THE POOR AND GLOBAL POVERTY
Richard J. Estes
University of Pennsylvania
In its recent report on global poverty, the World Bank estimated that
worldwide more than one billion persons are struggling to survive on less
than $370 per year (World Bank, 1990). The majority of the poor are
located in Asia (especially in China and India), however, large
numbers of poor persons are located in Africa and Latin America.
Despite continued unevenness in per capita consumption patterns, the
World Bank also found general, somewhat contradictory, improvements in
overall developing country performance on a broad range of social
indicators.
Broader measures of well-being confirm this picture--life expectancy,
child mortality, and educational attainment have all improved
markedly. Viewed from either perspective--income and consumption on
the one hand, broad social indicators on the other--the developing
countries are advancing much faster than today's developed countries
did at a comparable stage.
However, in those countries and regions in which poverty persists, the
Bank concluded that,
...The (economic) setbacks of the 1980s fell heavily on particular
regions. For many in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America incomes
fell during the decade, and the incidence of poverty
increased--although the social indicators, at least in Latin America,
proved somewhat more resilient.
...The burden of poverty is spread unevenly--among the regions of the
developing world, among countries within those regions, and among
localities within those countries...The weight of poverty falls most
heavily on certain groups. Women in general are
disadvantaged...Children, too, suffer disproportionately, and the future
quality of their lives is compromised by inadequate nutrition, heath
care, and education...The incidence of poverty is often high among
ethnic groups and minorities such as the indigenous peoples in
Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru and the schedule castes
in India.
In many but not all cases low incomes go hand in hand with other
forms of deprivation. In Mexico, for example, life expectancy for the
poorest 10 percent of the population is twenty years less than for the
richest 10 percent. In Cote d'Ivoire the primary enrollment rate of
the poorest fifth is half that of the richest. National and regional
averages, often bad enough in themselves, mask appallingly low life
expectancy and educational attainment among the poorest members of
RESOURCE MATERIALS ON
THE POOR AND GLOBAL POVERTY
BASIC BOOKS
Ascher, William. 1984. _Scheming for the Poor: The Politics of
Redistribution in Latin America_ (Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press).
Ayres, Robert L. 1983. _Banking on the Poor: The World Bank and World
Poverty_ (Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press).
Berg, Alan. 1987. _Malnutrition: What Can Be Done? Lessons form World Bank
Experience_ (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press).
Cassen, Robert, et al. 1986. _Does Aid Work? Report to an
Intergovernmental Task Force_ (New York: Clarendon Press).
Cernea, Michael M. (ed.). 1985. _Putting People First: Sociological
Variables in Rural
Development_ (New York: Oxford University Press).
Chambers, Robert. 1983. _Rural Development: Putting the Last First_
(London: Longman).
Chenery, Hollis et al. 1974. _Redistribution with Growth_. (New York:
Oxford University
Press).
de Soto, Hernando. 1989. _The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in
the Third World_. (New York: Harper and Row).
Durning. A. B. 1989. _Action at the Grassroots: Fighting Poverty and
Environmental Decline_.
(Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute).
Glewwe, P. 1989. _Confronting Poverty in Developing Countries: Definitions,
Information,
and Policies_. (Washington: World Bank).
Harrington, M. 1969. _The Vast Majority: A Journey to the World's Poor_.
(New York:
Simon & Schuster).
Harrison, P. 1981. _Inside the Third World: The Anatomy of Poverty_. Second
Edition.
(Middlesex, England: Penguin).
Harrison, P. 1983. _The Third World Tomorrow_. Second Edition. (Middlesex,
England:
Penguin).
Iliffe, John. 1987. _The African Poor_. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press).
Korten, D.C. 1986. _Community Management: Asian Experience and Perspectives_.
(West
Hartford CT: Kumarian Press).
Lewis, J.P. et al. 1988. _Strengthening the Poor: What Have We Learned?_.
(New Brunswick,
NJ: Transaction Books).
Lipton, M. 1983. _Demography and Poverty_. (Washington DC: World Bank).
Lipton, M. 1988. _The Poor and the Poorest: Some Interim Findings_.
(Washington DC:
World Bank).
Lipton, Michael and Longhurst, Richard. 1989. _New Seeds and Poor People_.
(London:
Unwin Hyman).
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. 1981. _The Residential
Circumstances of the Urban Poor in Developing Countries_. (New York:
Praeger).
World Bank. 1988. _The World Bank's Support for the Alleviation of Poverty_.
(Washington,
DC:World Bank).
World Bank. 1990. _World Development Report 1990 -- Poverty_. (New York:
Oxford
University Press).
SELECTED ARTICLES
Birdsall, Nancy. 1980. "Population Growth and Poverty in the Developing
World," _Population Bulletin_, 35 (5):3-38.
Golub, S.S. 1991. "A Fate Worse Than Debt: The World Financial Crisis and
the Poor," _Latin American Research Review_ 26(1):175-215.
Hewitt, V. 1991. "Doing Development-Government, NGO's and the Rural Poor
in Asia," _Journal of Rural Studies_ 7(1-2):124-125.
Parkinson, J.R. 1990. "Privatization in Bangladesh, Economic Transition in
a Poor Country," _World Economy_ 13(4):555-556.
Peterson, J. 1991. "Squatters in the United States and Latin America: The
Discourse of Community Development" _Community Development Journal_
26(1):28-34.
Polsby, N.W. 1991. "The Politics of the Rich and Poor-Wealth and American
Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath," _Political Science Quarterly_
106(1):141-142.
Tendler, Judith. 1989. "What Ever Happened to Poverty Alleviation?"
_World Development_, 17 (7): 1033-11044.
White, P. and Winchester, H.P.M. 1991. "The Poor in the Inner-City:
Stability and Change in Two Parisian Neighborhoods," _Urban Geography_
12(1):35-54.
Yun, L.W. and Yusof, K. 1991. "Services for Urban Poor Families in Kuala
Lumpur,
Malaysia: A Case Study," _Child Welfare_ 70(2).
BASIC JOURNALS
Community Development Journal
Development
Economic Development and World Change
J of the International Social Security Association
International Social Work
Journal of Rural Studies
Latin American Research Review
Rural Development and Local Organizations in Asia
Social Development Issues
World Affairs
World Bank Report (Annual)
World Bank Economic Review
World Development
United Nations Chronicle
Urban Geography
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Scottish Education and Action for Development
29 Nieolson Sq.
Edinburgh EH89BX Scotland
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
War On Want
Fenner Brockway House
37-39 Great Guilford St.
London SE1 OES, England
International Movement ATD Fourth World
107, rue du General Leclerc
F-95480 Pierrelaye, France
New Zealand Assoc. for International Relief,
Rehabilitation and Development
P.O. Box 9716
Wellington, New Zealand
Population Commission
P.O. Box 1841
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
UN Research Institute for
Social Development
CH-1211 Geneva 10,Switzerland
International Federation of the Little Brothers of the Poor
64, avenue Parmentier
F-75011 Paris, France
International Association of Volunteer Effort
Apartado Aereo 90465
Bogota, Columbia
U. S. ORGANIZATIONS
American Public Welfare Association
Center for Community Change
1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington DC, 20007
(202) 342-0519
Commission on Religion in Appalachia
P.O. Box 10867
Knoxville,TN 3793-0867
(615) 584-6133
Free Store/Food Bank
112 E.Liberty
Cincinnati OH 45210
19303 Freemont Ave. N.
Seattle WA 98133
Friends of the Third World
611 W. Wayne St.
Ft. Wayne IN 46802-2125
Friends of Vista
1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington DC 20007
Jewish Fund for Justice
920 Broadway, Ste. 605
NY, NY 10010
(212) 677-7080
National Black Survival Fund
1006 Surrey St.
Lafayette LA 70501
(318) 232-7672
New, Inc./Fourth World Movement
7600 Willow Hill Dr.
Landover MD 20785
National Migrant Workers Council
P.O. Box 2551
Farmington Hills MI 48333-2551
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Excerpted from Richard J. Estes (1992) _Internationalizing Social Work
Education: A Guide to Resources For a New Century_ (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania School of
Social Work).
Permission is granted to disseminate this document so long as proper
credit has been given to the source.