Catalytic Social Entrepreneurship to Combat Desperate Poverty: A Systems Approach

Oswald A J Mascarenhas,Ram Kesavan,Michael D Bernacchi

doi:10.32890/ijms.20.2.2013.10397

Oswald A J Mascarenhas, Ram Kesavan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.32890/ijms.20.2.2013.10397

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Abstract

Any credible agenda that seeks to eradicate global poverty must seek to correct the structural injustices and inequities that cause and perpetuate desperate endemic poverty. Such an agenda must aim not merely to aid the poor with grants, welfare and subsidies, but it must primarily seek to enhance the capabilities, skills, access and opportunities of the marginalized to participate on more equitable terms, in the dynamic process of overall economic growth. We apply a systems approach to poverty, the latter itself being a pernicious system. Eradication of global desperate poverty and its unjust structural causes can be done through two concurrent systems-thinking based strategies: (a) micro catalytic social entrepreneurship that leads to catalytic innovations that alleviate poverty, and (b) macro social catalytic political entrepreneurship that radically innovates legislation or designs macro-policy intervention systems that can effectively dismantle existing unjust structures of social injustice and inequities – the causes that perpetuate endemic global poverty. Using the theories of catalytic innovations and the bottom of the pyramid, we focus on solution (a) as being feasible, viable and doable and in the long run having the potential for eradicating global desperate poverty. We also provide two case studies where solution (b) was effectively implemented. The main proposition of the paper is that the use of both micro- and macro- catalyst can help alleviate poverty in the world. Keywords: Micro catalyst, macro catalyst, global poverty, system approach, catalytic innovation, macro-policy intervention.

Highlights

The world has been eagerly watching these days to see how individual political activists (e.g., Anna Hazare and his team in India; political activists in Libya, Egypt and Sudan) have been combating deeply ingrained multilayered structural injustices such as corporate fraud, bribery and corruption that cause and perpetuate desperate poverty among the marginalised billions
Demoralized and disillusioned educated youth immigrate to countries that can provide them with meaningful and gainful jobs, causing and perpetuating poverty that originates from not retaining homegrown productive skills. This is a clear instance that poverty originates in the structural injustices of a social and political order that incapacitates the bottom of the income pyramid (BOP) from participating in the mainstream economic growth activities (Maxwell, 1999; Scott et al, 2011)
The BOP represents billions of the world’s poorest who live on less than two dollars a day, amidst their lack of basic amenities such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, clothing, privacy, healthcare, and education, resulting in hunger, thirst, sickness, destitution and squalor. This is a macro problem that we argue must be resolved in a micro way, primarily because under the present circumstances macro major political and economic interventions may not come forth in the near future. Given this macro-micro (Quadrant Three) focus, we argue that the BOP should be the primary focus of the global poverty eradication problem (GPEP) and its resolution programmes

Summary

Introduction

The world has been eagerly watching these days to see how individual political activists (e.g., Anna Hazare and his team in India; political activists in Libya, Egypt and Sudan) have been combating deeply ingrained multilayered structural injustices such as corporate fraud, bribery and corruption that cause and perpetuate desperate poverty among the marginalised billions. Demoralized and disillusioned educated youth immigrate to countries that can provide them with meaningful and gainful jobs, causing and perpetuating poverty that originates from not retaining homegrown productive skills This is a clear instance that poverty originates in the structural injustices of a social and political order that incapacitates the BOP from participating in the mainstream economic growth activities (Maxwell, 1999; Scott et al, 2011). Dictatorial or corrupt governments and corporate tycoons of Myanmar, Libya, Egypt, Haiti, Sudan and India are known for funnelling wealth into private coffers to the detriment of their BOP citizens The wealthy in such regimes are often fugitives from taxes, refusing to contribute to national growth and development. To achieve social mobility, income inequalities must be reduced over time

A System’s Approach to Global Poverty

A Fourfold Structure of the Global Poverty Problem and Resolution Strategies

Discussion

Findings

30 World Bank poverty line

Conclusion