12.07.2015 Views

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

FROM POVERTY TO POWERThis in turn requires a ‘social contract’, a deal, whether explicit orimplicit, that builds confidence and trust between citizens and thestate. The nature of active citizenship and effective states, and theirinteraction, is explored in Part 2, which discusses the fac<strong>to</strong>rs thatcontribute <strong>to</strong> active citizenship: the concept of rights, attitudes andbeliefs, essential services, and access <strong>to</strong> information. This section alsoaddresses property rights, corruption, and the spread of democracy.There is an argument for including the private sec<strong>to</strong>r as a thirdpillar in this scheme, alongside state and citizens, interacting with theothers both positively and negatively. The private sec<strong>to</strong>r creates jobsand products, transfers knowledge and technology, and contributestaxes <strong>to</strong> the state. Crucially, it drives the economic growth that is sovital <strong>to</strong> long-term development. However, over-powerful corporationscan also undermine states (for example, through bribery orinappropriate lobbying) or citizenship (by denying labour rights).This book instead portrays a flourishing private sec<strong>to</strong>r as oneobjective of the interaction between effective states and active citizens,arguing that, between them, they can create enabling conditions forthe kind of equitable, sustainable private sec<strong>to</strong>r activity and economicgrowth on which development relies. The private sec<strong>to</strong>r, along withthe critical role of markets in tackling poverty and inequality, isdiscussed in Part 3, which sketches out the sort of economics needed<strong>to</strong> deliver real development, and its implications for rural livelihoods,labour, and growth models.A particularly important role for citizens and states is dealing withvulnerability. People living in poverty are more vulnerable than thosewho are well-off <strong>to</strong> personal disasters such as sickness or job loss, or ata community level <strong>to</strong> weather events, earthquakes, or outbreaks ofconflict that invariably cause the greatest suffering among the poorestpeople.A holistic effort <strong>to</strong> reduce vulnerability should be based onsupporting and strengthening the self-organisation of poor people,and providing protection, whether at state or international level –what we term ‘human security’. Vulnerability and the search for suchsecurity are discussed in Part 4, which explores the increasing interestin social protection policies, the nature of and responses <strong>to</strong> hungerand famine, the growing impact of climate change on poor people and14

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!