What the Market Does to People: Privatization, Globalization and Poverty

Social Security: The Journal of Social Security & Welfare Studies, August, 2004
"provides ammunition to fight the battle against multinational corporations and those private organizations controlling worldwide trade and communication."


Global Social Policy
"a sobering assessment, by a seasoned scholar, of the connection between the global economy and basic human security and dignity"


Book Description
This book is a description, explanation and expose of the poverty that currently afflicts large swathes of people in both developed and less-developed nations. It examines and illustrates the shocking extent, the kinds and the results of poverty from both societal and individual perspectives. The origins of poverty in attitudes and ideologies, and the societal norms and structures that currently keep billions of people poor, are examined. Methods of determining statistical poverty lines, and their uses in hiding the extent of real poverty, are explained, as well as some little-known aspects of the poverty lines used in various countries. The subterfuges used by most governments in counting the poor are also examined. Particular attention is paid to the most recent and widespread causes of poverty, namely, privatization and globalization, with their emphasis on the need for a market-driven economy, in which greed is posited as goal, guide and god. The market-driven society that they serve to strengthen is discussed in terms of its effect on medical services, education and social welfare, usually resulting in two-tiered systems, one for the rich and the other for the poor. The social results of privatization and globalization – including lack of accountability, wage depression, corruption, and the growth of inequality – are also outlined. Efforts to reduce or eliminate poverty are illustrated, ranging from international activities to local programs, including efforts to achieve full employment, better and wider education, social welfare reform, microenterprises and a guaranteed minimum income, none of which seem to work to any significant degree, since inequality within nations and between nations is demonstratedly growing. The possibility of widespread changes leading to a drastic reduction in worldwide poverty is examined, including charismatic leaders, unforeseen crises, rising popular discontent, a civil society, and world government. Using various accepted methods of prediction, the future of poverty is postulated.


From the Publisher
As corporations, governments and global financial institutions hail an anticipated cornucopia of benefits from the seemingly inexorable processes of privatization and globalization, the spectre of a harrowing deepening of poverty -- in developed and developing countries alike -- should have raised pressing concerns for the present and future well-being of the poor. But it has not. What lies behind the silence? In this engaged and broad-ranging analysis of global poverty, David Macarov examines how poverty is defined as governments seek to minimize its scale, and how the poor are affected as governments cut back their support. Scrutinizing the causes of poverty with special focus on systemic policies and processes, he examines how the very nature of laissez-faire economics, privatization and globalization are creating and deepening poverty for masses of people, even as they lead to the accumulation of great wealth for a relative few.


From the Inside Flap
Back Cover Endorsements for WHAT THE MARKET DOES TO PEOPLE ‘Macarov’s cogent, revealing and constructive book … does not minimize the enormity of the problem, its complexities, and the power of the vested interests who profit from the persistence of inter-generational poverty. While he does not hesitate to forecast the long continuation of poverty amidst comparative wealth, he insists we can make affordable gains…. "Must reading" for all committed to reinventing our social and economic order. Its ideas merit searching attention; his prescriptions, creative enactment; and his cautionary hope, wide adoption.’ Arthur B. Shostak, Professor of Sociology, Drexel University ‘What the Market Does to People ... offers a brisk review of an astonishing range of issues raised by the global sweep of the free market. It explores the free market’s grim consequences for people, especially for poor people.’ Dr. Alvin Schorr, Case Western University ‘David Macarov’s latest book is broad in coverage, rich in insights, and both thoughtful and thought provoking. He confronts us with the challenge of understanding poverty. He demands that we should care.… This is a book that must be read by anyone interested in the human condition and its future fate in a world dominated by material desires and acquisitiveness, where there are some winners but many more losers.’ John Dixon, Professor of International Social Policy, University of Plymouth, UK


About the Author
David Macarov is presently Professor Emeritus at the Paul Baerwold School of Social Work. He is a prolific writer on the subject of poverty and the workplace, and is author of numerous books: Worker Productivity: Myths and Reality. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982. • Quitting Time: The End of Work. Patrington, Hull: MCB University Press, 1988. • Persisting Unemployment: Can it be Overcome?. Patrington, Hull: MCB University Press, 1991 (Editor). • Certain Change: Social Work Practice in the Future. Silver Spring: National Association of Social Workers, 1991. • Social Welfare in Socialist Countries. London: Routledge, 1992 (Co-editor, with J. Dixon).The Structure of Social Welfare: Policy and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996. • Poverty: An International Problem. London: Routledge, 1998. (Co-editor, with J. Dixon). • Twenty-two chapters in books by others. Over fifty articles in scholarly journals: • "Poverty Has a Rich Future," in Didsbury, H. F., Jr., (ed.), Future Vision: Ideas, Insights and Strategies. Bethesda: World Future Society, 1996, pp. 56-75. as well as 22 chapters in books by others and over fifty articles in scholarly journals. He serves on the Board of numerous professional journals and associations. He holds a B.A. from U Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. from Brandeis.


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