The term 'social security' has a very different meaning in under-developed countries and is best understood as poverty alleviation. This book attempts to define social security in the Third World and to explore what programmes are most suitable. Western systems are compared and social security provisions in the Third World are examined.

Preface; List of contributors; PART I: General Issues: Jean Dréze & Amartya Sen: Public action for Social Security: Foundations and strategy; Robin Burgess & Nicholas Stern: Social Security in developing countries: What, why, who and how?; A. B. Atkinson & John Hills: Social Security in developed countries: Are there lessons for developing countries?; Jean-Philippe Platteau: Traditional systems of Social Security and hunger insurance: Past achievements and modern challenges; Bina Agarwal: Social Security and the family: Coping with seasonality and calamity in rural India; PART II: Case Studies: Ehtisham Ahmad & Athar Hussain: Social Security in China: A historical perspective; S. R. Osmani: Social Security in South Asia; Carmelo Mesa-Lago: Social Security in Latin America and the Caribbean: A comparative assessment; Joachim von Braun: Social Security in sub-Saharan Africa: Reflections on policy challenges; Richard Morgan: Social Security in the SADCC States of Southern Africa: Social welfare programmes and the reduction of household vulnerability

`Sen and his associates deserve a lot of credit for bucking the general trend. ' Times Higher Education Supplement `The editors of the volume under review should be commended for bringing together a series of essays which investigate the role of the modern state in developing countries. The volume is timely ... a useful and informative guide for anyone working in this field. ' Food Policy `timely set of essays ... This book provides an excellent and balanced review of differdent types of state intervention and their pros and cons in the context of poor societies. This is an impressive set of essays with only a minimum of duplication and covering a wide-ranging and difficult area with great clarity. ' John Healey, Development Policy Review `The book undoubtedly is a classic on the subject and covers a very wide area. ' Sunday `this book is both important and interesting; but there is more than that to it. The papers included here contain a wealth of material, both on the theoretical issues of policy aims and policy strategies, and on the detail of different social security strategies and achievements in a wide range of developing countries ... a stimulating as well as an informative text ... those concerned with a global understanding of what we mean by social security and what we can achieve through it will not be disappointed with what they find. ' Pete Alcock, Sheffield City Polytechnic `this book is both important and interesting; but there is more than that to it. The papers included here contain a wealth of material, both on the theoretical issues of policy aims and policy strategies, and on the detail of different social security strategies and achievements in a wide range of developing countries ... a stimulating as well as an informative text ... those concerned with a global understanding of what we mean by social security and what we can achieve through it will not be disappointed with what they find. ' Community Development Journal