alleviation funds within a time frame that is usually shorter than that required for successful specialty agriculture. As a result, the greater the pressure of poverty eradication and the more funds allocated, the more poverty alleviation projects become an anchor for accountability, and the more local governments’ consideration of industry cycles and input–output analysis give way to formalism, homogeneity, and even complicity. We suggest using the leverage of fiscal funds to direct more resources to productive uses, thus guiding future rural revitalization in a more sustainable direction.

scholarly journals Guns or Food: On Prioritizing National Security over Global Poverty Relief

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco García-Gibson
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
International Relations ◽  
National Security ◽  
Moral Duty ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
International Anarchy

Political realists claim that international relations are in a state of anarchy, and therefore every state is allowed to disregard its moral duties towards other states and their inhabitants. Realists argue that complying with moral duties is simply too risky for a state’s national security. Political moralists convincingly show that realists exaggerate both the extent of international anarchy and the risks it poses to states who act morally. Yet moralists do not go far enough, since they do not question realism’s normative core: the claim that when national security is really at risk, states are allowed to disregard their moral duties. I contend that there is at least one moral duty that states should not disregard even if their inhabitants are at risk of death by military aggression: the duty to reduce extreme global poverty. The reason is that even granting that national security is about securing individuals’ right to life, global poverty relief is about that as well.

Cognitive Apprenticeship for Teaching Computer Science and Leadership in Virtual Worlds

2019 ◽  
pp. 180-200
Author(s):  
Cynthia Calongne ◽  
Andrew G. Stricker ◽  
Barbara Truman ◽  
Fil J. Arenas
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Situated Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Cognitive Apprenticeship ◽  
Leadership Education ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Future Work

Cognitive apprenticeship refers to the development of skills under the guidance and tutelage of a domain expert. This chapter covers the theory and highlights 10 years of virtual learning experiences and 52 classes using the cognitive apprenticeship model. It reflects on the impact of presence and explores how learning communities develop as students assume roles and learn by working next to skilled faculty. The examples reinforce the value of deep immersion and identity in situated learning. The software design activities illustrate the benefits experienced when students assume ownership and structure their activities. Through self-reflection, learners illustrated the power of design thinking through group and individual design studios. The chapter concludes with observations from 400 eighth graders and reflections on future work in the design of sustainable learning programs for computer science and leadership education.

Poverty Alleviation, Ecotourism, and Biodiversity Protection in Príncipe Island

2021 ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Alda Matos
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Biosphere Reserve ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Future Work

Príncipe is the smallest of the two São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) islands and site of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Two-thirds of its seven thousand inhabitants are poor, and the productive fabric does not generate enough resources for poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation. Moreover, STP archipelago belongs to the group of small island developing states (SIDS), recognised by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development as a particular case, and international funding for development and sustainability support is available. In addition, the autonomous government of Príncipe identified ecotourism as a niche market to develop, establishing goals for this activity. This chapter presents some results of the actions that have been promoted. In future work, the author studies the case of Cape Verde, another Portuguese speaking SIDS, aiming to understand what has been done in terms of poverty alleviation and its impacts.

Conclusion: Closing the Policy Circle

2019 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Sarah Louise Nash
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Global State ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Policy Arenas

This concluding chapter summarizes the arguments discussed in the book before turning to the future, extrapolating what these arguments could mean for future work on the migration and climate change nexus. The moral, so to speak, of this story is that changing policy making on migration and climate change does not just imply coming up with new policy ideas, populating a new policy domain with mentions of migration and climate change, or being open to a sprinkling of new faces in policy arenas. Instead, it entails reconsidering how people understand and talk about migration and climate change and undertaking a process of self-reflection: what perspective do people have on the issue and why? This does not necessarily involve interrogating the reasons why people are moving, or the extent to which people connect changes in weather patterns to their decisions to move or their inability to do so. Rather, this involves a process of critical reflection of the motives, both explicit and implicit, of the policy juggernaut. This perspective is really important if the migration and climate change nexus is going to exist as anything but a dire warning of the realities of climate change, and if policy responses are going to be transformative rather than buttresses for the current global state of affairs.

scholarly journals A pluralistic approach to global poverty

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARL KNIGHT
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Peter Singer ◽  
Thomas Pogge ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Pluralistic Approach ◽  
Personal Ethics

AbstractA large proportion of humankind today lives in avoidable poverty. This article examines whether affluent individuals and governments have moral duties to change this situation. It is maintained that an alternative to the familiar accounts of transdomestic distributive justice and personal ethics put forward by writers such as Peter Singer, John Rawls, and Thomas Pogge is required, since each of these accounts fails to reflect the full range of relevant considerations. A better account would give some weight to overall utility, the condition of the worst off, and individual responsibility. This approach provides robust support to global poverty alleviation.

International Economic Institutions and Global Justice

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Blackmon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Cold War

The international financial institutions (IFIs) have adapted and changed their policies over time to focus on global justice and poverty alleviation. This evolution is explored, with close attention to the role of political economy scholars and international events that increased the pressure on the IFIs to change their policies. Events such as the failure of structural adjustment policies, and the increasing role of nongovernmental organizations after the end of the Cold War were strong forces advocating for both debt relief policies and efforts designed to alleviate poverty. Problems surrounding the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 and the increased role of the IFIs during the 2008 global financial crisis are also discussed.

scholarly journals A Review on photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects in China: conjunctures, current status and policy recommendations

2019 ◽  
Vol 117 ◽  
pp. 00012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peishi Wu ◽  
Siyu Ke ◽  
Yiling Gao
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Benefit Distribution ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Goal Planning ◽  
Financial Issues

Photovoltaic-based targeted poverty alleviation (PVPA) has been established for 10 years with the mission of one of “the ten large-scale poverty relief programs” in China. This paper would firstly examine the historical conjuncture of the PVPA, followed by the current status and the analysis of policy instruments. Results show that there are mainly three categories of policy instruments: the supply-type ones, the environment-oriented ones and the demand-type ones, with the previous two emphasized. The three most popular policy instruments that governments prefer to use are goal planning, financial support and infrastructure construction. Despite the great achievements, PVPA also need some improvements to be better implemented, and in the last part of the paper, some policy implementations are made regarding the unbalance distribution of the instruments among three above-mentioned classifications, as well as financial issues and accountability factors. It is suggested that governments should pay more attention to the demand-type policy instruments such as procurement or encouragement of the PV power generated by PVPA projects, and at the same time find better ways to supervise the benefit distribution.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document