Purpose

This paper aims to highlight differences between business and non-business literature regarding base of the pyramid (BoP) and subsistence contexts and reveal discourse’s powerful role in influencing goals, solutions and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses critical discourse analysis to review a convenience sample of business versus non-business literature on the BoP and subsistence contexts.

Findings

Discourse used in business literature on the BoP is oriented toward hegemonic Western capitalist approaches that result in the depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation and, therefore, cannot alleviate poverty.

Research limitations/implications

There are two primary limitations: the study relied on a convenience sample that was not random and comparatively, the business BoP literature is not as mature as the non-business subsistence literature and, therefore, the BoP field of study is not yet fully developed.

Practical implications

Discourse has a powerful role in revealing assumptions and guiding actions. A change in BoP discourse toward a strength-based approach can serve as a model of sustainability and can help powerful entities enact structural and systemic change.

Originality/value

This paper reveals the role of discourse in business BoP literature and how it perpetuates and even exacerbates the problems they were designed to alleviate: depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation. The paper challenges researchers, economists and powerful guiding entities to reorient their discourse of the BoP to be more aligned with those of non-business researchers of subsistence markets.

中文翻译：

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解释 BoP 策略失败的批判性话语分析

目的

本文旨在强调商业和非商业文献在金字塔底 (BoP) 和生存环境方面的差异，并揭示话语在影响目标、解决方案和结果方面的强大作用。

设计/方法/方法

本文使用批判性话语分析来审查有关 BoP 和生存环境的商业与非商业文献的便利样本。

发现

商业文献中使用的关于 BoP 的话语面向霸权的西方资本主义方法，这些方法导致资源枯竭、资源不平等、贫困和消费增加、依赖和环境退化，因此无法减轻贫困。

研究限制/影响

主要有两个局限性：该研究依赖于非随机且相对的便利样本，商业 BoP 文献不如非商业维持生计文献成熟，因此 BoP 的研究领域尚未完全开发。

实际影响

话语在揭示假设和指导行动方面具有强大的作用。BoP 话语向基于实力的方法的转变可以作为可持续性的模型，并可以帮助强大的实体实施结构性和系统性变革。

原创性/价值

本文揭示了话语在商业 BoP 文献中的作用，以及它如何延续甚至加剧它们旨在缓解的问题：资源枯竭、资源不平等、贫困和消费增加、依赖和环境退化。该论文挑战研究人员、经济学家和强有力的指导实体，重新调整他们对 BoP 的论述，使其与生存市场的非商业研究人员的论述更加一致。