This thesis analyzes the rhetoric of Muhammad Yunus as an articulation of a new governing logic, one that reconstitutes the concept of poverty and binds the poor to the apparatus of global capitalism through a new logic of micro-enterprise. Working within a Foucauldian critical framework informed by the rhetorical scholarship of Ronald W. Greene and Joshua Hanan, the argument proceeds by first paying careful attention to Yunus' work as constitutive of a new grid of intelligibility through which to view the poor and then demonstrating the application of this reformed discourse on \"creditworthiness\" in articulating a novel regime of commensuration. This line of reasoning culminates in an examination of the role Yunus' reconstitution of the poor through the logic of micro-enterprise played in implementing an increasingly neoliberal policy framework in apparatuses of international development such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis analyzes the rhetoric of Muhammad Yunus as an articulation of a new governing logic, one that reconstitutes the concept of poverty and binds the poor to the apparatus of global capitalism through a new logic of micro-enterprise. Working within a Foucauldian critical framework informed by the rhetorical scholarship of Ronald W. Greene and Joshua Hanan, the argument proceeds by first paying careful attention to Yunus' work as constitutive of a new grid of intelligibility through which to view the poor and then demonstrating the application of this reformed discourse on "creditworthiness" in articulating a novel regime of commensuration. This line of reasoning culminates in an examination of the role Yunus' reconstitution of the poor through the logic of micro-enterprise played in implementing an increasingly neoliberal policy framework in apparatuses of international development such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Brooks, Kaleb W."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joshua Hanan, Ph.D.","Christina Foust","Robert Urquhart"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:03:03Z","subjects":["Articulation","Commensuration","Grameen","Microcredit","Microfinance","Yunus","Economics","Finance"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/90","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joshua Hanan, Ph.D.","Christina Foust","Robert Urquhart"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Brooks, Kaleb W."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2001-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Articulation","Commensuration","Grameen","Microcredit","Microfinance","Yunus","Economics","Finance"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/90"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis analyzes the rhetoric of Muhammad Yunus as an articulation of a new governing logic, one that reconstitutes the concept of poverty and binds the poor to the apparatus of global capitalism through a new logic of micro-enterprise. Working within a Foucauldian critical framework informed by the rhetorical scholarship of Ronald W. Greene and Joshua Hanan, the argument proceeds by first paying careful attention to Yunus' work as constitutive of a new grid of intelligibility through which to view the poor and then demonstrating the application of this reformed discourse on \"creditworthiness\" in articulating a novel regime of commensuration. This line of reasoning culminates in an examination of the role Yunus' reconstitution of the poor through the logic of micro-enterprise played in implementing an increasingly neoliberal policy framework in apparatuses of international development such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Debtor's Empowerment: Muhammad Yunus and the Rhetoric of Microfinance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joshua Hanan, Ph.D.","Christina Foust","Robert Urquhart"],"dc:creator":["Brooks, Kaleb W."],"dc:date.available":["2001-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis analyzes the rhetoric of Muhammad Yunus as an articulation of a new governing logic, one that reconstitutes the concept of poverty and binds the poor to the apparatus of global capitalism through a new logic of micro-enterprise. Working within a Foucauldian critical framework informed by the rhetorical scholarship of Ronald W. Greene and Joshua Hanan, the argument proceeds by first paying careful attention to Yunus' work as constitutive of a new grid of intelligibility through which to view the poor and then demonstrating the application of this reformed discourse on \"creditworthiness\" in articulating a novel regime of commensuration. This line of reasoning culminates in an examination of the role Yunus' reconstitution of the poor through the logic of micro-enterprise played in implementing an increasingly neoliberal policy framework in apparatuses of international development such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/90"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["Articulation","Commensuration","Grameen","Microcredit","Microfinance","Yunus","Economics","Finance"],"dc:title":["Debtor's Empowerment: Muhammad Yunus and the Rhetoric of Microfinance"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:03:03Z"}