Bangladesh-A model of neoliberalism: The case of microfinance and NGOs

Monthly Review

Volumn 66, Issue 10, 2015, Pages 35-46

  Muhammad, Anu ^a  

^a JAHANGIRNAGAR UNIVERSITY   (Bangladesh)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84928034539     PISSN: 00270520     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.14452/MR-066-10-2015-03_3     Document Type: Review

References (44)

1. Paul M. Sweezy, "More (or Less) on Globalization," Monthly Review 49, no. 4, September 1997, 1-4.
2. A new study by the Tax Justice Network estimates that "there is as much as 32 trillion dollars, which is over twice the entire US national debt, hidden away offshore not paying taxes." See Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).
3. David Harvey, The Enigma of Capital and Crises of Capitalism (Profile Books, 2011), First South Asian Edition, 265.
4. Samir Amin, The Law of Worldwide Value (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2010).
5. Steve Keen, Debunking Economics (New York: Zed Books, 2011), 395.
6. Harvey, The Enigma of Capital and Crises of Capitalism, 21.
7. William Easterly, "What Did Structural Adjustment Adjust? The Association of Policies and Growth with Repeated IMF and World Bank Adjustment Loans," Journal of Development Economics 76 (2005): 1-22.
8. For discussion on the worst factory collapse that killed at least 1,134, see my recent article "Bangladesh RMG: Global Chain of Profit and Deprivation," May 17, 2013, http://opinion.bdnews24.com.
9. For analysis of the whole industry "Wealth and Deprivation: Readymade Garments in Bangladesh," Economic and Political Weekly, August 20, 2011, 23-27, http://epw.in.
10. For details, Anu Muhammad, "Natural Resources and Energy Security, Challenging the 'Resource-Curse' Model in Bangladesh," Economic & Political Weekly, January 25, 2014. 59-67, http://epw.in.
11. Prothom Alo, the largest circulated daily in Bangladesh, has published number of reports on the Beximco group on its loan default. Recently the daily reports about the group's more than USD 670 million unpaid loans mostly from state owned banks and the special privilege given to it. Monjur Ahmed, "Beximco grouper jonyo bishesh subidha" (Special Privilege for Beximco Group), Prothom Alo, December 15, 2014.
12. The Finance Minister stated this in the post budget press conference on June 8, 2012, FE Report, "It's a People's Budget," Financial Express 20, no. 260, June 9, 2012, http://thefinancialexpress-bd.com.
13. and which, as Harvey argues, continues as "accumulation by dispossession." See Harvey, The Enigma of Capital and Crises of Capitalism, 40-57.
14. BRAC was known formerly as the "Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee" and then as the "Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee"; currently, it is not an acronym. See http://brac.net.
15. The Association for Social Advancement (ASA) was established in 1978. For more information see http://asa.org.bd.
16. For details see http://grameen.com.
17. This process was earlier discussed by S.R. Osmany, "Limits to the Alleviation of Poverty Through Non-farm Credit," Bangladesh Development Studies XVII (1989): 1-19.
18. And also by David J. Lewis: "Catalyst for Change? NGOs, Agricultural Technology and the State in Bangladesh," Journal of Social Studies, no. 65 (1994): 1-35.
19. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer, Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in 21st Century (New York: Zed Books, 2001), 129.
20. I began studying the NGOs from their emergence. After field-level investigations, I wrote about their limitations in 1980 and later in 1982 under the title "Samrajyabadi songstha, NGO, 0 Krishok Mukti" ("Imperialist organizations, NGO and Peasant Emancipation") an article in Anu Muhammad, Biswa Pujibad 0 Bangladesher Anunnayan (Dhaka: Karim Prakashani, 1983) before publishing a book on development crisis and the NGO model
21. Bangladesher Unnyan Songkot ebong NGO Model (Dhaka: Prochinta, 1988). By the time the second edition of this book was published in 2000, the polarization of the NGOs and their integration with the ruling structure was even more evident.
22. If we consider command over microcredit only, we find that "The three largest MFIs-Grameen Bank, BRAC and ASA-account for 62 percent of all borrower accounts and 69 percent of outstanding portfolio. The top 15 serve 82 percent of all accounts and provide 82 percent of all outstanding portfolios." in Abdul Bayes, ed., Bangladesh at 40 Changes and Challenges (Dhaka: AHDPH, 2012), 284.
23. Philip Mader, The Political Economy of Microfinance: Financialising Poverty (London: Palgrave, 2014), 137.
24. As the government document shows, "In Bangladesh, there are four main types of institutions involved in microfinance activities. These are: Grameen Bank, more than thousand non-government organizations, out of which about 500 are licensed MFIs, commercial and specialized banks, and Government sponsored microfinance programs." Microcredit Regulatory Authority, "Microfinance Regulations in Bangladesh: Development & Experiences," position paper presented in the International Conference on Microfinance, Dhaka, March 15-17, 2010.
25. Milford Bateman, Why Doesn't Micro-finance Work? The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism (London: Zed Books, 2010), 16.
26. Philip Mader, The Political Economy of Microfinance, 140.
27. Amin, The Law of Worldwide Value, 84.
28. Anu Muhammad, "Grameen and Microcredit: A Tale of Corporate Success," Economic and Political Weekly, August 29, 2009, 35-42, http://epw.in.
29. Q.K. Ahmed, ed., Some Findings on Micro Credit at Micro Level: Socio-economic and Indebtedness Related Impact of Microcredit in Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited, 2007).
30. World Bank, Bangladesh Poverty Assessment, Bangladesh Development Series, June 2013, 128. http://documents.worldbank.org.
31. Quoting different sources, Philip Mader noted that "Telenor had also made a major donation of 14 million Norwegian Crowns to the Nobel Peace Centre two years before. The man who nominated Yunus for the Prize worked for Telenor as a consultant." Philip Mader, Financialising Poverty, The Transnational Political Economy of Microfinance's Rise and Crises, unpublished PhD dissertation, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, 2012, 49.
32. This term has been used by Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus on many occasions; recently very often in connection with his latest mission of "social business." See Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs (New York: Public Affairs, 2010).
33. Also for his ideas and experience with Grameen loan, see Muhammad Yunus, Bankerto the Poor (New York: Public Affairs, 1999).
34. The Economist, in particular, gives credit to BRAC through and NGO model in general for "poverty reduction"! See "Bangladesh Development: The Path the Fields," Economist, November 3, 2012. http://economist.com.
35. Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh, Bangladeshe Daridro o Oshomota (Government Poverty Report in Bangla), June 2013, 5.
36. See for excellent analysis on problems of official poverty lines for India, similar to Bangladesh, Utsa Patnaik, "Poverty Trends in India 2004-5 to 2009-10," Economicand Political Weekly, October 5, 2013, 43-58.
37. The World Bank, Bangladesh Development Series, Vol II, Bangladesh: Towards Accelerated, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth-Opportunities and Challenges, June 2012, http://documents.worldbank.org.
38. "The $1 and $2 a day poverty estimates described here are useful only as indicators of global progress, not to assess progress at the country level or to guide country policy and to program formulation." World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, 17, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org.
39. For details see Saiful Malek Ansary, Poverty and Self Employment, A Study on 20 Villages, PhD dissertation, Jahangirnagar University, 2014.
40. IFPRI-USAID, Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey 2011-2012, Dhaka, April, 2013, http://usaid.gov.
41. Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh, Bangladeshe Daridro o Oshomota (Government Poverty Report in Bangla), June 2013, 39-41.
42. Anu Muhammad, "Grameen and Microcredit: A Tale of Corporate Success," Economic and Political Weekly, August 29, 2009, 35-42, http://epw.in;also
43. World Bank, Bangladesh Poverty Assessment, Bangladesh Development Series, June 2013, http://documents.worldbank.org.
44. "The Bangladesh Poor Selling Organs to Pay Debts," BBC News, October 27, 2013, http://bbc.co.uk.