The Global Poor and Global Politics: Neomaterialism and the Sources of Political Action

Abstract

In conventional discussions of international politics it might be considered strange, if not eccentric, to start with an analysis of a small enterprise in an Indian industrial town or the pitch of a hawker in the Philippines. Yet, strangely, and perhaps without knowing it, this starting point is inherent in the position of those who argue that global politics will be determined by the actions of the global poor. For example, in a research report produced for the RAND corporation, Nichiporuk (2000, p. 20) notes:

Finally, the squalid living conditions in the rings of slums that now surround many third world cities are becoming a fairly permanent condition. Many of the recent migrants live in these areas and their desperate straits can prove to be fertile ground for radical and revolutionary groups that seek new recruits for battle against the existing regime.