Social Security in Developing Countries

The term "social security" has a very different meaning in underdeveloped countries -- whose populations live in great insecurity -- and is best understood as poverty alleviation. This book attempts to define social seThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

curity in the Third World and to examine what sort of programs are most suitable for developing countries. The authors review current literature on the subject. Some chapters explore broad themes, others contain case studies describing social security provisions in various regions of Asia, Latin America, and Southern Africa. This illuminating study will be of interst to development economists as well as those working in international organizations concerned with policy-making in the Third World and management of resources.

this book is both important and interesting; but there is more than that to it. The papers included here contain a wealth of material, both on the theoretical issues of policy aims and policy strategies, and on the detail of different social security strategies and achievements in a wide range of developing countries ... a stimulating as well as an informative text ... those concerned with a global understanding of what we mean by social security and what we can achieve through it will not be disappointed with what they find. * Community Development Journal * this book is both important and interesting; but there is more than that to it. The papers included here contain a wealth of material, both on the theoretical issues of policy aims and policy strategies, and on the detail of different social security strategies and achievements in a wide range of developing countries ... a stimulating as well as an informative text ... those concerned with a global understanding of what we mean by social security and what we can achieve through it will not be disappointed with what they find. * Pete Alcock, Sheffield City Polytechnic * The book undoubtedly is a classic on the subject and covers a very wide area. * Sunday * timely set of essays ... This book provides an excellent and balanced review of differdent types of state intervention and their pros and cons in the context of poor societies. This is an impressive set of essays with only a minimum of duplication and covering a wide-ranging and difficult area with great clarity. * John Healey, Development Policy Review * The editors of the volume under review should be commended for bringing together a series of essays which investigate the role of the modern state in developing countries. The volume is timely ... a useful and informative guide for anyone working in this field. * Food Policy * Sen and his associates deserve a lot of credit for bucking the general trend. * Times Higher Education Supplement *