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The Miracles of Barefoot Capitalism: A Compelling Case for Microcredit
by Jim Klobuchar and Susan Cornell Wilkes
The Miracles of Barefoot Capitalism makes a compelling case for microfinance by relating the experiences of microfinance recipients. The authors tell how these "barefoot capitalists" have made miracles in their lives and economies by using loans for as little as $35 to start microenterprises. The authors traveled to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe to learn the stories of the microentrepreneurs featured in this book.
This book does not focus on training microfinance practitioners or teaching or researching microfinance, as much of microfinance literature does. Rather, it focuses on the stakeholders of microfinance (i.e., the poor), on whose shoulders the success of the microfinance movement remains. The authors have used a social anthropological approach in their writing, but the journalistic and philanthropic background of the authors has added to the value and readability of this book. The authors also raise microfinance issues in a global perspective and include dialogue from those that they interviewed.
The book consists of 15 chapters and includes a useful list of potential donors and supporters of microfinance in the appendix. The first chapter introduces microfinance. It reports that throughout the world, more than 2,000 microfinance institutions provide services to nearly 40 million microentrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women. If the family members of clients are included in the count, then nearly 150 million people have benefited from microfinance. But microfinance has yet to reach nearly a billion more people who live in poverty.
Microfinance projects have contributed significantly to changing the role of women in the economy. The second chapter discusses the effect that microfinance has had in empowering women. The authors state:...