Poverty and Neoliberalism: Persistence and Reproduction in the Global South

by Ray Bush

Overview

Why do so many people worldwide suffer hunger and poverty when there is enough food and other resources globally to prevent it? This book shows how famine and food insecurity are an essential part of modern capitalism. Although trade, debt relief and development initiatives are important, they do not alter the structure of the global economy and the poverty that is created by processes like privatisation, trade liberalisation and market reform.

Despite the rhetoric of the World Bank and the G8, high levels of poverty actually sustain western wealth and power. But there is some hope for change. Using case studies from Egypt and North Africa, Nigeria, Sudan and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, Ray Bush illustrates that there is resistance to neoliberal policies, and that struggles over land, mining and resources can shape real alternatives to existing globalisation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745319605
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	06/20/2007
Series:	Third World in Global Politics
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ray Bush is Professor of African Studies and Development Politics, University of Leeds and Series Editor of Pluto's Third World in Global Politics series.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Framing Poverty and Neo-Liberalism: The Middle East and North Africa
2. Commissioning Africa for Globalisation: Blair and the G8's Project for the World Poor
3. Labour Across Frontier? Capitalism's Struggle for Profit and Order
4 Land Poverty and Politics
5 Wealth and Poverty: Mining and the Curse of Resources?
6 Securing Food and Famine
7 Resisting Poverty and Neo-Liberalism
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

'This is a truly refreshing and engaging book on neo-liberalism and its discontents in the Global South'- Adebayo Olukoshi, Executive Secretary, CODESRIA

'Unveils the conceptual uses and abuses of 'poverty' and breaks new ground in the way we think about class and other social struggles in Africa' - Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa

'Ray Bush explains eloquently and powerfully the persistence and deepening of poverty in Africa' - John Loxley, Professor of Economics and Research Co-ordinator, Global Political Economy Program, University of Manitoba, Canada

'A hard-headed and systematic critique of the way the goal of development has been replaced by hand-wringing about 'poverty' has been badly needed. Ray Bush's cogent and detailed analysis is one no student - and no 'anti-poverty' campaigner, however celebrated - will be able to ignore' - Colin Leys, Emeritus Professor at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, and author of The Rise and Fall of Development Theory

'This is a truly refreshing and engaging book on neo-liberalism and its discontents in the Global South''Unveils the conceptual uses and abuses of 'poverty' and breaks new ground in the way we think about class and other social struggles in Africa''Ray Bush explains eloquently and powerfully the persistence and deepening of poverty in Africa''A hard-headed and systematic critique of the way the goal of development has been replaced by hand-wringing about 'poverty' has been badly needed. Ray Bush's cogent and detailed analysis is one no student - and no 'anti-poverty' campaigner, however celebrated - will be able to ignore'

From the Publisher