The Paradox of Poverty Research: Why is Extreme Poverty not in Focus?

Abstract

Relevant and reliable knowledge based on research is indispensable if extreme poverty is to be combatted. It is a paradox that three of the most significant paradigms in poverty research fail to focus directly on extreme poverty. This failure is due not only to the complexity of extreme poverty, but also to the structure of the paradigms, their built-in limitations and the fact that research on extreme poverty is an investment with few academic rewards.

Keywords:

• extreme poverty
• disciplinary approach
• development research
• human rights
• paradigm failure