Microfinance: Perils and Prospects / Edition 1

by Jude L. Fernando

Overview

Microfinance is defined as the financial services offered to the poor for the purpose of promoting small-scale enterprises, and as such it is one of the most important topics in development studies and a burgeoning area in economics.

This volume provides a much-needed historical, political and economic dimension to the current knowledge on microfinance. Collectively, the contributors chart the relationship between the prevailing popularity of microfinance and the consolidation of neoliberal economic ideology worldwide. They demonstrate how microfinance, as a market-friendly approach to development, coincides with the global trend towards diminishing the role of the state in economic development, basic healthcare, education and welfare. The articles in the volume focus on the empirical analyses of the experience of microfinance in women’s everyday lives, but rejects the connection between microfinance and women’s empowerment so often imputed in literature.

This book offers regional, cultural and other explanations for variable assessments of microfinance and empowerment. It fills a huge gap in published microfinance literature and will be of great interest to postgraduates and professionals in the fields of economics, international finance and banking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415328746
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/24/2005
Series:	Routledge Studies in Development Economics , #46
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jude Fernando is Assistant Professor of International Development at Clark University, USA.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Contributors Acknowledgements 1: Introduction: Discourse of microcredit: framing and disciplining the subjects of development Jude L Fernando 2: The global political economy of microfinance and poverty reduction: locating local livelihoods in political analysis Heloise Weber 3: Disciplining the Developmental Subject: Neoliberal Power and Governance through Microcredit Morgan Brigg 4: Social Capital, Microfinance, and the Politics of Development Katharine N. Rankin 5: Rebuilding Social Capital in Post Conflict Regions. Women’s Village Banking in Ayacucho, Peru and in Highland Guatemala Denise Humphreys Babbington and Arelis Gómez 6: Banking on Culture: Microcredit as Incentives for Cultural Conservation in Mali Tara Deubel 7: The Darker Side to Microfinance: Evidence from Cajamarca, Peru Katie Wright 8: Banking on Bananas, Crediting Crafts: Financing Women's Work in the Philippine Cordillera B. Lynne Milgram 9: Microcredit and Empowerment of Women: Visibility Without Power Jude L. Fernando

Editorial Reviews

'This book is a useful addition to the growing literature on this subject. The book is recommended to all those who would like to get a glimpse of microcredit as it functions in different settings' - The Financial Regulator

'This book is simple to read and understand, even though it deals with the complexities of microfinance, as well as the impacts of the historical, political, economic and social spheres in which microfinance programs operate. It analyzes a variety of topics...and the case studies allow anyone – whether new to microfinance or quite knowledgeable on the subject – to learn something new. This book provides food for thought and cues for further research! I would recommend it to development students, researchers, program managers, and to those interested in developing a critical understanding of microfinance.' - Kim Neverson, African Review of Economics and Finance

From the Publisher