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Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty
The rise of experimental evaluations, specifically the use of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the field of development economics, has been widely critiqued. These critiques range from technicalities, such as the internal and external validity of the methodology, to the approach to economic...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Economics
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614199556866048 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Coetzee, Marguerite |
| author2 | Smith, Michael |
| author_browse | Coetzee, Marguerite Smith, Michael |
| author_facet | Smith, Michael Coetzee, Marguerite |
| author_sort | Coetzee, Marguerite |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The rise of experimental evaluations, specifically the use of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the field of development economics, has been widely critiqued. These critiques range from technicalities, such as the internal and external validity of the methodology, to the approach to economic development it takes. This dissertation contributes to the latter, and offers a critique of the underlying theoretical framework embraced by the RCT. The dissertation deploys a New Relational approach to poverty which foregrounds an analysis of the social relations within which the poor are immersed. The New Relational framework examines how class, caste, and gender, as well as the intersection of these social identities, shape the creation and reproduction of poverty. In this sense, the New Relational approach draws from the insights of Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial theory to present an anti-essentialist approach to poverty. By critically examining two RCT-implemented poverty programmes in Bangladesh, this study shows that the RCT approach to poverty relies on a modified neoclassical theoretical framework that neglects studying the determinants of poverty related to power, discrimination and exploitation. This dissertation argues that by ignoring these variables the RCT approach provides an insufficient understanding of poverty, as the latter play a crucial part in shaping the preferences of, and opportunities available to the poor. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40843 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:48:15.073Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | School of Economics |
| publisherStr | School of Economics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40843 Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty Coetzee, Marguerite Smith, Michael economics The rise of experimental evaluations, specifically the use of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the field of development economics, has been widely critiqued. These critiques range from technicalities, such as the internal and external validity of the methodology, to the approach to economic development it takes. This dissertation contributes to the latter, and offers a critique of the underlying theoretical framework embraced by the RCT. The dissertation deploys a New Relational approach to poverty which foregrounds an analysis of the social relations within which the poor are immersed. The New Relational framework examines how class, caste, and gender, as well as the intersection of these social identities, shape the creation and reproduction of poverty. In this sense, the New Relational approach draws from the insights of Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial theory to present an anti-essentialist approach to poverty. By critically examining two RCT-implemented poverty programmes in Bangladesh, this study shows that the RCT approach to poverty relies on a modified neoclassical theoretical framework that neglects studying the determinants of poverty related to power, discrimination and exploitation. This dissertation argues that by ignoring these variables the RCT approach provides an insufficient understanding of poverty, as the latter play a crucial part in shaping the preferences of, and opportunities available to the poor. 2025-01-28T13:38:03Z 2025-01-28T13:38:03Z 2024 2025-01-28T13:35:53Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40843 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | economics Coetzee, Marguerite Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| title_full | Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| title_fullStr | Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| title_full_unstemmed | Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| title_short | Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty |
| title_sort | branded band aids on broken legs a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial s approach to poverty |
| topic | economics |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40843 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT coetzeemarguerite brandedbandaidsonbrokenlegsarelationalcritiqueoftherandomisedcontrolledtrialsapproachtopoverty |