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Historically, the relationship between the private sector and international development has been deeply ambivalent. For many, a vibrant private sector and competitive markets are the essential prerequisites of development. For many others, development is principally concerned with ameliorating the dislocation associated with capitalist profit seeking. In the last generation, this ambivalence has given way to an emphasis on the complementarities between the private sector and development. Yet skeptics have continued to criticize the form of development this trend has promoted. We review the historical conditions behind this trend; the controversies concerning transnational corporations and foreign direct investment; the rise of corporate social responsibility; the parallel rise of philanthrocapitalism; and the growth of micro-credit as a market-oriented vehicle for poverty alleviation and empowerment. When taken together, it is clear that private sector actors have become increasingly influential in the new landscape of development, yet their effects remain ambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on poverty reduction and micro-credit in Bangladesh. The study provides an overview regarding the access of rural poor to micro-credit and its effects on poverty and to the income of its recipients. The result of the study reveals that micro-credit utilization poses a positive effect on poverty reduction, standard of living, assets endowments, and on income.

Drawing on extensive field interviews, the author identifies the key elements in the group dialogue process used by Manavodaya, a nonprofit in northern India that trains development facilitators to empower women villagers for sustainable development through Self-Help Groups. The deeply reflective dialogue among members of a Self-Help Group moves through several phases: from polite conversation to resistance and debate; from fear of change to the recognition of possibility; from disempowering assumptions to a new perspective on one's circumstances; and from unquestioning acceptance of existing institutions and cultural practices to a creative stance of collaborative action. Manavodaya's process embraces the entire journey from dialogue to action. The collective reflection practice that Manavodaya has developed uniquely synthesizes three streams in the civic engagement literature: transformational dialogue, co-creativity and systems change; and international participatory development based on the tools and methods of action research. Yet Manavodaya's practice of collective reflection derives directly from a social learning process honed from practice in the most challenging conditions of rural India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnamese women are subject to many restrictions related to gender and their position in the household that affect their ability to make strategic choices. For example, they have unequal access to capital and other resources. Studies have shown how gender inequities cause women, especially poor women, to bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Micro-credit through women's groups has been reported to contribute to women's empowerment. This raises the question of whether and how microcredit programs for women in the special circumstance of living with an HIV infection can empower these women and improve their economic status and their health. This article describes how a small group of HIV+ women in Hanoi followed over a period of two years gained in five dimensions of empowerment at the household level by micro-credit offered through a support group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]