From poverty to power

The twenty-first century will be defined by the fight against the scourges of poverty, inequality, and the threat of environmental collapse - just as the fight against slavery or for universal suffrage defined earlier eras. Rooted in decades of Oxfam's experience across the developing world, From poverty to power argues that it requires a radical redistribution of power, opportunities, and assets to break the cycle of poverty and inequality and to give poor people power over their own destinies. The forces driving this transformation are active citizens and effective states. Because people living in poverty must have a voice in deciding their own destiny, fighting for rights and justice in their own society, and holding the state and private sector to account, there is a need for active citizens and effective states because history shows that no country has prospered without a state structure than can actively manage the development process. There is now an added urgency in addition to the moral case for tackling poverty and inequality: climate change. We need to build a secure, fair, and sustainable world within the limits set by scarce resources and ecological realities. This book argues that leaders, organisations, and individuals need to act together, while there is still time.