Models of Social Cash Transfers

Around 2000, poverty had moved to the top of global agendas, but there was no clear idea what policies would be appropriate. By the mid-2000s, a consensus among international organizations on social cash transfers had emerged. This chapter investigates what models of cash transfers were proposed by international organizations, and why, considering that global actors of all political leanings had rejected the idea of cash transfers well into the 1990s. The analysis draws on unique qualitative data on all major international organizations involved. It is argued that the idea of social cash transfers marks a paradigm shift in global anti-poverty policy, driven by pioneering country examples, sectional interests of international organizations, and new discursive frames. However, the idea of cash transfers was discursively reduced to four partial models that define the field to the present day, reflecting mandates of lead organizations and adding up to a fragmented and incomplete universalism.