Engaging with an emergent metanarrative: A critical exploration of the BOP proposition

Abstract

Recently, market-based strategies for poverty alleviation have emerged central to discourses on global poverty. One of the main proponents of market oriented strategy for poverty eradication was C. K. Prahalad whose publication Fortunes at the Bottom of the Pyramid paved the way for future work on business and poverty. It is curious that despite widespread discussions on the validity and relevance of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) proposition by supporters and critics, there has been little sustained analysis of the foundational ideas, concepts and themes as outlined in the original BOP proposal. While by no means representative of the entire BOP field, Prahalad’s ideas deserve close attention because they provides the enabling conditions for the emergence of what I identify as the BOP ‘metanarrative’. In this article, I engage critically with Prahalad’s BOP proposition to highlight some of the theoretical and conceptual issues at stake in the BOP arguments. Specifically, I look at how globalization, partnerships, informality and enterprise, among others, are mobilized to accommodate and legitimize market development at the bottom of the pyramid. I conclude the article by emphasizing that the BOP project would be well served if it engaged in critical self-reflection as it may help to orient future iterations of the BOP strategy in ways that are less celebratory and more circumspect about the possibilities and potentials of linking the pursuit of profit with the goals of poverty relief and empowerment.