The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction: Scaling Up Antipoverty Programs in the Developing World

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj M. Desai
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
The Political ◽  
Antipoverty Programs

Developmentalism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
State Action ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Political Norms

When we talk about development, we are talking about capitalist development. Taking a historical-comparativ e approach, Harrison understands development as a transformation which involves a deep and integrated political economy of change: a shift from a state of ‘capital-ascendance’ to ‘capital-dominance’. It is only through a transformation towards capital dominance that mass poverty reduction and the construction of a commonwealth are possible. However, capitalist development is extremely difficult and requires a highly exacting political endeavour. The politics of development is conceptualized as developmentalism: a strategy and ideology in which governments exercise heavy directive power, endure instability and crisis, and secure a rudimentary legitimacy for their efforts. The political exertions required to generate and sustain a developmentalist strategy are too great to be met by the simple desire to develop. Harrison argues that developmentalism requires a conflation of successful capitalist transformation with some form of existential insecurity of the state itself. Developmentalism flourishes when capitalist transformation connects to profound questions of sovereignty, statehood, nation-building, and elite survival. Authoritarian state action is intrinsic to developmentalism, which the book addresses by adapting a realist approach to politics in which political norms and values are generated within the agonies of suffering and benefit generated by an ascending capital. Taking case studies from the last 250 years, Developmentalism shows the deep contextualization of capitalist transformation as well as the massive improvements in material life that it has generated.

Conclusions

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-162
Author(s):  
Kate J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Commodity Chains ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Crisis Events ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Political Economies

The final chapter revisits the intersection of political economy and multiscale protest around biofuels and fracking, offering an integrated look at the campaigns that have emerged around these new energy sources. It considers the implications of the book’s findings about the political economy dimensions of contentious politics for other resource debates, with particular attention to other emerging energy technologies: wind, solar, and hydro. Further, the concluding chapter interrogates the technological optimism and commitment to economic growth that underpins these developments. It pays attention to alternative political economies, including social and Indigenous economies and models of degrowth, with consideration of how these models might advance environmental justice. The chapter considers the ways in which scaling up energy production—often justified as a response to crisis events—increases distance in commodity chains by dislocating control from local communities, externalizing local costs, and separating the accrual of benefits from the bearing of burdens.

scholarly journals South Asia

2019 ◽  
pp. 531-556
Author(s):  
S.R. Osmani
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
The Political ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Economic Strategies ◽  
East And Southeast Asia

Soon after independence from British rule, the South Asia region seemed to have a much better prospect than many other parts of the developing world; the prospects soon dimmed, however, as South Asia crawled while East and Southeast Asia galloped away. But a large part of the region seems finally to have turned a corner and is looking forward to a much better future—in terms of growth, poverty reduction and human development. This chapter describes and explains this story in terms of economic strategies and the political economy of the region and also looks ahead to identify the major challenges that remain—focusing on Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

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