Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com
Image from Google Jackets

The shame of poverty / Robert Walker ; with Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo, Elaine Chase, Sohail Choudhry, Erika Gubrium, Ivar Lødemel, JO Yongmie (Nicola), Leemamol Mathew, Amon Mwiine, Sony Pellissery, and YAN Ming.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2014. Edition: First editionDescription: ix, 231 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780199684823 (hbk.)
  • 0199684820 (hbk.)
Other title:
  • Shame of poverty
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 362.51 WAL 23 005636
LOC classification:
  • HC79.P6 W355 2014
Contents:
The origin of poverty -- Poverty research and measurement -- Construction of shame -- Poverty, shame, and stigma -- Cultural conceptions of poverty and shame -- Conceiving of poverty without shame -- Shame in the everyday experience of poverty -- Responses to poverty-related shame -- Shaming people in poverty : attitudes and actions -- Shaming people in poverty : media an policy -- Poverty, shame and society.
Summary: The Shame of Poverty invites the reader to question their understanding of poverty by bringing into close relief the day-to-day experiences of low-income families living in societies as diverse as Norway and Uganda, Britain and India, China, South Korea, and Pakistan. The volume explores Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's contention that shame lies at the core of poverty. Drawing on original research and literature from many disciplines, it reveals that the pain of poverty extends beyond material hardship. Rather than being shameless, as is often claimed by the media, people in poverty almost invariably feel ashamed at being unable to fulfil their personal aspirations or to live up to societal expectations due to their lack of income and other resources. Such shame not only hurts, adding to the negative experience of poverty, but undermines confidence and individual agency, can lead to depression and even suicide, and may well contribute to the perpetuation of poverty. Moreover, people in poverty are repeatedly exposed to shaming by the attitudes and behaviour of the people they meet, by the tenor of public debate that either dismisses them or labels them as lazy and in their dealings with public agencies. Public policies would be demonstrably more successful if, instead of stigmatising people for being poor, they treated them with respect and sought actively to promote their dignity. This book, together with the companion volume Poverty and Shame: Global Experiences, presents comparable evidence from the seven countries, challenges the conventional thinking that separates discussion of poverty found in the Global North from that prevalent in the Global South. It demonstrates that the emotional experience of poverty, with its attendant social and psychological costs, is surprisingly similar despite marked differences in material well-being and varied cultural traditions and political systems. In so doing, the volumes provide a foundation for a more satisfactory global conversation about the phenomenon of poverty than that which has hitherto been frustrated by disagreement about whether poverty is best conceptualised in absolute or relative terms.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book Book Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore 362.51 WAL 005636 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 005636

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-221) and index.

The origin of poverty --
Poverty research and measurement --
Construction of shame --
Poverty, shame, and stigma --
Cultural conceptions of poverty and shame --
Conceiving of poverty without shame --
Shame in the everyday experience of poverty --
Responses to poverty-related shame --
Shaming people in poverty : attitudes and actions --
Shaming people in poverty : media an policy --
Poverty, shame and society.


The Shame of Poverty invites the reader to question their understanding of poverty by bringing into close relief the day-to-day experiences of low-income families living in societies as diverse as Norway and Uganda, Britain and India, China, South Korea, and Pakistan. The volume explores Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's contention that shame lies at the core of poverty. Drawing on original research and literature from many disciplines, it reveals that the pain of poverty extends beyond material hardship. Rather than being shameless, as is often claimed by the media, people in poverty almost invariably feel ashamed at being unable to fulfil their personal aspirations or to live up to societal expectations due to their lack of income and other resources. Such shame not only hurts, adding to the negative experience of poverty, but undermines confidence and individual agency, can lead to depression and even suicide, and may well contribute to the perpetuation of poverty. Moreover, people in poverty are repeatedly exposed to shaming by the attitudes and behaviour of the people they meet, by the tenor of public debate that either dismisses them or labels them as lazy and in their dealings with public agencies. Public policies would be demonstrably more successful if, instead of stigmatising people for being poor, they treated them with respect and sought actively to promote their dignity. This book, together with the companion volume Poverty and Shame: Global Experiences, presents comparable evidence from the seven countries, challenges the conventional thinking that separates discussion of poverty found in the Global North from that prevalent in the Global South. It demonstrates that the emotional experience of poverty, with its attendant social and psychological costs, is surprisingly similar despite marked differences in material well-being and varied cultural traditions and political systems. In so doing, the volumes provide a foundation for a more satisfactory global conversation about the phenomenon of poverty than that which has hitherto been frustrated by disagreement about whether poverty is best conceptualised in absolute or relative terms.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.