Globalization and the Poor

The argument the author presents is that globalization is associated with the economic growth necessary to alleviate poverty. Globalization therefore should be encouraged. At the same time, governments must adopt policies that address the needs of those who are victimized by the dislocations caused by the process. The book responds to the opponents by emphasizing globalization's potential to alleviate poverty, but at the same time is critical of those who defend globalization without acknowledging the costs it imposes on innocent victims. In addressing the activist opponents of the process, the author maintains that they should not reject the global integration of world markets because of a concern for justice. Instead activists can advance the interests of the world's poor by mounting political movements to advance international agreements to stabilize the world economy and ensure labor rights.

Jay R. Mandle has been W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics at Colgate University since 1990. Before that he taught at Temple University, as well as at universities in China, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Barbados. He has received two Fulbright Scholar awards and written numerous books and articles on Caribbean economic development, African-American economic history, and economic growth.