Thinking and Acting on Poverty


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Children from Zambia

The politics of poverty is increasingly being situated within a non-materialist discourse of human and citizenship rights, democracy, inclusion and respect. The purpose for this paper is to highlight the current debates in development practice as they pertain to our understanding of inclusive society and its concern to find more adequate ways of fighting poverty. The paper explores two lines of arguments based in an extensive literature review. The first argument examines the value of the concepts of inclusion and exclusion as they pertain to policy discourse about poverty.

The argument establishes connections between poverty, power and agency on one side, and possibilities for projects of better inclusion on the other. The second line of argument examines two dominant frames of reference for development intervention -- the Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategies. It raises questions about their adequacy to alleviate poverty and explores some of the themes that may both strengthen and enlarge their goals.

By Marina Komarecki, The New School
Source: International Affairs Working Paper 2006-03, March 2006

Komarecki, The New School - 2006