Living Dangerously: Discourses and Dimensions of Poverty in the Third World

Abstract

Explores the alternative meanings of poverty in a variety of discourses. Poverty & its various social constructions have grown exponentially. Unlike in the postindustrial revolution context, when it was a concern of national states, in the second half of the 20th century, poverty has been globalized. The acceptance of a taken-for-granted notion of poverty transported to various parts of the globe was facilitated in part by the growing field of development literature as well as the bureaucratization of poverty alleviation globally. Social science was complicit in this process, taking part with development experts in a common crusade against poverty. With increasing questioning of the hegemony of Western development paradigms, Western discourses of poverty are being challenged. As counterhegemonic discourses gain ground, poverty risks being normalized. An alternative conceptualization of poverty is proposed, taking a middle ground between the Western hegemonic discourse & the nativist counterdiscourse.