From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERseason, or when workers can form a union and oblige an employer topay decent wages, they increase their bargaining power, so that theyare not only price-takers but, to some small degree, price-makers inthe marketplace. With the support of effective states, such gains canbecome more frequent and sustained, as when the legal frameworkfacilitates grassroots organisation, when subsidised credit helps farmershold off on selling until prices rise, or when labour legislation sets afloor for decent wages and working conditions.Sustainable growth starts with poor people, where they live, whatthey do to survive, and with developing policies and institutions thatsupport their struggles. It means recognising that most poor peoplestill live in rural areas, where they flourish or fail through a combinationof small-scale agriculture, farm labour, fishing, and newer strategiessuch as migration or catering to tourists. Build the economy there, andpoor people will benefit. It means understanding that a large part ofhuman activity takes place outside the monetary economy, wheregovernment action has important impacts. It means acknowledgingthat the private sector and trade (whether internal or international)are the ultimate drivers of the economy, and it means supporting themwith policies, investment, and institutions so that their dynamism willreduce poverty and inequality.The dirty growth era that followed the end of colonialism in themid twentieth century delivered important progress in human developmentfor a large portion of humanity. The critical task for thiscentury is to devise a clean growth agenda to achieve sustainableprogress for everyone. It will require a combination of effective,accountable states and active citizens, both in civil society and in theprivate sector, backed by a system of global governance that works forall, not just for a privileged few. The prize is a world without povertyand extreme inequality, living within its environmental means. Theprice of failure hardly bears thinking about.196