Lisa I. Knight
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199773541
- eISBN:
- 9780199897353
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199773541.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In the popular imagination, Bauls in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh are depicted as a sect of musical mendicants with flowing hair clad in ocher-colored clothes and carrying a one-stringed ...
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In the popular imagination, Bauls in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh are depicted as a sect of musical mendicants with flowing hair clad in ocher-colored clothes and carrying a one-stringed instrument. Their popularity stems from their mystical songs and their carefree, whimsical behavior. Somewhat less celebrated are Baul beliefs and practices: they are fiercely opposed to the caste system and sectarianism and, at least in the context of their sexo-yogic rituals and philosophy, extol women over men. Despite the importance of women among Bauls, scholarly and popular discourses on Bauls marginalize Baul women by depicting the ideal Baul as male and as unencumbered by social constraints and worldly concerns. For Baul women, these ideals pose distinct challenges to their position and reputation as women in rural Bengal, where gendered norms limit women’s actions. However, as musical performers hoping for patronage, behaving as a Baul can ensure their livelihood. This book shows how Baul women interpret and respond to these various constructions of gender and Baul identity and suggests that Baul women are encumbered actors. It argues that Baul women negotiate their identity, position, and life choices in light of contradictory expectations of appropriate behavior for Bengali women and for Bauls. It demonstrates that Baul women draw on the very tools of their encumbering to create for themselves a meaningful life and a more just society. As they sing, wander, take renunciation, and raise a family, they expand ideas about both women and Bauls in Bengal.Less
In the popular imagination, Bauls in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh are depicted as a sect of musical mendicants with flowing hair clad in ocher-colored clothes and carrying a one-stringed instrument. Their popularity stems from their mystical songs and their carefree, whimsical behavior. Somewhat less celebrated are Baul beliefs and practices: they are fiercely opposed to the caste system and sectarianism and, at least in the context of their sexo-yogic rituals and philosophy, extol women over men. Despite the importance of women among Bauls, scholarly and popular discourses on Bauls marginalize Baul women by depicting the ideal Baul as male and as unencumbered by social constraints and worldly concerns. For Baul women, these ideals pose distinct challenges to their position and reputation as women in rural Bengal, where gendered norms limit women’s actions. However, as musical performers hoping for patronage, behaving as a Baul can ensure their livelihood. This book shows how Baul women interpret and respond to these various constructions of gender and Baul identity and suggests that Baul women are encumbered actors. It argues that Baul women negotiate their identity, position, and life choices in light of contradictory expectations of appropriate behavior for Bengali women and for Bauls. It demonstrates that Baul women draw on the very tools of their encumbering to create for themselves a meaningful life and a more just society. As they sing, wander, take renunciation, and raise a family, they expand ideas about both women and Bauls in Bengal.
Stuart Rutherford
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380651
- eISBN:
- 9780199869312
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380651.003.10011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
ASA's origins can be dated to 1978 when a group of young NGO workers in Bangladesh, led by Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, pledged to develop a new sort of NGO. Its aims would be to eliminate poverty and ...
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ASA's origins can be dated to 1978 when a group of young NGO workers in Bangladesh, led by Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, pledged to develop a new sort of NGO. Its aims would be to eliminate poverty and injustice, and its role would be to spark a peasant movement eventually leading to a peasant-led democratic government for the new country.Less
ASA's origins can be dated to 1978 when a group of young NGO workers in Bangladesh, led by Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, pledged to develop a new sort of NGO. Its aims would be to eliminate poverty and injustice, and its role would be to spark a peasant movement eventually leading to a peasant-led democratic government for the new country.
Nizam Ahmed
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249589
- eISBN:
- 9780191600029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924958X.003.0025
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Includes all relevant information on national elections and referendums held in Bangladesh since independence in 1971. Part I gives a comprehensive overview of Bangladesh's political history, ...
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Includes all relevant information on national elections and referendums held in Bangladesh since independence in 1971. Part I gives a comprehensive overview of Bangladesh's political history, outlines the evolution of electoral provisions, and presents the current electoral legislation in a standardized manner (suffrage, elected institutions, nomination of candidates, electoral system, organizational context of elections). Part II includes exhaustive electoral statistics in systematic tables (numbers of registered voters, votes cast, the votes for candidates and/or parties in parliamentary and presidential elections and referendums at both the national and regional level, the electoral participation of political parties, the distribution of parliamentary seats, etc.).Less
Includes all relevant information on national elections and referendums held in Bangladesh since independence in 1971. Part I gives a comprehensive overview of Bangladesh's political history, outlines the evolution of electoral provisions, and presents the current electoral legislation in a standardized manner (suffrage, elected institutions, nomination of candidates, electoral system, organizational context of elections). Part II includes exhaustive electoral statistics in systematic tables (numbers of registered voters, votes cast, the votes for candidates and/or parties in parliamentary and presidential elections and referendums at both the national and regional level, the electoral participation of political parties, the distribution of parliamentary seats, etc.).
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144260
- eISBN:
- 9780199833931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144260.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Malaysia and Pakistan sought to address their problems through economic growth and the management of ethnic tensions. Malaysia pursued the New Economic Policy (NEP) to favor Malay bumiputras (sons of ...
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Malaysia and Pakistan sought to address their problems through economic growth and the management of ethnic tensions. Malaysia pursued the New Economic Policy (NEP) to favor Malay bumiputras (sons of the soil), and Pakistan, under a military government, pursued aggressive economic growth. However, these strategies did not resolve ethnic tensions as in Malaysia it did not alleviate the economic problems facing Malays, and in Pakistan it favored Punjab at the cost of other provinces, especially East Pakistan. Both states continued to experience serious challenges to their authorities in the form of racial tensions in Malaysia and the Bangladesh movement in Pakistan.Less
Malaysia and Pakistan sought to address their problems through economic growth and the management of ethnic tensions. Malaysia pursued the New Economic Policy (NEP) to favor Malay bumiputras (sons of the soil), and Pakistan, under a military government, pursued aggressive economic growth. However, these strategies did not resolve ethnic tensions as in Malaysia it did not alleviate the economic problems facing Malays, and in Pakistan it favored Punjab at the cost of other provinces, especially East Pakistan. Both states continued to experience serious challenges to their authorities in the form of racial tensions in Malaysia and the Bangladesh movement in Pakistan.
P. R. Kumaraswamy
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198295518
- eISBN:
- 9780191599217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198295510.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Looks at the different levels of change in the countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) since the end of the cold war, and attempts to determine how, and to ...
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Looks at the different levels of change in the countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) since the end of the cold war, and attempts to determine how, and to what extent, the end of the cold war has been a long‐term determinant in defining the region's foreign and domestic policies. The different sections of the chapter address: the security dimension (including consideration of the effect of Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan); democratization; and economic liberalization and regional cooperation.Less
Looks at the different levels of change in the countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) since the end of the cold war, and attempts to determine how, and to what extent, the end of the cold war has been a long‐term determinant in defining the region's foreign and domestic policies. The different sections of the chapter address: the security dimension (including consideration of the effect of Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan); democratization; and economic liberalization and regional cooperation.
Gil Loescher
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199246915
- eISBN:
- 9780191599781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199246912.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
During the 1970s under Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the fourth High Commissioner, UNHCR embarked on new assistance programmes in a number of refugee and refugee‐like situations around the world. The ...
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During the 1970s under Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the fourth High Commissioner, UNHCR embarked on new assistance programmes in a number of refugee and refugee‐like situations around the world. The most notable of these were in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Indo‐China. There were also highly politicized refugee crises in Chile and Argentina. The UNHCR was active in the repatriation and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons in southern Sudan and in Angola, Guinea Bissau, and Mozambique. In addition, there were mass exoduses of refugees from Cuba and Vietnam.Less
During the 1970s under Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the fourth High Commissioner, UNHCR embarked on new assistance programmes in a number of refugee and refugee‐like situations around the world. The most notable of these were in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Indo‐China. There were also highly politicized refugee crises in Chile and Argentina. The UNHCR was active in the repatriation and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons in southern Sudan and in Angola, Guinea Bissau, and Mozambique. In addition, there were mass exoduses of refugees from Cuba and Vietnam.
Michael Banton
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280613
- eISBN:
- 9780191598760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280610.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The implementation of the Convention in states in the Pacific, East Asia, South Asia, South‐East Asia, and the Middle East is summarily reviewed. CERD has disagreed with some governments about ...
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The implementation of the Convention in states in the Pacific, East Asia, South Asia, South‐East Asia, and the Middle East is summarily reviewed. CERD has disagreed with some governments about whether the Convention prohibits discrimination based on caste, and, for example, about the claim that Bangladesh constitutes a ‘post‐racial society’.Less
The implementation of the Convention in states in the Pacific, East Asia, South Asia, South‐East Asia, and the Middle East is summarily reviewed. CERD has disagreed with some governments about whether the Convention prohibits discrimination based on caste, and, for example, about the claim that Bangladesh constitutes a ‘post‐racial society’.
Peter van der Veer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691128146
- eISBN:
- 9781400848553
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691128146.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter scrutinizes some of the elements of the “minoritization” of Muslims in India and China. Indian Muslims have a history that gives them a centrality in processes of state formation in ...
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This chapter scrutinizes some of the elements of the “minoritization” of Muslims in India and China. Indian Muslims have a history that gives them a centrality in processes of state formation in India, as exemplified by the Mughal Empire, but also by the postcolonial formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which cannot be found in the history of Chinese Muslims. In the comparison between India and China, the chapter highlights that despite the differences in numerical strength it is the transformation of Muslims from a variety of different groups into a “minority” that in both cases require scrutiny in relation to the construction of a national majority.Less
This chapter scrutinizes some of the elements of the “minoritization” of Muslims in India and China. Indian Muslims have a history that gives them a centrality in processes of state formation in India, as exemplified by the Mughal Empire, but also by the postcolonial formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which cannot be found in the history of Chinese Muslims. In the comparison between India and China, the chapter highlights that despite the differences in numerical strength it is the transformation of Muslims from a variety of different groups into a “minority” that in both cases require scrutiny in relation to the construction of a national majority.
Martha Chen
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198289647
- eISBN:
- 9780191596698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198289642.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Chen's paper focuses on women's right to work in rural Bangladesh and India to illustrate the symbolism of independence and the practical necessity for women in the developing world to break from the ...
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Chen's paper focuses on women's right to work in rural Bangladesh and India to illustrate the symbolism of independence and the practical necessity for women in the developing world to break from the constraints of custom to forge their own way to economic security. Chen's fieldwork in Bangladesh shows that local traditions and local policies can change in response to the contingencies of human development, while her data in India supports the conclusion that local tradition varies across castes, regions, and time. Chen ends with a four‐dimensional analysis of women's right to gainful employment as a matter of (1) immediate survival for women and their dependents; (2) female mortality rates; (3) women's status; and (4) human justice.Less
Chen's paper focuses on women's right to work in rural Bangladesh and India to illustrate the symbolism of independence and the practical necessity for women in the developing world to break from the constraints of custom to forge their own way to economic security. Chen's fieldwork in Bangladesh shows that local traditions and local policies can change in response to the contingencies of human development, while her data in India supports the conclusion that local tradition varies across castes, regions, and time. Chen ends with a four‐dimensional analysis of women's right to gainful employment as a matter of (1) immediate survival for women and their dependents; (2) female mortality rates; (3) women's status; and (4) human justice.
Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198283652
- eISBN:
- 9780191596193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198283652.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The link between deprivation and the law is explored, and it is noted that, in seeking social changes to eliminate hunger, the nature of the entitlement systems has to be properly understood. ...
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The link between deprivation and the law is explored, and it is noted that, in seeking social changes to eliminate hunger, the nature of the entitlement systems has to be properly understood. Recognising that food availability is of crucial importance, the authors suggest attention is moved towards entitlement failures, Finally, case studies of the Bangladesh famine of 1974 and the food crisis in Sub‐Saharan Africa are used to illustrate this.Less
The link between deprivation and the law is explored, and it is noted that, in seeking social changes to eliminate hunger, the nature of the entitlement systems has to be properly understood. Recognising that food availability is of crucial importance, the authors suggest attention is moved towards entitlement failures, Finally, case studies of the Bangladesh famine of 1974 and the food crisis in Sub‐Saharan Africa are used to illustrate this.
Ahsan U. Ahmed and Anwar Iqbal
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195162349
- eISBN:
- 9780197562109
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195162349.003.0035
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Meteorology and Climatology
Bangladesh is globally known as a flood-vulnerable country—an almost flat land with too much water. In terms of annual per capita availability of water ...
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Bangladesh is globally known as a flood-vulnerable country—an almost flat land with too much water. In terms of annual per capita availability of water resources, it ranks among the highest in the world. But a lesserknown disaster that affects a significant proportion of its fertile land is drought. The occurrence of droughts may largely be attributed to two recent phenomena: (1) an extensive adoption of high yielding varieties (HYV) of paddy (i.e., rice) in the drier months; and (2) constraints faced in water availability during premonsoon months due to upstream water withdrawal from river systems. Up to 15% of the total cultivable land (about 0.9 million ha) now experiences droughts of moderate to very severe intensity, once in every two years (Iqbal and Ali, 2001). This chapter examines the causes of droughts in the context of the country’s complex water regime, the implications of droughts, and the ways to monitor them. About 80% of annual monsoon rainfall over the country occurs during the period from June to the first week of October. The western zones of the country receive less rainfall, averaging about 1400 mm, compared to the national average of 2150 mm, and therefore the susceptibility to droughts in the western zones of the country is higher. Table 24.1 provides a chronological overview of areas and populations in Bangladesh affected by droughts during the 1950–79 period. The economy of Bangladesh significantly depends on agriculture. More than 63% of 130 million people, confined within a territory of 147,750 km2, find employment in agriculture (MOF, 2003). Although the share of the crop production in the gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining steadily in recent times, dropping from 24.66% in 1990–91 to 18.58% in 2002–03, it still is the predominant economic activity of the majority of the people (Ahmad and Ahmed, 2002). More than 80% of the households in rural Bangladesh are directly dependent on the production of various crops. Paddy (rice) is the main crop, occupying about 80% of the cultivated land. Multiple varieties of paddy are grown in the country.
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Bangladesh is globally known as a flood-vulnerable country—an almost flat land with too much water. In terms of annual per capita availability of water resources, it ranks among the highest in the world. But a lesserknown disaster that affects a significant proportion of its fertile land is drought. The occurrence of droughts may largely be attributed to two recent phenomena: (1) an extensive adoption of high yielding varieties (HYV) of paddy (i.e., rice) in the drier months; and (2) constraints faced in water availability during premonsoon months due to upstream water withdrawal from river systems. Up to 15% of the total cultivable land (about 0.9 million ha) now experiences droughts of moderate to very severe intensity, once in every two years (Iqbal and Ali, 2001). This chapter examines the causes of droughts in the context of the country’s complex water regime, the implications of droughts, and the ways to monitor them. About 80% of annual monsoon rainfall over the country occurs during the period from June to the first week of October. The western zones of the country receive less rainfall, averaging about 1400 mm, compared to the national average of 2150 mm, and therefore the susceptibility to droughts in the western zones of the country is higher. Table 24.1 provides a chronological overview of areas and populations in Bangladesh affected by droughts during the 1950–79 period. The economy of Bangladesh significantly depends on agriculture. More than 63% of 130 million people, confined within a territory of 147,750 km2, find employment in agriculture (MOF, 2003). Although the share of the crop production in the gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining steadily in recent times, dropping from 24.66% in 1990–91 to 18.58% in 2002–03, it still is the predominant economic activity of the majority of the people (Ahmad and Ahmed, 2002). More than 80% of the households in rural Bangladesh are directly dependent on the production of various crops. Paddy (rice) is the main crop, occupying about 80% of the cultivated land. Multiple varieties of paddy are grown in the country.
Alok Bhargava
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199269143
- eISBN:
- 9780191710117
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269143.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food ...
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This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food policies in the developed and developing world. Using longitudinal (panel) data from India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan, and extending the analytical framework used in economics and biomedical sciences to include multi-disciplinary analyses, this book shows how rigorous and thoughtful econometric and statistical analysis can improve understanding of the relationships between a number of socioeconomic, nutritional, and behavioural variables on a number of issues like cognitive development in children and labour productivity in the developing world. A chapter on the growing obesity epidemic is also included, highlighting the new set of problems facing not only developed but developing countries. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms.Less
This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food policies in the developed and developing world. Using longitudinal (panel) data from India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan, and extending the analytical framework used in economics and biomedical sciences to include multi-disciplinary analyses, this book shows how rigorous and thoughtful econometric and statistical analysis can improve understanding of the relationships between a number of socioeconomic, nutritional, and behavioural variables on a number of issues like cognitive development in children and labour productivity in the developing world. A chapter on the growing obesity epidemic is also included, highlighting the new set of problems facing not only developed but developing countries. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms.
Zoltan Barany
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691137681
- eISBN:
- 9781400845491
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137681.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually ...
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This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually unchallenged state control right from the beginning of independence. However, civil–military relations in Pakistan have been far more “eventful.” The chapter makes three arguments. First and most important, by the end of the first postcolonial decade, the patterns for the drastically different military politics of India and Pakistan were already set. Second, of the numerous reasons for the evolution of different civil–military relations in the two countries, several lie in the circumstances of the 1947 Partition and in the immediate post-Partition period. Third, the British colonial period left behind profound legacies, most of which have positively influenced military affairs in the Subcontinent. The chapter also addresses Bangladesh—from its independence in 1971 to the military take-over in 2007—and what sets its military politics apart from Pakistan's.Less
This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually unchallenged state control right from the beginning of independence. However, civil–military relations in Pakistan have been far more “eventful.” The chapter makes three arguments. First and most important, by the end of the first postcolonial decade, the patterns for the drastically different military politics of India and Pakistan were already set. Second, of the numerous reasons for the evolution of different civil–military relations in the two countries, several lie in the circumstances of the 1947 Partition and in the immediate post-Partition period. Third, the British colonial period left behind profound legacies, most of which have positively influenced military affairs in the Subcontinent. The chapter also addresses Bangladesh—from its independence in 1971 to the military take-over in 2007—and what sets its military politics apart from Pakistan's.
A. K. Enamul Haque
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199213832
- eISBN:
- 9780191707438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199213832.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This chapter studies the biggest haor system in Bangladesh, the Hakaluki Haor, located in the Sylhet and Moulvi Bazar districts of north-eastern Bangladesh which has been declared an Ecologically ...
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This chapter studies the biggest haor system in Bangladesh, the Hakaluki Haor, located in the Sylhet and Moulvi Bazar districts of north-eastern Bangladesh which has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA). There is an attempt to develop a sustainable management plan for this haor, focusing on problems of conservation and extraction. Using a simple bio-economic model to provide simulations, the chapter examines the policy options available and whether the current policy adopted by the government with the help of NGOs ensures efficiency or sustainability.Less
This chapter studies the biggest haor system in Bangladesh, the Hakaluki Haor, located in the Sylhet and Moulvi Bazar districts of north-eastern Bangladesh which has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA). There is an attempt to develop a sustainable management plan for this haor, focusing on problems of conservation and extraction. Using a simple bio-economic model to provide simulations, the chapter examines the policy options available and whether the current policy adopted by the government with the help of NGOs ensures efficiency or sustainability.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be ...
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The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be fundamentally defective—it is theoretically unsound, empirically inept, and dangerously misleading for policy. The author develops an alternative method of analysis—the ’entitlement approach’, which concentrates on ownership and exchange. Aside from developing the underlying theory, the approach is used in a number of case studies of recent famines, including the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, the Ethiopian famines of 1973 and 1974, the Bangladesh famine of 1974, and the famines in the countries of the African Sahel in the 1970s. The book also provides a general analysis of the characterization and measurement of poverty. Various approaches used in economics, sociology, and political theory are critically examined. The predominance of distributional issues, including distribution between different occupational groups, links up the problem of conceptualizing poverty with that of analysing starvation. The book contains some technical economic analysis, but the text of the book has been kept as informal as possible, so that the text is accessible to the non‐technical reader, and the main lines of reasoning and their applications to the case studies are easily followed. Technicalities and mathematical reasoning are confined to the four appendices, which (1) present a formal analysis of the notion of exchange entitlement, (2) provide illustrative models of exchange entitlement, (3) examine the problem of poverty measurement, and (4) analyse the pattern of famine mortality based on the Bengal famine of 1943.Less
The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be fundamentally defective—it is theoretically unsound, empirically inept, and dangerously misleading for policy. The author develops an alternative method of analysis—the ’entitlement approach’, which concentrates on ownership and exchange. Aside from developing the underlying theory, the approach is used in a number of case studies of recent famines, including the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, the Ethiopian famines of 1973 and 1974, the Bangladesh famine of 1974, and the famines in the countries of the African Sahel in the 1970s. The book also provides a general analysis of the characterization and measurement of poverty. Various approaches used in economics, sociology, and political theory are critically examined. The predominance of distributional issues, including distribution between different occupational groups, links up the problem of conceptualizing poverty with that of analysing starvation. The book contains some technical economic analysis, but the text of the book has been kept as informal as possible, so that the text is accessible to the non‐technical reader, and the main lines of reasoning and their applications to the case studies are easily followed. Technicalities and mathematical reasoning are confined to the four appendices, which (1) present a formal analysis of the notion of exchange entitlement, (2) provide illustrative models of exchange entitlement, (3) examine the problem of poverty measurement, and (4) analyse the pattern of famine mortality based on the Bengal famine of 1943.
Paul Marshall and Nina Shea
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812264
- eISBN:
- 9780199919383
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812264.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack ...
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Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack down on religious and political reformers. The other three countries have reputations for moderation, some of them deserved, but there seems to have been an intensification of religious repression in recent years. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, Ahmadis are repressed, as are heterodox groups and Muslims who express reformist and modernist views. While there is government repression, a larger problem is violence by mobs and militias that the government cannot or does not control. Malaysia has had ongoing legal struggles over the conversion of Muslims to other religions, is trying to restrict the religious words that non-Muslims may use, and, claiming that its population is easily confused and so should not be exposed to a range of views, is also repressing heterodox and reformist Muslims.Less
Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack down on religious and political reformers. The other three countries have reputations for moderation, some of them deserved, but there seems to have been an intensification of religious repression in recent years. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, Ahmadis are repressed, as are heterodox groups and Muslims who express reformist and modernist views. While there is government repression, a larger problem is violence by mobs and militias that the government cannot or does not control. Malaysia has had ongoing legal struggles over the conversion of Muslims to other religions, is trying to restrict the religious words that non-Muslims may use, and, claiming that its population is easily confused and so should not be exposed to a range of views, is also repressing heterodox and reformist Muslims.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food ...
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A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD), and this approach is shown to offer very little by way of explanation of the famine, although the general food shortage resulting from low food imports and government food stocks is identified as a constraint in government relief operations. An analysis of the occupational status and the intensity of destitution show that the largest group were labourers. The exchange entitlement of the labourers is analysed in detail, and it is concluded that this approach gives a much better understanding of the famine.Less
A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD), and this approach is shown to offer very little by way of explanation of the famine, although the general food shortage resulting from low food imports and government food stocks is identified as a constraint in government relief operations. An analysis of the occupational status and the intensity of destitution show that the largest group were labourers. The exchange entitlement of the labourers is analysed in detail, and it is concluded that this approach gives a much better understanding of the famine.
Tirthankar Roy
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198074175
- eISBN:
- 9780199082148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198074175.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
British colonial rule in South Asia ended in 1947, resulting in the formation of several independent nation-states such as India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The map of the region was redrawn ...
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British colonial rule in South Asia ended in 1947, resulting in the formation of several independent nation-states such as India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The map of the region was redrawn in 1971 as a new country, Bangladesh, was born. India, meanwhile, suffered a traumatic Partition. Less messy was the incorporation of the princely states into the larger unions. When the immediate economic and human crises subsided, the new governments began to design strategies of economic development. Post-colonial India may be divided into three time segments: Phase I covers the years 1950–1964 and ends with Jawaharlal Nehru's death, Phase II covers 1965–1985 which includes the worst famine of post-colonial India and a war with Pakistan, and Phase III covers the period from 1986 to 2010. This article explores the economic change in India between 1950 and 2010, focusing on industry and agriculture.Less
British colonial rule in South Asia ended in 1947, resulting in the formation of several independent nation-states such as India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The map of the region was redrawn in 1971 as a new country, Bangladesh, was born. India, meanwhile, suffered a traumatic Partition. Less messy was the incorporation of the princely states into the larger unions. When the immediate economic and human crises subsided, the new governments began to design strategies of economic development. Post-colonial India may be divided into three time segments: Phase I covers the years 1950–1964 and ends with Jawaharlal Nehru's death, Phase II covers 1965–1985 which includes the worst famine of post-colonial India and a war with Pakistan, and Phase III covers the period from 1986 to 2010. This article explores the economic change in India between 1950 and 2010, focusing on industry and agriculture.
Robert A. Levine, Sarah E. Levine, Beatrice Schnell-Anzola, Meredith L. Rowe, and Emily Dexter
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195309829
- eISBN:
- 9780199932733
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309829.003.0015
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This is a review of evidence on the relationship of women’s school attainment to child survival and fertility, with an examination of long-term studies in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Guatemala, ...
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This is a review of evidence on the relationship of women’s school attainment to child survival and fertility, with an examination of long-term studies in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Guatemala, an empirically based theory of social and economic causes of child survival, and a summary of previous studies of literacy and health in developing countries. The evidence that women’s schooling acts to reduce child mortality and fertility is strong, and the studies involving literacy are suggestive.Less
This is a review of evidence on the relationship of women’s school attainment to child survival and fertility, with an examination of long-term studies in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Guatemala, an empirically based theory of social and economic causes of child survival, and a summary of previous studies of literacy and health in developing countries. The evidence that women’s schooling acts to reduce child mortality and fertility is strong, and the studies involving literacy are suggestive.
Stuart Rutherford
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380651
- eISBN:
- 9780199869312
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380651.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
ASA of Bangladesh recently topped Forbes Magazine's first ever list of the world's best microfinance banks. This was an extraordinary outcome for an organization that had started life in 1978 as a ...
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ASA of Bangladesh recently topped Forbes Magazine's first ever list of the world's best microfinance banks. This was an extraordinary outcome for an organization that had started life in 1978 as a revolutionary movement aiming to bring a peasant-led government to the newly-created and desperately poor South Asian nation of Bangladesh. The book tells the story of how ASA's determined but practical-minded founder and leader, Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, steered his organization through the maze of competing ideas about how best to develop poor countries. The book sets Choudhury's achievement in the context of Bangladesh's chaotic but inspiring postcolonial history and is rich in its understanding and descriptions of how ordinary village and slum dwellers deal with what politicians, international donors, and development experts throw at them. ASA began by trying to foment a peasant-led revolution, but within a few years it became clear that villagers were not responding. Fearing that his donors would stop supporting him, Choudhury shifted ASA to a more conventional NGO role, delivering basic services in health, education, and legal advice and spending donor money on disaster relief. But by 1991 Choudhury became convinced that microfinance would prove the most sustainable way of developing Bangladesh and of making ASA a permanent institution. There then followed a period of rapid growth until by 2008 ASA was serving more than six million poor Bangladeshis with financial services and was readying a massive privately financed for-profit replication of its work in a dozen poor Asia and African countries.Less
ASA of Bangladesh recently topped Forbes Magazine's first ever list of the world's best microfinance banks. This was an extraordinary outcome for an organization that had started life in 1978 as a revolutionary movement aiming to bring a peasant-led government to the newly-created and desperately poor South Asian nation of Bangladesh. The book tells the story of how ASA's determined but practical-minded founder and leader, Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, steered his organization through the maze of competing ideas about how best to develop poor countries. The book sets Choudhury's achievement in the context of Bangladesh's chaotic but inspiring postcolonial history and is rich in its understanding and descriptions of how ordinary village and slum dwellers deal with what politicians, international donors, and development experts throw at them. ASA began by trying to foment a peasant-led revolution, but within a few years it became clear that villagers were not responding. Fearing that his donors would stop supporting him, Choudhury shifted ASA to a more conventional NGO role, delivering basic services in health, education, and legal advice and spending donor money on disaster relief. But by 1991 Choudhury became convinced that microfinance would prove the most sustainable way of developing Bangladesh and of making ASA a permanent institution. There then followed a period of rapid growth until by 2008 ASA was serving more than six million poor Bangladeshis with financial services and was readying a massive privately financed for-profit replication of its work in a dozen poor Asia and African countries.
