Confronting Microfinance: Undermining Sustainable Development

* Uses empirical evidence and contributor fieldwork to get at the heart of debates on microfinance claims
* Incorporates global perspective but focuses on Southeast Europe, a key arena for microfinance and microcredit programs

Despite the popularity of microfinance, it is a field that remains remarkably under-theorized. Most evaluations carried out by international development agencies, academics, and independent researchers focus on tweaking what they see as an already beneficial system. Rarely are the very foundations of microfinance brought into question. Instead, their studies presuppose impact without evidence, ignore potentially important issues, and utilize faulty evaluation methodologies.

Bateman and contributors provide critical perspectives on microfinance that reach beyond the desire for technical perfection held dear by almost all microfinance institutions. It charts actual economic and social impacts registered in Southeast Europe to date, both in the context of post-communist transition and post-conflict reconstruction. It examines key cross-cutting issues, providing a more holistic and comprehensive approach to microfinance. One of the few books available that provides a robust critique of microfinance, Confronting Microfinance is sure to fire up the debate on this popular poverty-fighting measure.