The Global Rise of Social Cash Transfers: How States and International Organizations Constructed a New Instrument for Combating Poverty

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) proclaimed the equality of all human beings in dignity and rights. The right to social security, however, has been taken more seriously only since the 2000s, through calls for 'Social Security for All' and 'Leaving no-one behind'. The book investigates a major response, social cash transfers to the poor. The idea of simply giving money to the poor had been rejected by all major development organizations, but since the early 2000s, social cash...