This course examines the impact of the modern world economy on the poor and some ethical, political, and practical bases for reducing poverty and building a more just economic order. Among other themes, the course investigates the potential of community-based economic development, grounded in broad social movements for economic change, for fostering transformation in poor communities in U.S. cities and developing countries. Various visions and strategies are explored and assessed in terms of their capacity to reduce poverty by creating sustainable livelihoods and to provide tangible results and transforming processes.

• Situate poverty reduction and social equity within the broader mission of the Church, and consider how these might be incorporated into the student’s personal ministry goals.
• Begin to think critically about how the church is influenced/influences others on the basis of norms derived from modernism.
• Be able to think ethically about the impact of economic policies on the poor and on the degree/direction of social inequality.
• Be able to think strategically in assessing options for pursuing change in communities and social institutions.
• Gain an overview of historical and theoretical bases for economic policies today, appreciating the complexity and difficulty of understanding current social realities and of reducing poverty and social inequality in the context of globalization.
• Grasp a diversity of explanatory and prescriptive policy frameworks on poverty and inequality, and the ways in which these translate into specific programs and (often perverse) social outcomes.

Activities in class will include lectures, discussion, meditations, and a series of topical or case studies with small-group processing. Students will be expected to choose a particular topic of interest for research that integrates the salient themes of the course in a final writing project.

1500 pages of reading composed partly of the following materials. If you have read any of the required texts for another course, please select an alternative text from the recommended reading list or a book approved by the instructor.

Friedmann, John, In Defense of Livelihood. Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1993.
Singer, Peter, One World: The Ethics of Globalization. Yale University Press, 2002
Weaver, Jim et al. Achieving Broad-Based Sustainable Development. W. Hartford: Kumarian, 1996.
Wilson, William Julius, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.
Yergin , D & Stanislaw, J, The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the Global Economy. New York: Touchstone, 2002.
NOTE: There will be additional required reading on reserve at the Fuller Library.

To be listed in reading bibliographies during class, at the discretion of the instructor.

Readings, final research paper (2500 to 3750 words), reflective papers including in-class writing, and one field observation exercise will be assigned. Additional work for Th.M. Students: longer paper.

Elective. Strongly recommended for students in Urban Mission and Development concentrations in SWM, and for any student at Fuller who wants to gain an overview of the relevance of the economics of poverty to the Christian mission.