Poverty: Malaise of Development features papers from a conference held at the the University of Chester exploring how poverty undermines development strategies. This volume engages with three broad thematic areas, theoretical discourses and policy implications, vulnerability and poverty and solutions to poverty.

Although the absolute number of poor people in the world has declined significantly in recent decades, poverty reduction continues to be a very important issue. There still are very large numbers of poor people, relative poverty is an increasingly concerning problem, and progress on poverty reduction varies enormously from one part of the world to another. Factors contributing to poverty reduction include economic growth, economic integration, and specific poverty-reduction programs, which are often initiated by Western countries. This book considers poverty reduction from a global perspective. Development and Poverty Reduction looks at a wide range of specific subjects, across all continents. It highlights in particular how the issues are perceived from a non-Western perspective and especially how the rise of China is both having a profound impact on poverty reduction globally and also changing the overall way in which development and poverty reduction are approached.

The studies of poverty, progress and development in this volume, first published in 1991, by a distinguished international roster of authors and researchers, aim to increase knowledge of the social mechanisms of pauperization, marginalization, and the exclusion of certain categories of society; to bring to light the potential and creative role of socio-cultural, intellectual, ethical, moral and spiritual values in progress and the development process; and to examine the links and contradictions between development and progress in order to propose ways of reducing social inequalities.

With particular reference to India.

Contributed articles presented at a seminar held in Dhaka during June 26-27, 2003 organized at Bureau of Economic Research, University of Dhaka and with support of World Bank.

In a squatter neighbourhood of Nairobi (Kenya), sexual division of labour in the informal sector is examined. Five categories of neighbourhood iinformal sector activity were analysed: the entertainment industry, rental of habitat, shop-keeping, small-scale production or services and hawking. Capital investment and costs and incomes were registered. Women owner-operators were predominant in beer-brewing and prostitution, habitat rental and vegetable retailing sectors. A correlation between female barrenness and business success was noted. It is concluded that women sell in the iinformal urban market place the skills they normally practice in the home. It is recommended that urban iinformal sector studies emphasise gender issues.

Understanding Global Poverty introduces students to the study and analysis of poverty, helping them to understand why it is pervasive across human societies, and how it can be reduced through proven policy solutions. Using the capabilities and human development approach, the book foregrounds the human aspects of poverty, keeping the voices, experiences and needs of the world’s poor in the centre of the analysis. Drawing on decades of teaching, research and fieldwork, this interdisciplinary volume is unique in its rigorous application of the multiple disciplines of anthropology, sociology, political science, public health and economics to the phenomenon of global poverty. Starting with definitions and measurement, the book goes on to explore causes of poverty and policy responses, aiming to give a realistic account of what poverty reduction programmes actually look like. Finally, the book draws together the ethics of why we should work to reduce poverty and what actions readers themselves can take to reduce poverty. This book is an accessible and engaging introduction to the key issues surrounding poverty, with key questions, case studies, discussion questions and further reading suggestions to support learning. Perfect as an introductory textbook for postgraduates and upper level undergraduates, Understanding Global Poverty will also be a valuable resource to policy makers and development practitioners looking for a comprehensive guide to the theoretical frameworks of poverty through the lens of human development.