Seminar2003

Since the beginning of the 1980’s FAU has brought together people from the different development environments in Denmark for an annual conference. The primary aim of the conference is to make a contribution to contemporary concerns through interdisciplinary debate. Thus it is our hope that also this year researchers, students, practitioners from DANIDA and NGOs will participate in the plenary sessions and in the thematic workshops.

The FAU Conference 2004 focuses on new perspectives on poverty reduction and whether a new agenda on poverty is emerging. In recent years poverty reduction has increasingly become the overarching objective of development assistance from both bilateral and multilateral donors as well as NGOs. It is central to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2000 where one key target is to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty before 2015. While international development assistance and the different institutions involved can be seen as important elements for poverty reduction, other factors need to be considered too. First of all, the process of globalisation has numerous implications for the poverty situation, and secondly, also the poor themselves play an important role. The intriguing questions are how these factors individually and combined impact the poverty situation and what can be done to change the prevalent conditions? Invited guest speakers and resource persons along with participants will present and discuss completed and ongoing research related to the themes of the contribution from macro-economic reforms on poverty reduction, of the role of poor in attacking poverty, of poverty being nothing but hot air and of the implication of globalisation for the fight against poverty.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Magdalena Villarreal is Professor of Anthropology from the Centre for Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in Mexico. At the moment she is Visiting Professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Her writing has addressed issues of power, gender, development and the workings of debt and different kinds of capital in local economies. Her recent publications include: 'Webs of Commitments and Debt: the significance of money and other currencies in Commodity Networks' (2001, co-authored with Norman Long, Routledge) and 'The voice and Representation of the 'poor': striving for government aid in Western Mexico.' (2002, in: Webster and Engberg-Pedersen, Zed Books, London).

Philip Quarles van Ufford teaches at the Department for Social Anthropology at Vrije University in Amsterdam. He has published various articles on development policy practices and recently co-edited the book: "A moral critique of Development - in Search for global responsibilities". The book is an attempt to find moral points of critique of development in order to get the discussion of development a step further from the "impasse" where it has been since post-structuralist and post-modernist convincingly showed that development as teleological project was most likely a cul-de-sac.

Robert K. Schaeffer (not confirmed) is Professor of Sociology at Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Kansas State University. He has worked on range of issues concerning the implications of globalisation, including social, economic and political change, gender, working and environmental conditions. His recent publications include: ‘Understanding Globalisation: The Social Consequences of Political, Economic, and Environmental Change.’ (1997, Roman & Littlefield) and ‘Fast Forward: Work, Gender and Protest in a Changing World.’ (Editor, 1999, Roman & Littlefield).

The workshops are being organised by one or more convenors assisted by one or several resource persons with a profound knowledge or experience of the topic. Presentations and discussions will be related to the topic of the workshop based on the background and interest of the participants. It is the intention that a process of related presentations and discussions occurs in each of the sessions in the workshops. In order to maximise the outcome of the discussions, it is important for each participant to consider their contribution to the programme. The conference is hence more participatory than most. The participants will be contacted by the convenors, asked about their interest in the workshop as well as their readiness of doing a short presentation. Written materials, including more elaborated descriptions of the workshops, will be mailed to the participants prior to the conference.

Workshop I: How can macroeconomic reforms contribute to poverty reduction?

Since the beginning of the 1980’ies macroeconomic reform initiatives have been placed at the top of the economic-political agenda. The International Monetary Fond (IMF) gained substantial influence with the attempts of stabilising the economies of the developing countries, and structural adjustment formulated with assistance from the World Bank became a central focal point in the development assistance policies. The latest expression of this is the effort of drafting so-called ”Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers” (PRSP) as an integrated part of the relationship between the developing countries and the multi- and bilateral donors. On top of this, the demands for increased integration in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have become still more pertinent. In this workshop we will discuss the mentioned process and seek to shed new light on a number of related issues: Macroeconomic problems and challenges in the developing countries, stabilisation and structural adjustment – where are the differences? Economic reforms and poverty reduction in selected countries (India, Vietnam and Mozambique); international debt problems, debt relief and poverty reduction; can the PRSP approach combat poverty? ownership of reforms: rhetoric or reality?

Resource Persons: Peter Hjertholm, Department of Economics (DE), University of Copenhagen (UC), and Susanne Possing, Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS)

Convenors: Finn Tarp, DE, UC, and Jørgen Dige Pedersen, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus (AU).

Workshop II: What is the role of the poor in attacking poverty?

Poverty is often rooted in socio-economic structures and relations of inequality at various levels of society. Still poverty reduction is not likely to take place without the involvement of the poor. The poor are active participants in the struggle against poverty. The workshop will discuss various aspects of this theme. The notion of political space will be suggested as a conceptual point of departure. Political space can be seen as constituted by three dimensions: institutional channels for policy formulation and implementation, political discourses in which poverty becomes a key issue and social practices aimed at influencing political decision-making. The notion of political space may structure the empirical analyses of conditions for political action by the poor. Outside local government intermediaries such as NGOs or so-called traditional authorities may channel the interests of the poor towards local government or other decision-making bodies. But can an NGO-focus on advocacy be combined with the aim of poverty alleviation and can inherently undemocratic traditional authorities contribute to poverty reduction? In government programmes aimed at poverty reduction the outcome is not simply a matter of the extent to which poverty is being reduced. Such programmes often have unintended consequences in terms of influencing the relationship between different groups of the poor.

Convenors: Astrid Blom Hansen, Consultant, and Søren Jeppesen, Copenhagen Business School.

Workshop III: Is poverty reduction nothing but hot air?

Within the last two decades poverty reduction has been transformed from being a political agenda of structural change and redistribution to becoming a question of perfecting global management techniques. From being a question of redistribution of wealth, resources and assets, it has become a question of making these assets available to the poor through policies, which stress many of the same elements as the policies, which have led to considerable increases in global inequalities during the last two decades. Poverty reduction is now to be built upon normative notions like “good governance”, “democracy”, “participation”, “empowerment”, but it is at the same time often unclear what is the means and what is the end, and the definition of these concepts often end up becoming tautologies. The ability of these means to influence on poverty levels has neither been convincingly shown. At the same time “the poor” are now seen as a group, which, despite of its enormous heterogeneity, can be targeted through these policies. The workshop will discuss the construction of this discourse of poverty and poverty alleviation as a depoliticised management project, void of issues like power and redistribution. Furthermore it will discuss the implications this has for the combat of global poverty and for the possibilities of erecting a more radical political agenda.

Resource Persons: Afonso Moreira, International Development Studies (IDS), Roskilde University Centre (RUC) and Jeremy Gould, IDS, Helsinki (not confirmed)

Workshop IV: What are the implications of globalisation for the fight against poverty?

The impact of globalisation on poverty has been much disputed and much debated. The economic forces of globalisation primarily work through trade and investment channels and openness and trade liberalisation are being universally promoted and demanded. Still more developing countries subscribe to the agenda of the World Trade Organisation and give in to the demands for liberalisation from both global economic institutions and from rich countries. At the same time widespread poverty can still be observed. The question is how - or whether - these two phenomena are connected. Can increases in poverty - or inequality - be blamed on trade, investments and globalisation? And what are the links between trade liberalisation, growth and development? Which national and international policies and institutions are needed to created triple-win solutions good for growth, development and the environment? The workshop will analyse problems of poverty through the lens of globalisation, trade and investment liberalisation. And it will attempt to frame the conditions for synergy and proper sequencing between the reforms promoted by globalisation and those promoted for the reduction of poverty.

Resource Persons: Laurids Lauridsen, IDS, RUC, Christian Friis-Bach, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University and Marianne N. Larsen, DIIS.

Convenors: Martin Hvidt, Centre of Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark (USD), and Jens Lehrman Rasmussen, International Office of the Association of Trade Unions.

PRACTICALITIES:

The seminar takes place at Djursvold Kursuscenter, which has room for 75 persons. You will be registered by turn in accordance to the time of your payment. Priority will be given the participants willing to make presentations.

Location: Djursvold Vandrerhjem (’hostel’), Dyrehavevej 9, Gjerrild, 8500 Grenå. Phone: 8638-4199. Guest phone: 8638-4091.

Conference fee: 1300 Kr.; FAU-members: 900 Kr.; Student- members/Unemployed: 450 Kr. The payment includes board and lodging, as well as expenses of the distribution of papers, but not bed linen and towels.

(The participants will be accommodated according to gender). Please, bring bed linen and towel. Djursvold will serve all meals, also lunch at arrival and departure.

Transportation: FAU will arrange transportation from Copenhagen to Grenå (Price approximately 300, -/ return, to be paid on the bus).

For further information, please contact the FAU Secretariat (Sofie Munk). Phone: 3269 8690. E-mail: fau@diis.dk. The secretariat is open Wednesdays from 9 to 12 am. However, due to travels it will only be possible to reach us by email: fau@diis.dk until the 12th of January 2004.

PROGRAMME:

“Development as a global responsibility; in search of meaning beyond current practices and applications.”

Registration format

What is FAU?

The Association of Development Researchers in Denmark (FAU) was formed in 1983, and its overall purpose is: 1) to promote research regarding the Third World in general, and within social sciences in particular, 2) to strengthen the network between development researchers and practitioners in Denmark, 3) to support the communication of the results of the research.

Membership of FAU costs: Regular members: 200 Kr., Students/Unemployed: 140 Kr., Spouses: 250 Kr. and Institutions: 500 Kr.

BACKGROUND AND SUBJECT OF THE CONFERENCE:

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Workshop I: How can macroeconomic reforms contribute to poverty reduction?

Workshop II: What is the role of the poor in attacking poverty?

Workshop III: Is poverty reduction nothing but hot air?

Workshop IV: What are the implications of globalisation for the fight against poverty?

PRACTICALITIES:

PROGRAMME:

Registration format

What is FAU?