World poverty – what can we do about it?

ABSTRACT

In this article I argue that the way poverty is framed in mainstream politics and the media illuminates some aspects of the issue, while obscuring others. This framing may to some extent be responsible for the lack of improvement in the situations in which poor people live worldwide, as efforts to alleviate poverty may not be addressing its real causes. Rethinking how we talk about poverty, one of the most pressing issues of our time, can help us to see what is missing from dominant explanations of poverty. This article gives an insight into the history of the concept of ‘the poor’, and presents some critiques of thinking on poverty and of actions to alleviate poverty.