| Publication |
2013.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Debt is fundamentally an issue of power; the transfer of resources between debtor and creditor, and the decisions a creditor can force on a debtor. The Jubilee movement for 'Third World' debt cancellation got its name from the Jewish scriptures. A 'jubilee' was a time when debts were cancelled, slaves freed, land returned and fields left fallow. All these were linked. Those working on the land got into debt when harvests failed. To feed their families they borrowed from neighbours. As debts rose and families became unable to pay, they had to sell off their land. Rent was charged on the sold land, creditors got richer, debtors poorer, and debts increased. Now when struggling to pay, debtors sold off what was left to them: daughters, sons and themselves. Many ended up in slavery. Jubilee was a time to stop and put right these wrongs. It addressed both the debt and other inequalities of power and resources which arose in the name of debt.
|