Social Protection As Development Policy: Asian Perspectives

The Asian crisis of the late 1990s severely affected some of the most successful economies in the region, placing the issue of social protection high on the regional and international agenda. Subsequently, growth rates revived, but the fruits of growth have not been evenly distributed and inequality has risen. Behind this trend lie deeply entrenched forms of poverty and social exclusion as well as new forms of vulnerability resulting from the liberalization of markets and growing exposure to the global economy.

This volume deals with issues of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in the Asian context. The chapters deal with different groups of vulnerable people, exploring some of the characteristics of vulnerability in different contexts, and reflecting on appropriate policy responses. Collectively, they emphasise a broad-based systemic approach to the problems of vulnerability and insecurity, where social protection needs to be "rescued" from its dominant current conceptualization as a response to risk and crisis, and instead be integrated into the mainstream of development policy.

Table of Contents:
1-Introduction: Exclusions, Deficits and Trajectories: Sarah Cook and Naila Kabeer
2-Shock-Induced Poverty in Urban China: Meiyan Wang
3-Social Protection and the Economic Well-Being of Families with Dependent Children in Urban China: Xiulan Zhang and Yuebin Xu
4-Gender, Work and Security in Urban China: The Reconstruction of Identity as Laid-Off Worker: Sarah Cook and Susan Jolly
5-Social Protection and Market Reforms in Vietnam: Robert L. Bach and Le Bach Duong
6-Social Security for Rural Migrant Workers in China: Current Coverage, Institutional Design and Policy Suggestions: Dewen Wang, Yongtang Ma and Changyou Zhu
7-Reading the Signposts: Social Protection for Home-Based Women Workers in South Asia: Ratna M. Sudarshan
8-Approaching Basic and Economic Security for Informal Workers through National and Local Initiatives: Case Studies of Home-Based Workers in South East Asia: Donna L. Doane
9-Women’s Vulnerability, Risk and Social Protection: An Exploration of Links between Property Ownership and Domestic Violence in South Asia: Nandita Bhatla, Nata Duvvury and Swati Chakraborty
10-Food Security at the Local Level: A Study in Contrast between Kerala and Orissa in India: K.P. Kannan and N. Vijayamohanan Pillai
11-Targeting in Social Protection Programmes: The Experience of Indonesia: Asep Suryahadi, Wenefrida Widyanti, Daniel Suryadarma and Sudarno Sumarto
12-Crafting a Graduation Pathway for the Ultra Poor: Lessons and Evidence from a BRAC Programme in Bangladesh: Imran Matin, Munshi Sulaiman and Mehnaz Rabbani