BRANDING BANGLADESH : from 'bottomless pit' to a 'middle income' country

This book explores Bangladesh's shift from a 'bottomless pit' into a 'middle-income' category. Six chapters in the book cover topics on microfinance growth, ready-made garment production, and social safety net programs playing pivotal roles particularly for women empowerment. In doing so, the book shows that the net effect was not just a change to the country's limited number of representative brands, but also a realization of many more brands to have built up over time. Acknowledgments Contents List of Tables 1 Branding Bangladesh: Fixing a Fifty-Year Frame Introduction: Images, Development, & Puzzles Branding: Theoretical Contours Empirical Context: Ground-level Stocktaking Principles as Brands? Nationalism Socialism Secularity Democracy Socioeconomic Changes Ready-made Garments (RMGs) International Migrants Internal Migrants From Finding Freedom to Cultivating Socioeconomic Resources From a ‘Bottomless Pit’ Toward ‘Middle Income’: Socioeconomic Catalysts? From ‘Bottomless Pit’ to ‘Middle-Income’ Identity Education Women Empowerment Securing Society Four Branding Considerations Fitting Flesh into Framework Organization Notes 2 Evolution of the ‘Bangladesh Brand’: Pre-1971 Blues Introduction National Identity Search & Genocide Language Movement Frame Interim Settings National Crisis Amplifying Liberation War The Six-Point Movement Framing the Mass Upsurge Storm & Election as Frames Operation Searchlight National Media Crisis ‘Genocide’ in the International Media Massacre of Scholars & Across Academic Heartland Dragged-in India Crisis & its International Significance Conclusions Notes 3 Post-liberation Identity Framing Introduction Winning Freedom ‘Nourishment in the Sweetness of Independence’10: Joi Bangla Amartya Sen’s Bashonti Bala Euphemy Against Demi-God and Evil Alternatives Amartya Sen’s Entitlement Theory Act of God The Demi-God Internal Evil Food Basket Bangabandhu’s Assassination and International Conspiracy International Mystery Islamization of Bangladesh: A New Brand Indemnity Act Clashing with Democratic Identity Aspirations: Symbolizing Nur Hussain and Shahbagh The Dragon Seed: Indemnity Act Shahbagh Movement and Identity Predicament ‘Ekushey’: A Guiding Philosophy Against Oppression, Injustice and Denial Securing Rohingya Concluding Comments Notes Bibliography 4 Microfinance & Social Safety Net Programs: Cracking the Developmental Riddle Introduction Organization Alternatives to Microfinance? Cultural Economy Variables Contributing to Microcredit Success: Microfinance Shaping Middle-income Realities Social Safety Net Programs (SSNPs) as Middle-income Cushions Conclusions Notes Bibliography 5 Funneling Frames Amid Developmental Imperatives: How ‘Primrose’ the Pathway Home? Introduction Branding Bangladesh What Brand Bangladesh? Freelancer’s Viewpoint Theoretical Views Microfinance Banks Notes 6 Conclusions: Branding Bangladesh & Cluttered Forthcoming Canvases Litmus-testing Reputation Different Drumbeats Index