Conference of Applied Interdisciplinary Research on Poverty Reduction
© Richard Parncutt 2008-2009

The following is a proposal for a conference that brings together theory (in different relevant academic disciplines) and practice (in different areas of civil society and international politics) in the area of global poverty reduction. Who has the expertise and resources to organise and host such an event?

The survival of the human race in the 21st century will depend on its response to a handful of enormous challenges: climate change, warfare with weapons of mass destruction, competition for diminishing resources such as food and water, and poverty. Further information: Beyond Terror by Abbott, Rogers and Sloboda of the Oxford Research Group (2007).

The gap between rich and poor, both within countries and internationally, is far too big by anyone's standards - and it is growing. People are dying from hunger in millions - a tragedy beyond comprehension. Even the most egocentric or cynical among us are, or should be, worried about the problem, because of the social and political unrest that threatens to engulf the world in coming decades, fueled by a new combination of mobility and poverty.

Westerners are better informed about world poverty and hunger than ever before, but feel powerless to do anything about it. Governments, churches, NGOs, international markets, individual entrepreneurs - countless major players would like to reverse the trend but feel that they cannot. Westerners are trying to live their lives normally as if the problem did not exist. As the problem grows, so too does a kind of universal psychic numbness.

In fact, the resources are readily available to eliminate extreme poverty in all countries. According to the book The End of Poverty by economist Jeffrey Sachs, extreme poverty can be eliminated (for the first time in history) if the rich countries merely live up to their promise of investing a mere 0.7% of their gross national product in international development projects. That would be enough, and the money does not even need to come from income tax - another realistic possibility is to tax international transactions at a low rate of a fraction of one percent (Tobin Tax). That too would generate enough finances for the poorest countries to cross the threshold between growing and becoming financially independent on the one hand, and sinking deeper into debt and hopelessness on the other. The question of how to distribute the funds most effectively, losing a minimum to waste and corruption, has also been convincingly solved, see for example the Millenium Developmental Goals of the United Nations. In summary, the world's rich can eliminate extreme poverty within 10-20 years by giving up a tiny proportion of their wealth. That would benefit both rich and poor, because it would reduce the incidence of conflict, terrorism and migration - everywhere, and in the long term.

One way to achieve this goal is to harness the existing resources of universities and to encourage researchers in all relevant disciplines to work together with practitioners in NGOs, governments and the United Nations in all areas of poverty reduction. That is the aim of the proposed conference. Relevant academic disciplines include not only economics and politics, but also psychology and sociology: we need to motivate rich individuals, companies, groups, countries and international organisations to invest, and convince them that such investments will bring universal benefits.

Since the problem of international poverty is so big and has never before been solved, people are generally pessimistic. That pessimism could be turned into realistic optimism by the publicity created by the planned conference. Voters in rich countries need to understand not only that complete elimination of extreme poverty is possible, but also that even slow progress toward eliminating extreme poverty, or a partial solution, will be worthwhile. Even if the conference (series), or the train of events set in motion by the conference, leads to a reduction in poverty of only 1%, that could mean saving a million lives. Progress of only 10% could saves ten million lives. Since one billion people currently live in life-threatening poverty, these numbers are not unrealistic.

Another possible spinoff of the conference is political. International development might at last become an election issue in rich countries. At the moment, the most likely party in rich countries to promote spending on international development is the greens. Presumably, many green politicians would personally like to improve development spending, but fear they will lose voters if they do. The publicity generated by a conference such as this could change that. It could even motivate centre-right and centre-left parties to promote international development.

The guidelines for such a conference might be similar to those of the Conference on Applied Interculturality Research. Abstract submissions would (i) present research that is directly relevant to the problem of reducing international poverty and, on that basis, (ii) outline a specific poverty-reduction strategy or intervention. Abstracts would have at least two authors - one representing a relevant academic discipline and the other a relevant area of practice or intervention. To promote quality, all abstract submissions would be reviewed anonymously by two internationally recognized researchers whose expertise corresponds to the theoretical and practical content of the submission. Submissions would be rated according to the quality of the reported research, the promise of the described strategies, and the link between the two.

If you are interested in (co-) organising such a conference or have a suggestion on how this text might be improved, please email the author.

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