changes to reverse climate change, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of transnational mining corporations in the Congo. Rather, it is assumed that the market can be harnessed to problems. As resolve people’s Gledhill (2004:341) argues, a world in which the triumph of the market economy is taken for “in granted, it seems increasingly difficult to strategies for those at the bottom of specify ‘realistic’ global society that do not entail enhancing their capacity to function in market The society.” UNDP report emphasizes investment in social capital as one means to end poverty. The from political work on the buzzword “social capital” borrows scientist Robert Putnam’s networks within society that provide a basis for coordination and governance. Efforts to govern through community are premised on building social capital, as a way to develop the kinds of local-level networks that can promote economic growth and alleviate poverty. Social capital was seen as a resource that communities lacked, and that required some intervention to restore it (Murray Li 2007:244). Development agencies commonly invoke this idea of social capital, along with notions of and A story entitled “empowering women,” “participation,” “self-reliance.” Women to Fight in Bangladesh has the following pull quote from the “Empowering Poverty” country in women yields dividends for the entire family, specifically for director: “Investing education and The language of financial markets is applied to the social children’s nutrition.” problem of poverty alleviation. More generally, storytelling strategies have come to play a key role in campaigns by development agencies to promote MDGs, with UN agencies sponsoring writing workshops, using or brief personal narratives in their campaigns, and featuring stories on “micronarratives” their websites. NGOs have also taken up this strategy of using storytelling to advance the MDGs. The organization Story Workshop in Malawi uses stories to address issues of HIV-AIDS, food
changes to reverse climate change, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of transnational mining corporations in the Congo. Rather, it is assumed that the market can be harnessed to resolve people’s problems. As Gledhill (2004:341) argues, “in a world in which the triumph of the market economy is taken for granted, it seems increasingly difficult to specify ‘realistic’ strategies for those at the bottom of global society that do not entail enhancing their capacity to function in market society.” The UNDP report emphasizes investment in social capital as one means to end poverty. The buzzword “social capital” borrows from political scientist Robert Putnam’s work on the networks within society that provide a basis for coordination and governance. Efforts to govern through community are premised on building social capital, as a way to develop the kinds of local-level networks that can promote economic growth and alleviate poverty. Social capital was seen as a resource that communities lacked, and that required some intervention to restore it (Murray Li 2007:244). Development agencies commonly invoke this idea of social capital, along with notions of “empowering women,” “participation,” and “self-reliance.” A story entitled “Empowering Women to Fight Poverty” in Bangladesh has the following pull quote from the country director: “Investing in women yields dividends for the entire family, specifically for children’s education and nutrition.” The language of financial markets is applied to the social problem of poverty alleviation. More generally, storytelling strategies have come to play a key role in campaigns by development agencies to promote MDGs, with UN agencies sponsoring writing workshops, using “micronarratives” or brief personal narratives in their campaigns, and featuring stories on their websites. NGOs have also taken up this strategy of using storytelling to advance the MDGs. The organization Story Workshop in Malawi uses stories to address issues of HIV-AIDS, food
Politics-and-Protest-paper.docx