No-nonsense Guide to World Poverty (No-Nonsense Guides) by Jeremy Seabrook (13-Sep-2007) Paperback

No-Nonsense Guides

by Jeremy Seabrook

In this No-Nonsense Guide to World Poverty Jeremy Seabrook summarizes his work on the meaning of poverty, drawing on the experience of poor people themselves in both rich and poor societies. He concludes that the opposite of poverty is not wealth but 'sufficiency'. The relatively poor majority of the world's people do not aim to be rich, but to be safe. Economic growth will never overcome problems it is largely responsible for creating. This is a clarion call for a radical rethink, not just about poverty, but about the way we live.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Economics

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jeremy R. Seabrook was an English author and journalist who specialised in social, environmental and development issues. His book The Refuge and the Fortress: Britain and the Flight from Tyranny was longlisted for the Orwell Prize.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yah ok. I would pass this on to anyone who made ignorant comments about ‘the poor’ but would be open enough to a quick read. The book does a decent job of simply explaining how wealth accumulation without resource nor wealth distribution is the foundation to which poverty is created. The dispossession of the commons, the forcing of peoples into consumer based society’s, the dismantling and criminalization of collective/community-based self sufficiency and reliance. The layout has many pop out boxes with facts and personal testimonies, unfortunately done in a way that infuriated me which is giving no source for the testimony. This is the weakest aspect of the book. As a documentary filmmaker I think if you take anyone’s story you state who did the interview, when and where. Basic. Otherwise it is really easy to feel like you are just being fed stories rather than genuine lived experiences. I also see the no naming of testimonies as a form of invisiblizing/ereasure on the part of the author/editor. Which is ironic but not unique when it comes to people in the global North wanting to do ‘good’ but engaging in racist/colonialist/patronizing practices. Anyways I digress. The book came out in 2003 so it doesn’t give accurate figures for today, but I have my CIA world hand book 2019 handy, and spoiler alert, there is just ever increasing wealth inequality worldwide. No war but the class war.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think "No-nonsense" is certainly a good series title if all the books are like this one. I admire this book because it cuts to the chase and spares nothing when critiquing the Western world and its ill-conceived attempts to assist the South. I hd never rally thought about poverty in economical terms in any great depth before, as that's not my domain, but I'm glad this book addresses the issue of "economic rights" and discusses negative aspects of globalisaiton that had never even crossed my white-privilege mind before. I would love to see an eextended and more in-depth version of this book with full critique and analysis to explore this issue even further and possibly also suggest what an individual can contribute to the problem. An update would also not go astray as I was wary that this book was mostly from 2003, with some updates from 2007.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author describes and defines poverty in the global sense. Global poverty is devastating and the author clues you in on the mechanisms that create it and the frame or context from which it is defined. There are also some solutions proposed mainly localizing and sustainability, self-reliance in an interdependent communal sense on the local level.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single one of the New Internationalist's No Nonsense Guides is thoughtful, insightful and superbly researched. I recommend the entire series. I've recently re-read this title after first reading it shortly after it came out in 2003.

[Laurie]

Concise small compact over view of the myths we create about poverty. Thought provoking about how we think about poverty and how the way we think about it impacts poverty.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains the broad effects of poverty, including crime and the fear of crime, the traffic in people and drugs, and the degradation of the natural world.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended.