000			05096cam a2200505 i 4500
001			on1340739795
003			OCoLC
005			20240620195749.0
006			m o d
007			cr |n|||||||||
008			220813s2022 enk ob 001 0 eng d
040			_aYDX _beng _epn _erda _cYDX _dJSTOR _dOCLCF _dUKKNU _dWAU _dUKAHL _dUKMGB _dOCL _dSFB _dOCLCO _dOCLCL
015			_aGBC2A4077 _2bnb
016	7		_a020642510 _2Uk
020			_a9780745344867 _q(electronic bk.)
020			_a0745344860 _q(electronic bk.)
020			_a9780745344843 _q(ePub ebook)
020			_a0745344844
020			_z0745344828
020			_z9780745344829
020			_z0745344836
020			_z9780745344836
035			_a(OCoLC)1340739795 _z(OCoLC)1343102801
037			_a22573/ctv2th5sw1 _bJSTOR
050		4	_aHC79.P6
100	1		_aBernards, Nick, _eauthor. _0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2018002065
245	1	2	_aA critical history of poverty finance : _bcolonial roots and neoliberal failures / _cNick Bernards.
264		1	_aLondon : _bPluto Press, _c2022.
300			_a1 online resource (xi, 219 pages)
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_acomputer _bc _2rdamedia
338			_aonline resource _bcr _2rdacarrier
520			_aStarting from the recent rise of much-hyped 'fintech' (financial technologies) solutions for development finance, which have been heralded by the World Bank/IMF/G20 etc as a silver bullet in the fight against poverty, this monograph provides a critical historical context of development finance from a post-colonial perspective. Whilst engaging with the specific weaknesses of the most recent trends of mobile technologies, microinsurance etc in 'Digital Financial Inclusion' efforts, author Nick Bernards explains how and why these suffer from the same shortcomings as previous iterations of neoliberal 'financial inclusion', namely that they all rely on and ultimately reinforce existing patters of inequality and uneven development, many of which date back to the first days of colonialism; and that they rely on artificially created markets that simply aren't there among the world's most disadvantaged economic actors. The critical assessment of fintech is certainly one selling point of this book, though its major original contribution lies in providing the broader backdrop of why this type of quintessentially neoliberal pipe dream of poverty alleviation cannot work and never has. Bernards puts fintech in the lineage of efforts led in particular by colonial administrations in Africa and South Asia since the 1930s, and then later by the World Bank in the 1970s, whose underlying principles can be traced back to the first guiding principles of colonial rule. The book hence offers both, an astute analysis of the current fintech fad as well as a thorough and detailed colonial history of development finance. The book would be clearly an academic monograph, and I guess could conceivably be priced even higher than suggested here. Having said that, I found Nick's writing style to be eminently readable and actually potentially capable of drawing in some of the elusive 'interested general public' readership. Nick's home discipline is international politics, but his regional specialism is sub-Saharan Africa, which I think is apparent in his writing that seems just as informed by on-the-ground experiences as by theoretical analysis. He is Canadian and still has decent ties there (PhD at McMaster in 2016). Might be worth asking Fernwood/BTL if they'd be interested in a co-pub. In sum, I think this could be a low-risk, solid title that sits well at the intersections of development and postcolonial studies as well as critiques of neoliberal economics and digital capitalism.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 189-215) and index.
505	0		_aAcknowledgements -- Acronyms -- Introduction -- Part I. Poverty finance and the antinomies of colonialism1. A colonial problem -- 2. Poverty finance and nascent neoliberalism -- 3. Structural adjustment, backlash, and the turn to the local: Explaining the rise of microfinance -- Part II. Making markets for poverty finance -- 4. Commercialising community: Experiments with marketisation -- 5. From microcredit to financial inclusion -- Part III. Innovation to the rescue? -- 6. The forever-latent demand for microinsurance -- 7. Fintech and its limits -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
590			_aJSTOR _bBooks at JSTOR Open Access
650		0	_aPoverty. _0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85105939
650		0	_aEconomic policy. _0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85040837
650		0	_aDevelopment economics. _0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh94005272
650		0	_aFinancial services industry _xTechnological innovations.
758			_ihas work: _aCRITICAL HISTORY OF POVERTY FINANCE (Text) _1https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PCXmv8cjb9dPRwFgyFPjhBP _4https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/ontology/hasWork
856	4	0	_uhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctv2tjd6qs
942			_cE-BOOK
994			_a92 _bPHURS
999			_c80628 _d80627