The paradox of the peasantry in management and organization studies

Purpose Burrell (2020) challenged management and organization studies (MOS) scholars to pay attention to a topic they have mostly ignored: the peasantry, those 2 billion people that work in the rural primary sector. This paper aims to address the topic to expand Burrell’s challenge by indicating that the peasantry offers a unique context to study a paradoxical condition: the coexistence of persistent poverty and vanguardist innovation. Design/methodology/approach The authors advance conceptual arguments that complement the reasons why researchers should pay more attention to the peasantry. They argue that continuation of past research into field laborers, transitioning from feudalism to industrial capitalism, still has currency, not just because of the good reasons listed by Burrell (enduring relevance of the phenomenon in developing countries; sustainability concerns; acknowledgment of common heritage) but also because some seemingly archaic practices are evident in the economically developed countries where most management and organizations scholars live. Findings The authors show that in advanced economies, the peasantry has not disappeared, and it is manifested in contradictory forms, as positive force contributing to sustainable productivity (in the case of digitized agriculture) and as a negative legacy of social inequality and exploitation (as a form of modern slavery). Originality/value The authors discuss contrasting themes confronting management of the peasantry, namely, modern slavery and digital farming, and propose that a paradox view may help overcome unnecessary dualisms, which may promote social exclusion rather than integrated development.

Poverty rate indicator and measures to reduce it (case of the Astrakhan region)

As a result of the crisis, spread of coronavirus infection, growth of inflation for a number of years in Russia there has been registered a decrease in real incomes of the population, as well as the persistent poverty rate. Despite the unprecedented measures taken by the State to provide social support to the population, the fight against poverty is one of the strategic tasks for the state. The poverty rate indicator is included in the performance indicators of state authorities and regional leaders. Methods of assistance to the most vulnerable segments of the population should be comprehensive (include educational programs, retraining, psychological support, employment, social benefits, support measures for beginning and existing entrepreneurs and the self-employed, social contracts, social treasury), but at the same time they should be targeted and personalized.

INVISIBILITY OF WOMEN MIGRANT WORKERS AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN INDIA

The neo-liberal model of development has facilitated the cross-border movements, thereby making both national and international migration one of the survival strategies to fight against persistent poverty, economic insecurity and deepening inequalities. It is known to all that Covid-19 and lockdown measures had a large impact on employment and labour market affecting human lives across the globe. This paper focuses on the experiences of women migrant workers situated within one of the most populous states of India, i.e., Uttar Pradesh. How did they make sense of their lived realities in the face of downsizing being done by the companies, which meant partial wages or losing the jobs permanently, and also the sudden transition that they had to opt for and negotiate with?

Effect Of Islamic Social Finance Exclusion On Sustainable Livelihood Assets Acquisition And Persistent Poverty In Zanzibar

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship that exists between voluntary and non-non-voluntary Islamic social finance exclusion and sustainable livelihood assets (social capital, natural capital, physical capital, and human capital) among the household’s head in Zanzibar. The survey questionnaire was distributed to the head of household with sample size of 287 and data were collected and analysed based on both factor analysis and structural equation modeling using SPSS 23.0 and Amos 23.0 software. The results indicated that non-non-voluntary Islamic social finance exclusion factors impede financial inclusion of the poor in Zanzibar rather than voluntary Islamic social financial exclusion factors. This implies that non-voluntary Islamic social finance exclusion has great implication for the acquisition of the sustainable livelihood assets due to the combined effect of lack of awareness about Islamic social finance services on one hand and the cost associated to it on the other. This has great implications for the acquisition of the requisite livelihood assets needed to exit the persistent state of poverty raveling Zanzibar. This paper contributes to the government efforts through Waqf and Trust commission Zanzibar (WTCZ) to review these three Islamic social funds (Waqf, zakat and almsgiving) for the purpose of poverty alleviation in Zanzibar.

Poverty traps across levels of aggregation

Poverty trap studies help explain the simultaneous escape from poverty by some households and regions alongside deep and persistent poverty elsewhere. However, researchers remain divided about how important poverty traps are in explaining the range of poverty dynamics observed in various contexts. We build a theoretical model that integrates micro-, meso-, and macro-level poverty traps, allowing us to analyze the ways in which multiple layers of poverty traps interact and reinforce each other. Through this simulation model, markets and institutions arise endogenously and help certain individuals escape poverty, while others remain persistently poor. In addition to one’s own productivity and initial capital levels, we explore how individual opportunity and income can be heavily determined by market access and institutional factors beyond one’s control. Using simulation results from controlled experiments, we can identify the role played by meso- and macro-conditions (that correspond to local markets and country-wide institutions, respectively) in helping individuals escape poverty. Our results suggest that even in a parsimonious model—with optimizing, forward-looking agents operating in a world with only one trap at each level—local and national context matters immensely and combines to determine individual opportunity in complex ways.

Long-Term Dynamics of Poverty Transitions in India

I use a stochastic model to explore the dynamics of poverty in India from 1952 to 2006 and find that temporal transitions into and out of poverty are common. Model outcomes suggest that transitions out of poverty outnumber transitions into poverty in recent times, but that there is still a nontrivial proportion of individuals transitioning annually into poverty, highlighting the economic fragility of those near the poverty line. There is also a marked persistence of poverty over time, and although this has been slowly declining, past poverty remains a good predictor of current poverty. Particularly concerning in this context are the income trajectories of those in the bottom decile of the income distribution for whom escape from poverty appears infeasible given extant income dynamics. Finally, the dynamics suggest that transitional and persistent poverty are distinct phenomena that require distinct policy responses involving both missing markets and state action.

Indigenous Knowledge and Endogenous Development: Exploring Survival Strategy of a Tribal Community of Jharkhand, India

Indigenous communities depend directly on natural ecosystems for their livelihoods — wild plants and animals for food, for clothing, for fuel, medicine, and shelter. The deteriorating ecological situation, persistent poverty, social, political and religious tensions and the reduction of biological and cultural diversity present a polycrisis for which new answers are urgently needed. It is in this context the relevance of Indigenous knowledge has entered in the mainstream of sustainable development and the concept of endogenous development has received greater attention. Endogenous development refers to development that is mainly, though not exclusively, based on locally available resources, such as land, water, vegetation, knowledge, skills and competencies. The present article is an endeavor to document the customary practices based on indigenous knowledge of a Sauria-Paharia community in relation to their livelihood strategies for survival in a hostile condition. The article highlights the localized livelihood organization encompassing pattern of resource identification and use, ‘local laws’ of resource conservation, labor organization in terms of acquisition of specialized knowledge, continuity of knowledge through customary networks and distribution of knowledge in terms of age and gender. Despite the presence of all the strength required for the endogenous development, the villagers have to combat with the challenges imposed by the extraneous factors like religious conversion, culturally incompatible education system, intervention of development agencies and programmes and acculturation of the tribal society into the non-tribal framework through greater participation in different fairs and festivals of other ethnic and religious groups. Finally, the article tries to explore the possibilities of endogenous development in the changing scenario by rapprochement of persisting knowledge base of the community and the factors deviating the community from their customary practices that so far been successful in the local context. Keywords: Indigenous Knowledge, Customary Practices, Endogenous Development, Sauria Paharia.

Strategies for coping with frontier technologies and innovations in Africa

Recent advancements in Frontier Technologies and Innovations (FTI), including artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology have shown significant and tremendous potentials for sustainable development globally. Despite this, Africa appears to be unprepared to equitably use or adopt these technological innovations. Evidence has shown that the ongoing global growth in FTI negatively impacts Africa with multifaceted inequalities ranging from poor global class, persistent poverty, disparities in income-earning opportunities, internet usage, pay gap, poor standards of education and health, etc., resulting majorly from poor adoption of technological innovations and favorable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies, culture, ethics, and values. Significant digital divides were evident between the technologically advanced countries and backward countries such as Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic because technological innovations have become critical tools for addressing the spread of the disease. This study highlights the strategy for coping with FTI for sustainable development in Africa. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was adopted as the study conceptual framework. UTAUT model claims that users' acceptance behavior toward technology is determined by users' decision to use technology and the perceived benefits thereof. The researchers explored a narrative review, analysis, and synthesis of vast works of literature that revealed significant information on strategies for coping with FTI in Africa. The researchers also conjointly extracted peer-reviewed articles among the last five years from electronic databases, engaging some keywords like "Frontier Technologies and Innovations in Africa' 'Coping with Frontier Technologies and Innovations' leveraging resources of Africa via Technology and Innovation", etc. Results show that global progress was associated with sharper inequality between countries, with widening disparities in FTI adoption, literacy level, and access to products, social services such as ICT infrastructure, electrification, education, and health. Results also show that literacy empowerment in Africa especially among women, on technology adoption, policies, culture, ethics, and values may advance sustainable goals, leverage their literacy abilities for FTI adoption, and close widening gaps and inequalities in global FTI.

A Body of Knowledge and Pedagogy for Global Engineering

Global engineers must be taught to consider the historical and present causes of persistent poverty and systematic barriers to prosperity. Such training will better inform the choices engineers make and help move the engineering sector away from a product and community-level focus towards working to address the root causes of poverty. A framing for Global Engineering has recently been proposed by the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, building on over 15 years of curricular efforts. Global Engineering, as taught by the Mortenson Center, positions the field as a complement to Global Health and Development Economics while further embracing a historically contextualized and anti-colonial training.