Why Global Poverty? A Companion Guide to the Film “The End of Poverty?” By Clifford W. Cobb and Philippe Diaz With contributions by Beth Portello and Richard Castro

Synopsis:
Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery, and colonization: the seizure of land, minerals, and forced labor. It has persisted until the present as a result of unfair debt, trade, and tax policies, which the rich nations of the North have imposed on the nations of the globlal South—Latin America, Africa, and much of Asia. Even today, independent action by any nation of the global South may result in assassination of a leader or military intervention by the U.S. In short, geo-politics is the primary cause of global poverty. This book shows how that system came into being. It begins with a description by the director of how "The End of Poverty?" was shot on location on four continents, interviewing over one hundred experts and poor people. A complete transcript of the film follows. Finally, over seventy full interviews—including Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson, Susan George, and Eric Toussaint—give an in-depth account of the methods of global economic domination.

Contents:
A director's narrative provides a brief history of the film and a context for the interviews and locational filming in South America and Africa. A complete transcript enables viewers to study the text of the film carefully. Complete interviews with over 70 people round out the stories begun in the film.

Some of the interview subjects include:

Jaime de Amorim, National Coordinator, Landless Workers Movement, Brazil
John Christensen, Director, Tax Justice Network
Miriam Campos, National Coordinator for the Empowerment of Indigenous People, Brazil
Nora Castañeda, President, Bank for the Development of Women, Caracas
Maria de Oliveira, National Institute for Agrarian Reform, Recife, Brazil
William Easterly, author of White Man's Burden, a critique of foreign aid
Susan George, Author, Activist
Chalmers Johnson, author of numerous books on American Empire
Miloon Kothari, UN Rapporteur on Housing
Edgardo Lander, Professor, Venezuelan Central University, Caracas
Maria Luisa Mendonça, Director, Rede Social, Sao Paulo
Dr. H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo, Author, Law Professor, Kenya
Marcela Olivera, Activist, Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life, Bolivia
John Perkins, Author, Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate Economist
Joseph Stiglitz, Former Chief Economist, World Bank
Antonio Vinidcativo and Edinaldo, Sugarcane Harvesters, Brazil
Grace Wambi, Tea Plucker, Kenya


Published jointly by Robert Schalkenbach Foundation and Cinema Libre Studio, 2009

www.theendofpoverty.com
www.povertythinkagain.com
www.schalkenbach.org