Good Critical Thinking About Micro-Finance And Its Discontents

Lamia’s ‘Microfinance and its discontents: Women in debt in Bangladesh’ analyzes various issues that arise in the development of the finance industry in the region. Through the book, Lamia gives her views about the role of microfinance in Bangladesh. Despite this, it is fair enough to comment that the argument she puts across is one-sided. Clearly, Lamia fails to acknowledge the various benefits of microfinance. By taking sides, Lamia fails to give a neutral perspective of microfinance, leading to readers questioning the integrity and the validity of the book as a good source of information. The approach that she uses portrays micro-finance as a bad move towards eliminating poverty in Bangladesh. Instead of serving this role, Lamia argues, microfinance has pushed more and more women in Bangladesh to poverty, hence losing the core meaning for its introduction to the economy. In a country where the local government’s role has been taken by NGOs, microfinance has been presented in a manner that is rarely heard of. Despite being one-sided, Lamia exposes the negative impact of micro-finance in the economy, more so to the women who are vulnerable to such advances.
As a matter of fact, this book plays a significant role in assessing anthropology and development in Bangladesh. Most of the locals have opted to run to cheap means of getting cash without taking into account the risks involved. Whereas this might be seen as the best way of development, Lamia’s book is of the contrary opinion. It would be prudent for anyone desiring to take such loans to first have a critical analysis of the situation before making such a move.