Gunfight at the Not OK Corral: Reply to ‘High Noon for Microfinance’

Duvendack and Palmer-Jones claim to replicate Chemin (2008) and Pitt and Khandker (1998) but obtain different results and hence challenge the two papers' estimates of the impact of microfinance in Bangladesh. This response details a number of reasons to demonstrate that Duvendack and Palmer-Jones is not a replication so their results provide no evidence about the validity of either of the earlier papers or on the effectiveness of microfinance.     

The ‘Impossible’ Default: Qualitative Data on Borrower Responses to Two Types of Social-Collateral Microfinance Structures in Rural China

Qualitative data reveal how the social context underlying the ties linking borrowers in microfinance programmes influences their decisions. Focusing directly on social context makes it possible to distinguish between two social-collateral structures and explain why one facilitated repayment while the other did not. Fieldwork in rural China shows that the basis of the social ties in the social-collateral structure is central to explaining whether and why individuals decided to sanction defaulters and repay loans. The article closes with reflections on generalisations of these findings to future microfinance research.     

Reconsidering Women’s Empowerment: the Contradictory Effects of Microfinance for Guatemalan Women

In light of changing global trends that connect women’s empowerment and development, this paper extends debates by exploring how projects aimed at empowering women in the Global South intertwine with diverse women’s lived realities in ways that complicate assessments of “success” or “failure.” The article begins by analyzing the incorporation of the concept of empowerment into mainstream development, demonstrating that the conceptual fuzziness of empowerment has allowed it to be associated with vastly different development strategies: some have interpreted it narrowly to promote self-help strategies whereas others have interpreted it broadly to promote structural change. The former has targeted women with “choice-enhancing” resources that are thought to have spillover effects; the latter tends to adopt a more holistic approach. In order to explore how these contrasting strategies affect women’s empowerment experiences and outcomes on the ground, this article then draws on comparative ethnographies of two microfinance non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are emblematic of these diverging approaches. It finds that despite their differences, both spillover and holistic approaches lead to diverse and contradictory experiences that defy easy classification as “empowering” or “disempowering.” This finding reveals the advantages and limitations of relying on the concept of empowerment for evaluating development outcomes and raises questions about our ability to generalize about the effects of the varying approaches encompassed under the current feminization of policy. The analysis also suggests that we should adjust our understanding of women’s agency to include the agency women exercise when they transform, challenge, or reject empowerment projects themselves.     

‘Managing’ the Middle Classes: Urban Managers,Public Services and the Response to Middle-Class Capture

There is a longstanding concern about middle-class capture of the benefits of public service provision, although relatively little evidence exists on the exact nature of any advantage or on the processes by which this comes about. Using a framework developed from Gal (J. Gal, 1998. Formulating the Matthew Principle: on the role of the middle-classes in the welfare state. Scandinavian Journal of Social Welfare, 7, 42–55), and via two case studies of street cleansing services in the UK, the article explores the ways in which middle-class service users assert influence in relation to service design, resource allocation and practice on the ground. It explores how urban managers respond to middle-class influence, revealing the ways in which influence is accommodated and the benefits of this to middle-class service users. It also evidences how urban managers attempt to resist aspects of middle-class advantage, and the challenges such resistance presents. The article concludes that the need to ‘manage’ middle-class influence permeates the routine institutional policies and practices of this key public service.     

From ‘gender equality and ‘women’s empowerment’ to global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development

The language of ‘gender equality’ and ‘women’s empowerment’ was mobilised by feminists in the 1980s and 1990s as a way of getting women’s rights onto the international development agenda. Their efforts can be declared a resounding success. The international development industry has fully embraced these terms. From international NGOs to donor governments to multilateral agencies the language of gender equality and women’s empowerment is a pervasive presence and takes pride of place among their major development priorities. And yet, this article argues, the fact that these terms have been eviscerated of conceptual and political bite compromises their use as the primary frame through which to demand rights and justice. Critically examining the trajectories of these terms in development, the article suggests that if the promise of the post-2015 agenda is to deliver on gender justice, new frames are needed, which can connect with and contribute to a broader movement for global justice.     

From ‘Unilateral’ to ‘Dialogical’: Determinants of EU–Azerbaijan Negotiations

Abstract

The European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan have negotiated three different agreements for a new legal basis underpinning their relationship since 2010. Whereas the EU tries to adhere to a more unilateral approach, Azerbaijan wants cooperation to take place on a more inclusive, dialogical, basis. The essay will present a model of ‘bargaining power’ to analyse how the Azerbaijani government has tried to enforce this, and to what degree it has been successful. It finds that the bargaining power model can explain some of the changing power dynamics in EU–Azerbaijan relations, and that these might speak to the broader Eurasian region too.     

The Impact of Microfinance on Factors Empowering Women: Differences in Regional and Delivery Mechanisms in India’s SHG Programme

Abstract

We examine how the impact on women’s empowerment varies with respect to the location and type of group linkage of the respondent. Using household survey data from five states in India, we correct for selection bias to estimate a structural equation model. Our results reveal that in the southern states of India empowerment of women takes place through economic factors. For the other states, we find a significant correlation between women’s empowerment and autonomy in women’s decision-making and network, communication and political participation respectively. We do not, however, find any differential causal impact of different delivery methods (linkage models).     

Symposium Introduction: Local Responses to ‘Austerity’

This introduction to the symposium sets out the context for local government in the United Kingdom at the current time. It outlines the scale of the reductions in funding since 2010, showing how uneven these cuts have been across the country and the reasons for this. It also describes the increased exposure to risk of both local government and of the citizens and communities it serves. The central question for the papers which follow is how local government is responding to these twin challenges. The papers provide insights from a number of detailed studies of individual authorities, exploring the strategies adopted to manage in response. The analyses focus on the distributive consequences for individuals and communities, but they also reflect on the wider consequences for local government itself. A particular concern is whether local responses are changing as austerity moves from its initial to its later phase.     

Redefining Who’s ‘In’ and Who’s ‘Out’: Explaining Preferences for Redistribution in Bolivia

How does welfare state expansion reconfigure political coalitions? This paper challenges traditional accounts that pit social policy ‘insiders’, who univocally oppose policy expansion, against ‘outsiders’ who favour it. It argues that labour market vulnerability and partisan cues can play a critical role in shaping the preferences of both insiders and outsiders, and thus produce new pro-expansion coalitions. To test this claim, it employs historical analysis of key social insurance configurations in Bolivia over the last 30 years, as well as an original survey carried out in Bolivia following that nation’s 2007 extension of a noncontributory national minimum pension.     

Looking for ‘the International’ beyond the West

As international attention focuses on the rebuilding of Afghanistan, this paper looks critically at the evolution and meaning of the core concepts underpinning aims and strategies for recovery: the key role of institutional development and capacity building in establishing good governance based on collaboration between state, civil society and market; the empirical consensus, over many decades, for best practice in development; the acknowledgement that recovery of war-torn societies is a development challenge. It is shown that, despite this understanding, operational practice continues to contradict the principles and lessons learned from proven experience. The financial and administrative culture of the international institutions, lack of political will, donor conditionality and recipients' contrary agendas are seen to contribute to this failure. The paper concludes by examining the implications of this analysis for the recovery of Afghanistan.     

International Criminal Law and Russia: From ‘Nuremberg’ Passion to ‘The Hague’ Prejudice

Abstract

This essay outlines the history of international criminal law scholarship in Russia. I use a politically based explanation of the changing positive and negative attitudes regarding international criminal law, and show that the discourse on these issues in contemporary Russia is subject to serious political pressure. Changing such a situation is a difficult but essential task, mainly because of the over-riding need to free current scholarship from political control.     

From ‘communism’ to ‘democracy’ in Cambodia: a decade of transition and beyond

This paper examines 10 years of political transition in Cambodia. It is particularly relevant because Cambodia has just passed through a third stage of transition in the form of national grass roots elections to dilute elite power. The scope of the paper covers the three elections in the period 1991–2002 and is located in Dankwart Rustow’s transition theory. I conclude that while basic elements of the theory hold true, qualifications are required in relation to the length of the ‘acceptance’ phase for the elites, and the extent to which, even after 10 years, habitually normalised democratic processes are still unreliable at best, and violent at worst.     

Africa's Quest for Developmental States: ‘renaissance’ for whom?

After a generally disappointing half-century since recapturing formal independence, at the turn of the second decade of the 21st century, Africa(s) may now be able to seize unanticipated emerging opportunities to move from `fragile' or `failed' towards `developmental' political economies. The continent displays innovations in terms of sources of finance, new regionalisms & transnational governance leading to distinctive insights for analysis & policy, both state & non-state. Its potential for renaissance is reinforced by South Africa's accession as the fifth of the BRICS at the dawn of the decade.     

What do buzzwords do for development policy? a critical look at ‘participation’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘poverty reduction’

In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solutions. Today's development orthodoxies are captured in a seductive mix of such words, among which ‘participation’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘poverty reduction’ take a prominent place. This paper takes a critical look at how these three terms have come to be used in international development policy, exploring how different configurations of words frame and justify particular kinds of development interventions. It analyses their use in the context of two contemporary development policy instruments, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (prsps) and the Millennium Development Goals (mdgs). We show how words that once spoke of politics and power have come to be reconfigured in the service of today's one-size-fits-all development recipes, spun into an apoliticised form that everyone can agree with. As such, we contend, their use in development policy may offer little hope of the world free of poverty that they are used to evoke.     

Changing the ‘front line’ to meet citizen needs

Public services need to be re‐designed to meet citizens’ needs and to become more accountable. The role of the ‘front line’ is crucial in this. It is the pivotal point on the ‘see‐saw’ connecting ‘the public’ and the ‘back line’ of national and local public service agencies. This article compares the experience of Sweden and the UK in designing new ‘front lines’ through ‘decentralisation’ and ‘one‐stop shops’. It concludes that these initiatives can help to meet citizen needs and that citizens notice the difference. Committed support from the ‘back line’ is crucial for success. Active democratic involvement of both politicians and local residents is also essential.     

A test of the ‘uneconomic culture’ thesis: An economic rationale for the ‘sacred cow’

This paper examines the validity of the ‘uneconomic culture’ thesis. A common assertion is that livestock have limited commercial value to the African, being accumulated mainly for social reasons. Two hypotheses are tested: (1) livestock accumulation can be profitable to the individual even if society incurs losses by such behaviour and (2) livestock purchases are the African's best investment opportunity. Support of the first hypothesis is found by indicating that the property system leads to divergences between private and social benefits. Support of the second hypothesis is indicated by calculating the present value of cattle in farming.