This week, I have been mostly reading:

• Microfinance as Poverty-Shame Debt — Susan Engel in Progress in Political Economy (PPE): Microfinance started as a development intervention in the 1970s and by the 1990s it was the next big thing in development. Dramatic claims about its benefits continue to be made, summed up by Irish rock star Bono’s parable: ‘Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Give a woman microcredit, she, her husband, her children, and her extended family will eat for a lifetime” (quoted in Bateman, 2014). There’s a lot of great political economy research demonstrating the problems of microfinance, including that of Milford Bateman, so what can we add? We argue that the relationship between microfinance and people’s psychosocial well-being needs far more attention and that the deliberate or otherwise use of shame here and in other development interventions needs to end.
• Warren’s cagey health plan — Doug Henwood: Warren’s defenders say the scheme, to start with a “moderate” Dem plan and wait three years to push for the full program, is politically realistic, given Congressional and other political constraints on ambitious social programs. That argument never made sense to me. If the success of the right over the last few decades has taught us anything it’s that going for maximalist demands gets results. You might have to make some concessions along the way, but you get some wins and also push the political center of gravity in your direction. If you start out already compromised, you won’t get anywhere. So that whole phase-in approach looked to me like a signal that she wasn’t serious about the M4A part—that it was just for show. […] The only question is how conscious Warren is of this. Since she’s quite smart, it’s hard to believe she isn’t.
• New report shows the world is awash with fossil fuels. It’s time to cut off supply — Peter Christoff: A new United Nations report shows the world’s major fossil fuel producing countries, including Australia, plan to dig up far more coal, oil and gas than can be burned if the world is to prevent serious harm from climate change. The report found fossil fuel production in 2030 is on track to be 50% more than is consistent with the 2℃ warming limit agreed under the Paris climate agreement. Production is set to be 120% more than is consistent with holding warming to 1.5℃ – the ambitious end of the Paris goals. […] The production gap is largest for coal, of which Australia is the world’s biggest exporter. By 2030, countries plan to produce 150% more coal than is consistent with a 2℃ pathway, and 280% more than is consistent with a 1.5℃ pathway.
• On the Battle of Seattle’s 20th anniversary, let’s remember the Aussie coders who created live sharing — Tom Sear in the Conversation: Just days before the events in Seattle, two software programmers, Matthew Arnison in Sydney and Manse Jacobi in Colorado, posted a message on indymedia.org, a new website they had developed. It read: "The resistance is global… a trans-pacific collaboration has brought this web site into existence. The web dramatically alters the balance between multinational and activist media." The Seattle Independent Media Centre (Indymedia) website coordinated the protest and allowed reporters to share events to the world, live. The site received 1.5 million hits that week. Arnison had created a movement. [I knew Matt somewhat, and had sudo access on cat.org.au. Not that I actually ever helped with anything at all, IIRC.]
• Ed-Tech Agitprop — Audrey Watters: We should want a future of human dignity and thriving and justice and security and care -- for everyone. Education is a core part of that. But dignity, thriving, justice, and care are rarely the focus of how we frame "the future of learning" or "the future of work." Robots will never care for us. Unbridled techno-solution will never offer justice. Lifelong learning isn't thriving when it is a symptom of economic precarity, of instability, of a disinvestment in the public good.