Pro-Poor Development in Crisis: Combating economic recession and market fundamentalism

The economic recession underscores a foundational political crisis, in which market-oriented reforms have led to a cyclical readjustment of injustice with the poor subsidizing the bailouts. When states subsidize markets, the logic of privatization and liberalization is perpetuated, instead it should be revised fundamentally. Shobha Raghuram argues that development-oriented policies, formulated by national governments to reduce income gaps between classes of citizens, have been in ‘recession’ during the last two decades. This has led to increasing misery of people living in poverty. Pro-poor development is in crisis. The current economic recession provides us with an opportunity to return to accountable states, which regulate market regimes and place people and their citizenship rights at the centre stage of the agenda of democratic governance.