Publications by: Adam Parsons
No tax, no justice
Article / 23rd September 2011Finding ways to increase tax revenue is critical if developing countries are to fund essential public services and reduce poverty. Global reforms to tackle tax evasion and policies to strengthen the capacity of national revenue authorities should be a top priority for development cooperation, argues Adam Parsons.
Is a ‘global social floor’ the right path for ending poverty?
Article / 31st March 2011An internationally coordinated effort to secure universal social protection may not address the structural factors which make people vulnerable to poverty, but it could represent a major step forward in the fight against needless suffering and deprivation, argues Adam Parsons.
The rise of ‘British’ people power
Article / 20th December 2010In the space of a few weeks, a nationwide protest movement has emerged in Britain characterised by intelligent, humorous and peaceful direct actions. The question that remains is whether it can connect with the popular protests in other countries through its fundamental call for equality and justice, writes Adam Parsons.
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – myth 7: there will always be slums
Report / 8th December 2010Is it realistic to talk about an end to slums at any point in the future? Or does the same view hold for ‘slums’ as for those who proclaim against global poverty: “the poor have always been with us, and always will be!” For some modern writers, the evidence suggests that the future of cities is a foregone and forbidding conclusion, a “planet of slums”...
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – conclusion
Report / 8th December 2010A new vision for cities clearly begins with a change in mindset by the business and political community and all those involved in the governance and construction of cities. This requires a rethinking of the entrepreneurial and ‘marketing’ approach to urban development in which the city is regarded as a product for exchange with the rest of the world, as if the city is a saleable commodity that...
The seven myths of ‘slums’
Report / 8th December 2010The increasing rate of slum growth in the Global South is the direct result of an international development paradigm that fails to prioritise the basic needs of the poor. A world without urban poverty cannot be realised without a redistribution of power and resources on the national and global level, argues a new report by Share The World’s Resources.
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – introduction
Report / 8th December 2010For anyone who takes an interest in the problem of slums, a few basic facts will soon become clear. Firstly, the locus of global poverty is moving from rural areas to the cities, and more than half the world population now lives in urban areas for the first time in human history. Secondly...
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – a summary
Report / 8th December 2010It is easy to believe that urban slums are a consequence of too many people living in cities, or too many poor people migrating from rural to urban areas for governments to contend with the strain on housing. But the real problem is rooted in...
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – myth 1: there are too many people
Report / 8th December 2010Since Thomas Malthus first warned of an impending population explosion in 1798, the idea that there are too many people in the world for everyone to share in the earth’s bounty is one of the most persistent and widespread myths in popular thinking on development...
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – myth 2: the poor are to blame
Report / 8th December 2010The deep-seated myth that the poor are to blame for their conditions of poverty echoes back to the earliest days of industrialisation in Western Europe. With a perverse inversion of cause and effect, the prevalence of extreme urban poverty and slum settlements is blamed...