The Microfinance Mirage

Making a unique contribution to our further understanding of the microfinance industry this book shows that, in some cases, microfinance can result in the disintegration of pre-existing relationships and in the disruption and destruction of the livelihoods of the poor. Exploring the impact of microfinance in one of the poorest regions of sub-Saharan Africa this book demonstrates its potential and problems and shows the complex and contradictory social and cultural environments in which projects are often located.

Esayas Bekele Geleta is a lecturer in sociology in Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Vancouver, Canada. He previously lectured in sociology in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and held a teaching fellow position in the University of Limerick, Ireland and a part time lecturer position in University College Cork. He also worked as an assistant editor of the Irish Journal of Sociology. The key areas of his current research and teaching include the political economy of development and underdevelopment, social justice, the sociology of human rights, globalisation, microfinance, the sociology of work, the sociology of race and ethnicity and the ethics and the politics of sociological research.

Introduction; Chapter 1 Introduction to Microfinance; Chapter 2 Microfinance in Africa; Chapter 3 The Politics of my Fieldwork; Chapter 4 The Political Economy of Microfinance Governance; Chapter 5 Social Capital, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction; Chapter 6 Microfinance, Women's Empowerment and Poverty Reduction;