Routledge The Social and Political Potential of Cash Transfers

Cash Transfers, for all their notable successes, have been criticised for their limited ability to move poor households to provide sustainable routes out of poverty. This book draws on original qualitative research by leading scholars and development policy experts from a range of disciplines to examine whether cash transfers can have transformative spillover effects on individuals, households and communities. Case studies from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America show that, while there are limits to the sustainability of the transformations brought about by Cash Transfers, they can bring about changes affecting the social and political integration of very poor households. With chapters on Psycho-Social Wellbeing, Social Accountability and Social Capital, this comprehensive volume casts new light on the ongoing debates over the significance of the Cash Transfer ‘revolution’. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Development Studies. About the Author Maxine Molyneux holds a Chair in Sociology at University College London, UK, and has written widely in the fields of political sociology, gender studies and development policy, publishing books on Latin America, Ethiopia and South Yemen. Nicola Jones is a political scientist and Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, UK, with responsibility for the gender programme. Fiona Samuels is a social anthropologist and Research Fellow in the Social Development Division at the Overseas Development Institute, UK.