published by Zed Books, priced £18.99/$34.95, ISBN 9781848133327. For more information or to request a review copy please contact Ruvani de Silva on 020 7837 8466 or ruvani.de_silva at zedbooks.net
Since its emergence in the 1970s, microfinance has risen to become one of the most high-profile policies to address poverty and under-development in developing and transition countries. It is beloved of rock stars, royalty, movie stars, high-profile politicians and 'trouble-shooting' economists. Its most famous pioneer, Muhammad Yunus, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
In this provocative and controversial analysis, Milford Bateman reveals that microfinance doesn't actually work. That, in fact, the case for it has largely been built on a desire to advance a particular free market ideology, on hype and egregious half-truths, and - latterly - on the Wall Street-style greed, deception and individual self-interest of those promoting and working in microfinance. Using a multitude of case studies from across the globe - from India to Cambodia, Bolivia to Uganda, Serbia to Mexico amongst many others - he exposes why many of its most fundamental building blocks are largely myths. In doing so, he demonstrates that microfinance actually constitutes a major barrier to sustainable economic and social development, and thus also to sustainable poverty reduction.
As developing and transition countries attempt to repair the devastation wrought by the global financial crisis, Bateman argues forcefully that the role of microfinance in development policy needs to be urgently and fundamentally reconsidered.
Why Doesn't Microfinance Work? by Milford Bateman is published by Zed Books, priced £18.99/$34.95, ISBN 9781848133327. For more information or to request a review copy please contact Ruvani de Silva on 020 7837 8466 or ruvani.de_silva at zedbooks.net
‘For some time, there has been fragmented evidence that microcredit is way over-hyped as an instrument of development, but Bateman pulls it all together and connects the microfinance fad with the underlying neoliberal themes of so much official development assistance. It's a timely, much-needed, and must-read book for anyone interested in the problems of development assistance.'
David Ellerman, author of Helping People Help Themselves: From the World Bank to an Alternative Philosophy of Development Assistance
‘Microfinance has suffered too long from unthinking enthusiasm, but some negative views are beginning to make themselves heard. Bateman is the first, however, to examine microfinance critically and coherently as a whole, and to take a sceptical long term view of its social and economic effects. Few readers will agree with everything he writes, but anyone who has any connection with microfinance should read this book.’
Malcolm Harper, Cranfield School of Management
‘DO NOT READ THIS BOOK - if you wish to retain the myths attached to microfinance rather than enjoy and appreciate the best available scholarly, reasoned and readable critique.’
Ben Fine, SOAS