We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky, 9781917189101
Paperback
Small loans, big promises, devastating consequences. Microfinance exposed.

We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky

the seductive promise of microfinance

$54.29

  • Paperback

    400 pages

  • Release Date

    15 August 2024

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Summary

Title: The Microfinance Mirage: Poverty, Profit, and Broken Promises in Sierra Leone

SHORTLISTED FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE

A deeply reported work of journalism that explores the promises and perils of global microfinance, told through the eyes of those who work in small-scale lending and of women borrowers in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

In the mid-1970s, Muhammad Yunus, an American-trained Bangladeshi economist, met a poor female stoolmaker …

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781917189101
ISBN-10:1917189109
Author:Mara Kardas-Nelson
Publisher:Scribe Publications
Imprint:Scribe Publications
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:400
Release Date:15 August 2024
Weight:494g
Dimensions:234mm x 153mm x 29mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘Revealing … vivid … a deeply reported history of how the microfinance industry was created and where it went wrong … remarkable.’

– Zeke Faux * The New York Times *

‘[An] eye-opening debut exposé … Kardas-Nelson’s crisp characterisations and novelistic storytelling bring clarity to a sprawling, shadowy history. The result is a devastating look at a disaster set into motion by misguided American policymakers.’

– Publishers Weekly, starred review

‘A keen examination of the rise and fall in popularity of the microfinance loan system … This thoughtful deep dive into the world of microfinance is both educative and heartbreaking.’

* Kirkus Reviews *

‘Through a dazzling, superbly paced combination of astute history and on-the-ground observation in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Mara Kardas-Nelson holds the claims of microfinance up to the light. I wish that every new idea touted as the solution to the world’s problems had such a thoughtful and compassionate examination.’

– Adam Hochschild, bestselling author of American Midnight and King Leopold’s Ghost

‘What happens to money loaned to extremely poor people? Who gains and who loses? In her exhaustively researched tour de force, Mara Kardas-Nelson explodes myths — in some cases, lies — bringing tough truths to microfinancing, high-interest loans, and even the Nobel Prize. We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky should be mandatory reading for everybody looking for solutions to extreme poverty.’

– Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Betrayal of Trust: the collapse of global public health

‘By turns a fascinating global history of micro-credit and a haunting account of its effects on a handful of women in Sierra Leone, We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky traces the rise, fall, and afterlife of an industry built on neoliberal fantasies, on the preening of powerful poseurs, and on the backs of millions of desperate people.’

– James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin, author of Inequality: what everyone needs to know

‘Mara Kardas-Nelson has written a superb, layered, riveting book everyone should read. She takes us inside the minds of architects of microfinance programs who spent decades standing behind their inventions and the women whose lives are endlessly challenged by those programs, considering the forces and mechanisms that conspire against them and inviting us to imagine how it could be different across the world. We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky reminds us that well-intentioned is not the same as imaginative or aspirational when it comes to building systems to accompany others out of poverty.’

– Ophelia Dahl, cofounder of Partners in Health

‘As global inequality grows and grows, this absorbing book offers a detailed look at how and why proposed solutions to poverty take off, even as significant flaws that may in fact entrench inequality are overlooked. It shows the danger of an over-simplified story, and examines how so-called assistance for the world’s poorest people can have serious and life-changing consequences.’

– Sally Hayden, author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned

‘With the brisk pacing of investigative journalism, Mara Kardas-Nelson’s revelatory We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky probes the perils and promises of microfinance for women in developing countries … reveal[ing] the often heartbreaking human dimensions of international monetary policy.’

* BookPage *

About The Author

Mara Kardas-Nelson

Mara Kardas-Nelson is an independent journalist focusing on international development and inequality. Her award-winning work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, NPR, The Guardian, and elsewhere. Mara has spent years working in global health. Originally from the US, she has also lived in Canada, South Africa, and Sierra Leone.

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