This book offers a critical appraisal of the conventional measures and analysis of poverty as well as of poverty reduction policies. Despite greater efforts in reducing poverty since the early 1980s, poverty remains stubbornly high in many parts of the world. This publication argues that the...

Remittances and the politics of austerity -- Outsourcing social welfare: how migrants replaced the state during Mexico's market transition -- How remittances prevent social unrest: evidence from the Mexican countryside -- Optimism in times of crisis: remittances and economic security in Africa,...

Over the last century, global poverty has largely been viewed as a technical problem that merely requires the right "expert" solutions. Yet all too often, experts recommend solutions that fix immediate problems without addressing the systemic political factors that created them in the first...

The embarrassing living conditions of more than one billion poor people in developing countries in combination with the increasing gap of living standards between the poor and the rich, has provided a strong motivation for development policy to change this situation. From its beginning, policy...