EUGENE, Ore. - (Oct. 19, 2011) - The UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies will host a partial screening of "The Micro Debt," a controversial documentary that examines microfinance practices in Bangladesh, Mexico and India. It will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 20, in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC), Room 180.
The free event, "Does Microfinance Work," will also feature a discussion between filmmaker Tom Heinemann and UO anthropology professor Lamia Karim, author of "Microfinance and its Discontents: Women in Debt in Bangladesh."
Heinemann's film has been shown in 11 countries and won the 2011 Television Prize at the AVANCA Film Festival. It investigates a darker side of microfinance, such as high interest rates, questionable debt collection practices and complex financial transactions. Karim's book examines the relationship between powerful NGOs and the financially strapped poor women beholden to them for capital.
"While microfinance has become a global instrument for empowering poor women, very little is known about the practices of large microfinance institutions that work in the name of ‘empowering' poor women," said Karim, an associate professor of anthropology at the UO. "Many of these institutions are not transparent to the public. Heinemann's film is a bold undertaking. Our aim is to have an open discussion of microfinance and its effects on poor people."
The film has been criticized as biased and inaccurate by microfinance proponents including supporters of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, a microfinance organization and community bank whose founder Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. The central bank of Bangladesh removed Yunus last spring from his post as managing director of Grameen Bank due to controversy surrounding the bank's microfinance program - small loans offered without collateral to impoverished women.
Heinemann, a longstanding member and treasurer of the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism (FUJ), has written and co-authored several books and reports, and has co-directed several other investigative TV documentaries. Karim's book has recently been spotlighted by NPR and the Wall Street Journal.
The UO lecture is presented by the Jeremiah Lecture Series; funded by Admiral David E. Jeremiah, a UO alumnus, and Connie Jeremiah; and co-sponsored by several departments and centers on campus. The lecture series was established to provide the university and local communities access to experts on Asia and the Pacific.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
CONTACT: Lori O'Hollaren, UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, 541-346-1521, loholl@uoregon.edu
LINK: Center for Asian and Pacific Studies http://caps.uoregon.edu