boutrosvictor

Although it took me a long time to get through, it was well worth the time spent. It's an impassioned and convincing argument about the importance of building strong law enforcement systems in developing countries that actually support the poor rather than working against them as so often the case. Haughen argues that whilst it is good to invest in education, health and other indicators of poverty, it is futile when those efforts to can be thrust from under you by violence and corruption. He argues that much of the corruption that exists in developing nations is a result of colonialism whereby law enforcement was primarily to protect the interests of the elites other than protecting the common people. A very important book.… (mais)

This was a phenomenal book arguing that the end of poverty requires the end of violence. If you think this is one of those 'anti-war' books, you are thinking too narrowly. A lot of what Haugen and Boutros are looking is violence within a given society which aggravates the suffering of the poor. Often things like rape, murder, abuse are illegal, but if the victim is poor, they have no hope of recourse through the legal system. There are systemic problems that allow for the poor to be continually victimized in much of the world (lack of resources for law enforcement, lack of training, lack of access to legal services, ineffective implementation, etc). Because Haugen's work with IJM he has heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story to tell.

But ultimately this isn't a depressing book but a hopeful one. Haugen and Boutros examine how first-world nations transformed in the last hundred years from mob rule (i.e. the American West) and oppressive military rule (Meiji era Japan) to societies which strive to protect and serve its most vulnerable members (yes I know this still isn't perfect, but we are a long way from the violence of yesteryear). Really thought-provoking stuff!… (mais)

If you're interested in the causes of global poverty and want to know more about the issues effecting them, this book is a must read.

To summarize, barely anyone knows that THE most significant issue affecting people in absolute poverty is security. Through facts, stories, and surveys, this book demonstrates how billions of poor people around the world live outside the rule of law. The criminal justice system doesn't work for them. More often than not, it actually actively works AGAINST them. Everything they may scrape together and build to get themselves out of poverty can easily be swept away in a single instant like a plague of locusts when they are arrested so that the local police can collect bribes, left to rot in packed holding room for years as their very existence is forgotten by prosecutors or local bullies can take their land, resources or lives with impunity with almost zero chance of punishment.

The book gives a great background on WHY the criminal justice system in so many countries is the way it is (colonial criminal justice systems that were designed to protect the rulers, not the common people) that were never changed after the colonial powers left. The book also gives some hope for change by pointing to our own history where our cities were plagued by even worse police corruption and yet still managed reform and change.

Again, if you're interested in the issue of global poverty, I can't recommend this book strongly enough.… (mais)