< Series: Essays on Transnational Sociology > VIII Evaluating Muhammad Yunus's Micro-Credit System and Social Business : One Person's Efforts to Create a "Desirable Global Society"

P(論文)Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner,is now well-known as a banker to the poor as well as the creator of "Social Business."He may also be considered a firm-minded fighter against poverty. By studyingcarefully four books written by Dr. Yunus, this article tries to find out the secret of thesuccess of two new institutions (i.e., micro-credit bank system and social business)set up by Dr. Yunus and to evaluate these as a means to approach toward a "DesirableGlobal Society" (the author's term in these essay series). The author's conclusionconcerning Yunus's success is as follows. Behind Yunus's firm-mindedness againstpoverty, we have to note his position and principles in the face of poverty, which are:(1) Yunus's fight against poverty started by learning of the actual world of poverty, (2)His action against poverty is based on the standpoint of the poorest, (3) His objectiveis to get the poorest out of "the poverty trap" and to work together with them. As tothe approach toward a "Desirable Global Society", the author concludes that Yunus'stwo successful creations have proved the viability of an altruistic business in the midstof this capitalist world where profit-maximizing businesses flourish, with the resultthat Yunus's efforts in order to eliminate poverty in this world are surely a positive approachtoward a "Desirable Global Society".departmental bulletin pape