Grameen Social Business Model
A Manifesto for Proletariat Revolution
by
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“Professor Yunus was just trying to help a village in Bangladesh, but he somehow managed to change the whole world. . . .”
---President Barack Obama
"Rashidul Bari, the Bangladeshi James Boswell to Muhammad Yunus’ Samuel Johnson"
--Jerald Posman, Vice President, CCNY
Yunus founded Grameen and nurtured it with his two world-acclaimed concepts: microcredit and social business. But microcredit is not magic. In fact, it is an economic theory that does not work unless one tries hard enough and goes the extra mile with it. In this way, microcredit is no different from education; one can succeed only if one puts in the extra effort. For example, building more schools in remote villages does not educate everyone, although it does increase the chances of that happening. By the same token, Grameen does not turn everyone into a successful person like Taslima Begum, but its microcredit loans increase an individual’s chances of rising out of poverty. For example, Taslima, who lives in Shibganj Upazila, borrowed BDT 1,500 (roughly US$20) from Grameen in 1991 to help her husband Abu Hanif run a mechanic’s shop, and the two are now self-reliant.
Like Taslima, Grameen 8.3 million borrowers became members of Yunus’s family. For the last three decades, they have worked together, prayed together, struggled together, attacked poverty together, and even won the Nobel Prize together. When Grameen was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006, the bank chose Taslima Begum to represent it at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo. If we multiply Taslima by 8.3 million borrowers, we get a sense of how Yunus’s concepts (microcredit and social business) and his Grameen Bank successfully empower women.
This is why 8.3 million poor women regard Yunus as the father of Grameen. So the question is obvious: how can one remove a child from his father? Can the High Court remove Mujib’s name as father of the nation? Well, they probably can, because they play the role of lapdog for different governments at different times. The Bangladesh High Court has become like a dog sleeping at its owner’s feet.
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About the Book
“Muhammad Yunus is that rare phenomenon, wrote Rashidul Bari, “A Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist famous for his two theories—microcredit and social business—and famous for his successful practical work through Grameen Bank that has already helped millions of poor women break the cycle of poverty.”
Rashidul Bari, as a writer, is not new to the subjects of Yunus, microcredit, and social business. As a fellow Bangladeshi, he has written extensively in English and Bengali about Yunus in books, poems, and songs; in magazines and newspapers; and in films. In fact, Bari serves as the Bangladeshi James Boswell to Muhammad Yunus’ Samuel Johnson. Bari’s new book, Social Business; A Manifesto for Proletariat Revolution, is a long-awaited, fascinating, clearly and movingly written text in which he not only criticizes Prime Minister Hasina for unleashing her hate mongering to destroy Grameen Bank, but he also explains how microcredit, social business, and Grameen could be used as a weapon in the global battle against poverty, which kills 22,000 people every day. The book is approximately 52,000 words in length with 3 photo albums. It divided into 25 chapters. These chapters explain what Bari has witnessed and learned from Yunus and GB, to emphasize the power and promise of SB.
Part I: Chapter one presents observable, empirical, and measurable evidence of poverty as the biggest challenge of the 21st century. Chapter 2 uses the narrative method to describe the history of poverty. Concern about poverty has a long tradition, as according to the Bible “the poor will always be with us.” Rejecting this old notion, Yunus plans to make poverty an artifact in a museum by 2030. Chapter 3 applies the rational choice theory to the concept of social business. Chapter 4 uses the monetary poverty threshold, a concept developed by the World Bank, to measure extreme and moderate poverty, and the Gini coefficient developed by Italian mathematician Corrado Gini to measure relative poverty. Chapter 5, with 13 subdivisions, applies correlation studies to identify the causes of poverty and to illustrate how poverty creates conditions that result in 20,000 deaths every day. Chapter 6 presents the Grameen Social Business (GSB) model.
Part II: Chapters 7–12 discuss the life of Muhammad Yunus, the history of microcredit, the rise of the Grameen Bank, and the utility of the GSB model. Chapter 13 deals with the criticism of the bank. Chapters 15–16 highlight women’s empowerment and sustainability, which refutes some of the criticisms in previous chapters.
Part III: Chapter 17 reviews the false allegations against Yunus (e.g., Tom Heinemann’s “Caught in Micro Debt”) and investigates why Hasina used Heinemann’s documentary as an excuse to remove Yunus from Grameen Bank. Chapter 18 focuses on the Bangladesh Bank’s view of the founder of Grameen Bank. Chapter 19 examines why the world is stunned by Hasina’s malevolent hate campaign against Yunus and her attempts to take control of the Grameen Bank. Chapter 20 details the Bangladesh High Court decision to uphold the Bangladesh Bank’s illegal decision, which illustrates how the High Court and the Supreme Court have become a “dog sleeping at its owner’s feet. “Chapter 21 uses the Court of King Solomon as an important lesson that shows that the prime minster of Bangladesh has become a monster. Chapter 23 explains why an Indian immigration officer slapped Rehman Sobhan. Chapter 24 uses “the Trial of Galileo” as an important lesson that illustrates the political vendetta by Hasina against Yunus could be understood as a modern-day replay of the famous conflict between Pope Urban VIII and Galileo Galilei. Chapter 25 documents how Yunus’ removal has sparked protests around the world. It also announces a manifesto for a “Grameen Revolution.” The chapter explains why the inscription on Karl Marx’s tomb can be adapted to Yunus’ Grameen Bank: Poor people—especially the poor women of Bangladesh—UNITE.
About the Author
"Rashidul Bari, the Bangladeshi James Boswell to Muhammad Yunus’ Samuel Johnson" Born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1979, exactly 100 years after Albert Einstein, Rashidul Bari, as a child, watched the political depths of despair in which his country was drowning due to corruption. He began writing fiction, poetry, songs, and columns as a hobby. His hobby turned into his self-expression of the injustices he saw among his own Bengali people. His fermentation as a writer led him to become one the most regarded composers in Bengali literature. Bari is currently 31 years old and has published 25 books to date, including five books on Yunus' life and work. His best seller Muhammad Yunus: The Saint, which was adapted into a film and telecast on Channel -i, promoting the message that microcredit and income have a positive linear relationship because income tends to increase when the poor have been granted access to social business organizations, such as Grameen Bank. Although being a writer seemed to be the obvious goal for Bari, he wanted to be part of a bigger movement. For Bari, students have always been the catalysts of political history, like during the Vietnam War or the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Bari has been asked to speak at many lecture events, especially those that affect the political atmosphere in Bangladesh. In September 2007, he had the honor of sharing the podium at Columbia University with key-note speaker Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, former Head of the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, in a discussion revolving around the political future of Bangladesh. Bari received a bachelor's degree in political science from York College and a master's degree in political science from Brooklyn College. Currently, he is pursuing a second honors degree in economics from the City College of New York where he serves as a vice president of the student government. By Sadef A. Kully, Feature Editor at Pandora Box—the Official Student Newspaper at York College of City University of New York.