World poverty is both an intractable and ever-mutable problem. It has afflicted humanity since the earliest times, but its basic features â" aside from the constant, want â" have evolved as history has moved from epoch to epoch. Today, there is broad recognition that a significant segment of the global population (the 'bottom billion,' to use Paul Collier's term) is impoverished despite the globalization of the world economy. Two questions â" why destitution is so persistent despite massive global economic growth and what can be done about it â" have animated debates among development scholars and poverty researchers for decades. Those who concentrate on the first question focus on the failure of anti-poverty efforts and typically stress why particular solutions on offer have not worked. Those addressing the second question have focused on either improving material conditions or on creating institutional frameworks (economic, social and political) that will allow the masses in poor countries to escape from poverty. Yet until now, virtually no one has addressed in a substantial way the most basic precondition for alleviating poverty: human safety. In most poverty-stricken areas of the world, violence is endemic. Whether it is generated by criminals who operate with complete abandon or by the state itself via predatory police forces, violence and threat of it have locked hundreds of millions of people into poverty. Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros's The Locust Effect focuses on the central role of violence in perpetuating poverty, and shows that if any headway is to be made, this issue has to become a top priority for policymakers. Simply put, if people aren't safe, nothing else matters. Shipping grain to the poor, helping them vote, or assisting their efforts to start a farm is irrelevant. Whatever material improvements we provide will simply wash away in the face of the corrupt police forces, out-of-control, armies, private militias, organized criminals, and â" not least â" failed justice systems that plague poor countries. Throughout, the book will feature real-world stories ranging from Thailand to Bolivia to India to Nigeria that vividly depict how violence undercuts antipoverty efforts. While they argue that this violence is the fundamental issue facing the antipoverty movement, they do not merely identify the problem. They also draw from their experience running the International Justice Mission to show that ground-up efforts to reform legal and public justice systems can generate real, positive results. Sweeping in geographical scope and filled with unforgettable stories of individuals trapped within the mutually reinforcing cycle of poverty and violence,The Locust Effect will force us to rethink everything we know about the causes of poverty and why it is so difficult to root out.Readership: General readers, international aid workers, lawyers, Christian lawyers, students and scholars of International Development and International Law
Industry Reviews
"Gripping and perspective-altering book." --David Brooks, The New York Times
"Throughout my life I've seen firsthand that while talent, ambition, and hard work are distributed equally among all people around the world, many face challenges each day simply surviving. The Locust Effect is a compelling reminder that if we are to create a 21st century of shared prosperity, we cannot turn a blind eye to the violence that threatens our common humanity." --President Bill Clinton
"The Locust Effect provides a much-needed argument for reducing violence against the poor and a demonstration -- through first hand stories that are both shocking and true -- of why that goal is so vital. By reminding us that basic legal protections are not a privilege, but a universal right, Gary Haugen has issued a moral call to arms that informs the brain and touches the heart." --Madeleine Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State
"This extraordinary book offers surprising and valuable insights about the nature and the drivers of the plague of violence that haunts the global poor as well as smart ideas about how to tackle it. A must-read." --Moisés Naím, Scholar, Carnegie Endowment, author of The End of Power, and former editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy
"You may 'know' that the world's poor suffer common everyday violence -- robbery, extortion, rape, murder, torture-a stream of humiliating assaults on their dignity. You may 'know' that this implies lost productivity and ultimately lost growth for low-income economies. Haugen asks why, if we know all that, we do so little? ...Read this book and you will be convinced the issue deserves more of your attention." --Nancy Birdsall, Founding President, Center for
Global Development
"Some of the biggest ideas are right in front of us but still invisible. The Locust Effect brings home, in convincing and powerful detail, the simple but oh-so-important point that poverty results from violence as much as violence results from poverty. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in development, security, and the failure of billions of people to achieve their potential." --Anne-Marie Slaughter, President, New America Foundation, and
Professor Emeritus of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
"The Locust Effect presents a compelling and shocking portrayal of the relationship between violence and poverty. The book convincingly argues that violence is the missing link in our understanding of global poverty and of our development interventions. Haugen has spent decades in extraordinary work to address violence, to free those subjected to it, and to apply the rule of law. His firsthand account brings needed moral and developmental urgency to
the relentless and pervasive violence poor people experience, especially women and girls. This is a must-read book that will fundamentally expand our analysis of the nature of global poverty and our efforts to
overcome it." --Maria Otero, Former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, and Former President and CEO of ACCION International
"In a world of simplistic and knee-jerk responses to the world's problems, Gary Haugen arrives with insight, wisdom, and realism. The Locust Effect is a game-changer. He shows us how violence slices through all our good intentions, negating development, rights, and freedom. This is a book that is as smart as it is heartfelt, as grounded as it is creative. These are ideas of real power and grace." --Kevin Bales, Professor of Contemporary Slavery,
University of Hull, and Co-Founder, Free the Slaves
"This crucial study carefully documents the fundamental truth that the end of poverty demands the end of violence. Both fascinating and important, Gary Haugen's book is a moving demonstration that is at once fact-filled and highly readable -- a truly unusual combination." --Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
"The Locust Effect is a wake-up call to everyone who cares about global poverty. As International Justice Mission's Gary Haugen and co-author Victor Boutros report, with painstaking data and breathtaking cases from the field, unchecked violent crime against the poorest, especially girls and women, isn't just a human rights problem. It is a drag on development that no amount of foreign aid can fix if functioning public justice systems aren't part of the
solution." --Jacquelline Fuller, Director, Google Giving
"The Locust Effect does a great service to masses of poor and vulnerable children and adults who are victims of everyday, ordinary violent crime but who are wholly unprotected by law enforcement institutions. International Justice Mission and authors Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros have put the life and death issue of poor people's access to the rule of law squarely on the agenda of governments, development institutions, and civil society." --Elisa
Massimino, President and CEO of Human Rights First
"Gary Haugen reveals in painful detail the brokenness of our criminal justice systems. He also shows us that it's possible to fix them. The work of IJM that he narrates from Cebu City in the Philippines, for example, is an extraordinary story of how a committed team can come to understand justice system failures, support improvements at every step in the law enforcement process, strengthen the hand of internal reform champions, and achieve transformation.
There are people in every corner of the world working to advance justice. I recommend this book to all of them." --Vivek Maru, CEO and Founder of Namati, and Founder and Former Director for Timap for
Justice
"The Locust Effect makes a compelling case that a country that wants to grow and prosper needs a public justice system that protects its people, especially victims of crime, exploitation and oppression. Developing nations that must provide their citizens police who are honest, active and willing to protect victims of crime and exploitation -- especially the poorest and most vulnerable in society." -Major General Pol Phie They, Director of Cambodia's
Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department
"An insightful, incisive analysis of violence as it impacts every level of the plight of the poor. A compelling wake-up call for all who care about justice and human rights. It tells the truth and gives tools and guidelines that demand attention." --Tim Costello, Chief Executive, World Vision Australia
"I have seen firsthand the ravages of violence against women and children all over the world. International Justice Mission continues to bring to light the impact of common crime not only on individual victims, but on whole countries. The Locust Effect is a must-read book for everybody who cares about the poorest of the poor." --Cindy Hensley McCain, Humanitarian and Business Owner
"Gary Haugen and IJM are waking up the social consciences of the worldwide Church even as they have shown the international human rights community 'why the end of poverty requires the end of violence' caused by the widespread failure of justice systems in the developing world. In this important book, Haugen continues to do both." --Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City
"Gary Haugen's The Locust Effect is an exhaustive, devastatingly painful look at the very problem the 'civilized world' would rather not face: the systemic, unspeakable violence against the poorest of the world's poor. This book is hard to read. One wants to turn away. And yet the reader can only wonder what would happen without the profound work of Gary Haugen and International Justice Mission and their tireless efforts to end the madness." --Kathie
Lee Gifford, Host on NBC's The TODAY Show
"When the bell tolls for justice throughout the modern world, Gary Haugen is most often nearby, raising his voice (and ours) as a tireless sentinel for freedom for the poor and oppressed--those who live beyond the reach of the protections many in the western world take for granted day by day. In The Locust Effect, Gary unveils the deeper issues of poverty and uncovers what we often fail to see, or worse, do not want to acknowledge is real." --Louie
Giglio, Pastor, Passion City Church
"In a remarkably sensitive study, very aptly named The Locust Effect, the authors have provided many new valuable insights into the intimate relationship between poverty and violence plaguing the billions of global poor in many post-colonial societies across continents. This is also probably the first time that Western observers have come upon the unpleasant reality that it is, in fact, the native political establishments in South Asian countries
themselves who stubbornly refuse to break away from the colonial ruler supportive police and criminal justice systems, concepts, laws, procedures, and mind sets imposed by the imperialist rulers, thus denying their
peoples the benefits of a citizen friendly law enforcement system. An invaluable companion to all criminal justice studies." --Kirpal Dhillon, Former Director General of Police in the Indian states of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh; Vice Chancellor, Bhopal University, India
