What is it about?

This book review explains why Microcredit has failed in Bangladesh. It explores real-life scenarios of small businesswomen plunged into debt pyramid schemes by well-meaning western, European and American NGOs. Patriarchal family structures, where men decide where women's money should be spent, impact the success of the program. Muhammad Yunus' bank is featured prominently.

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Why is it important?

My review helps the audience understand the importance of looking closely at how microcredit and micro finance schemes work on the ground. It helps question the economic, social, and political implications of neoliberalism, and the lack of government oversight on social and economic improvement plans.

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This page is a summary of: Microfinance and Its Discontents: Women in Debt in Bangladesh. By Lamia Karim. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. xxxiii, 255 pp. $75.00 (cloth); $25.00 (paper)., The Journal of Asian Studies, May 2013, Duke University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0021911813000399.
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