Description
Book Synopsis Poverty is an issue facing countries around the globe, yet it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon caused by a variety of factors, differing from context with no linear chain of cause and effect. The occurrence and persistence of poverty is influenced by an interrelated web of economic, social, psychological, cultural, and political factors.
Focusing on countries-in-transition belonging to the former Soviet bloc where the existence of poverty was officially denied until the collapse of the Soviet Union, this volume examines the ways in which each country is dealing with its newly acknowledged and rapidly increasing poverty. The transition from socialism to democracy and market economies has proved more difficult and costly than anyone imagined. Scholars from the six countries examined here profile and evaluate current social policies and programs on poverty eradication and provide a comparative perspective that ensures that culturally specific solutions can be found in place of borrowed solutions from abroad - solutions which have thus far ignored the cultural factor and have thus failed to deliver.
Table of Contents Acknowledgements
Introduction
Y. Atal
Chapter 1. Recent Trends in Poverty in Hungary
J. Szalai
Chapter 2. Emerging Poverty in Bulgaria
S. Todrova
Chapter 3. Poverty in Romania
T. Rotaru and L. Popescu
Chapter 4. Toward Poverty Eradication in Georgia
A. Sulaberidze
Chapter 5. The Russian Case: Social Policy Concerns
G. Pirogov and S. Pronin
Chapter 6. Mongolia: In the Grip of Poverty
T. Nyamsuren
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
