Globalization, Poverty, and Income Inequality

The process of globalization has implications for human rights, though the relationship between the two is not always clear. How does globalization effect human rights in local contexts? Globalization, Poverty, and Income Inequality examines the relationship between globalization and trade liberalization, and poverty and income inequality, using Indonesia as a case study. Using both aggregate data and local evidence, this empirically rigorous investigation finds that although increased trade tends to reduce poverty, there are exceptions. Globalization via trade in certified organic coffee has not helped low-income farmers. Globalized access to treatments for visual problems has been countermanded by rising digitization that negatively affects visually disabled people, especially those who are also poor. And although globalized standards of well-defined property rights are normally a precondition for urbanization, economic growth, and poverty alleviation, they can clash with the traditional or informal property rights of an urban underclass. Ultimately, Globalization, Poverty, and Income Inequality describes an ambiguous relationship between trade liberalization and inequality, both of which can increase or decrease in proportion to one another depending on region and sector. This empirically driven work provides a nuanced view of the trade-poverty relationship, contributing balanced testimony to policy debates being held across international forums as globalization continues its advance.