The End of Poverty

The End of Poverty

Li Xiaoyun

CITIC Press Group

April 2021

78.00 (CNY)

This book explains the root of poverty， the difficulties in poverty reduction， why poverty alleviation should be tackled， and other social concerns in comprehensible language. The author discusses the significance of poverty alleviation and the political and institutional advantages of China’s shaking off poverty from the perspective of theory and poverty reduction practices at home and abroad.

Li Xiaoyun

A senior chair professor of liberal arts at China Agricultural University， a well-known development scientist， and an expert in poverty issues at home and abroad， has long publicized China’s poverty reduction experiences in various large international forums. He presided over the Asia Poverty Reduction Report released by the Boao Forum for Asia， and Poverty Reduction: China’s Practice， a report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit to the United Nations General Assembly. Such works have great influences on China and around the world.

What is the root of poverty? Why are some countries rich while other countries are stuck in poverty for prolonged periods of time? Why can some people get rich while others are in deep poverty? I haven’t gotten answers to any of these questions. Of course， the main reason is that I practice more than I study. Rousseau provided us with theoretical thinking on how the differences between natural persons evolved into social differences and how private ownership made such differences evolve into inequality and poverty. From his works， I caught some clues about the meta issue of poverty. Marx further placed inequality on the level of the capitalist system， analyzed the social root of poverty， and put forward a “meta plan” to address poverty.

Poverty alleviation involves many complicated issues. When faced with widespread poverty or poverty in parts of Africa and other regions， we may feel more about the development issue from a comparative perspective. I call such a poverty state “underdeveloped.” The concept of “underdeveloped” mainly comes from the comparison with the so-called “developed.” Here， the concept of poverty is a comparative macro concept. We need to point out that the comparison between “developed” and “underdeveloped” mainly comes from the values of Eurocentrism from the perspective of critical development theory. In other words， the nations in an “underdeveloped” state are not in poverty in their ideas， but those in a “developed” state regard the group in an “underdeveloped” state as impoverished. In practice， poverty alleviation from this view mainly refers to the process of promoting economic growth and economic and social transformation on the path of modernization. In recent years， when we were engaged in poverty alleviation in China， we said that the regions in deep poverty were the top priority with the most difficulties. This concept was also formed by comparing these regions and other regions in China. Therefore， many sociocultural scholars criticize the poverty alleviation work for looking at these regions’ cultural values and livelihood from an external perspective.

At the same time， we will encounter poverty issues from another perspective. In a county， a township， or even a village， we may find a large gap between the rich and the poor. That is to say， the poverty that we feel in this context differs from the poverty we refer to when a country is in an “underdeveloped” state. This kind of poverty is directly related to economic development and social transformation but is unlikely to be solved by “development.” Therefore， on different occasions in the book， I regard inequality as the meta issue of poverty. It is not easy to grasp the essential attribute of poverty， no matter how we view it. We can eliminate absolute poverty in rural areas in a short time， thanks to the scientific understanding of China’s poverty by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core， the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation， the great spirit of fighting a battle against poverty， the leadership of the Communist Party of China， and the political advantages of the socialist system.

On one hand， we should understand poverty; on the other， we should alleviate and eliminate poverty. From the absolute meaning of basic livelihood， poverty can be eliminated. For example， if one has not enough food， no clothes and no house， such poverty can be solved through our efforts. Morally speaking， we also have an obligation to solve this problem. It is not only China’s obligation， but also a global obligation. This is the legitimacy of poverty alleviation.