At a time when global awareness of poverty would seem to be increasing and the cause of poverty eradication is moving up the global political agenda (albeit principally at the level of rhetoric), there are two trends that tend to marginalise or question the role of the state in poverty reduction. The first of these is the inherent anti-statism that attends the neoliberal, managerialist and communitarian agendas, each of which in their way is influencing approaches to poverty alleviation (e.g. Deacon 1997; 2000). The second stems from an assortment of radical and critical ideas associated with the 'anti-globalisation' movement: a complex alliance of disparate factions that challenge the global ascendancy of capitalism, liberal democracy, Western culture and neoliberal welfare theories (e.g. Amin 1997; Burbach et al. 1997). Although 'anti-globalisation' is a contested and problematic term, its very ambiguity captures some key controversies. The movement encompasses political and cultural, as well as economic concerns. It has attracted not only those who fear that economic globalisation is implicated in the weakening of welfare state provision, but those who recognise that it has in other respects augmented the power of the nation states of the developed world, while often stimulating exploitative or corrupt practices of state elites in the developing world. In this sense, 'anti-globalisation' and anti-statism, though they are ideologically opposed, are each sceptical of, if not hostile to, the role of the state in poverty reduction.

The workshop will address both these trends, 'anti-globalisation' and anti-statism, at each of three different levels of analysis - the supra-national, the national and the sub-national - generating six interlocking sub-themes that together provide an extensive framework for debate.

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