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Date Added to
Site: 1st September 2003 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
The Construction of the Myth of Survival |
| Author |
González, M. |
| Publication
Date |
July 2003 |
| Publisher |
Institute of Development Studies (IDS) |
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Short Summary |
A myth has been fostered that the survival of
the poor household is possible in spite of their lack of resources,
and of macro economic policies that cause unemployment and poverty.
The following assumptions underlie this myth: however violent economic
changes may be, the poor have an endless capacity to work, to consume
less and to create mutual help networks. The best example of this
myth is, perhaps, the World Bank view of poverty, social capital and
the poor's resourcefulness, even though the “voices of the poor” are
shouting for a change in economic policy worldwide. This paper examines
how anthropological and sociological insights into the life of the
poor and the organisation of poor household became mythologised. In
many ways, the myth became a useful tool for policy makers to excuse
the effects of more aggressive economic policy towards adjustment
around neo-liberal development models. The paper uses cross-country
evidence to debunk the myth and calls for a more accurate understanding
of the way women and men's lives have been remodeled by economic and
social change. (Paper prepared for the International Workshop Feminist
Fables and Gender Myths: Repositioning Gender in Development Policy
and Practice, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, 2-4 July 2003.)
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