Commission for Social Development, New York 8 to 17 February 2006
Side-event organized by the Triglav Circle
Friday 10 February, Conference Room B, 1.15 to 2.45
Many facets to poverty
NOTE FOR DISCUSSION
Two issues are proposed for discussion:
- What are the non-material dimensions of poverty?
- Should such dimensions be matters of public concern?
I What are the non-material dimensions of poverty?
Poverty is usually understood and measured as an insufficient income at the disposal of an individual, a family, or a household. From the 1$ a day threshold used in the Millennium Development Goals to the various national poverty lines, the poor are those that are at the bottom of the income ladder. Leaving aside the problems associated with the use of a single and global measurement, there can be no doubt that it is both legitimate and necessary to apprehend poverty as the lack of a disposable income. For the individuals and families concerned, a sufficient income means autonomy and freedom. For the governments and international organizations trying to improve human welfare – or lessen human suffering – progress in income per capita and in the distribution of such income are valid indicators of the effectiveness of their action.
Yet, there are forms of poverty that are unrelated to the availability of income and to the possession of wealth.Social, or relational povertystems from the lack of insertion of the individual into a community, from the paucity of human relationships. Its manifestations range from loneliness to lack of participation into the affairs of the community and alienation. Cultural povertycomes from the absence of intellectual stimulation and exposure to artistic endeavors, whether these are humble or grandiose. A life is culturally poor when deprived of creativity, beauty and nobility. Spiritual poverty, or poverty of the spirit,goes with materialism and indifference to questions of meaning and purpose that have preoccupied humankind since times immemorial. This poverty is associated with selfishness and cynicism, with indifference to the Other and with lack of creative imagination. There may be also forms of moral poverty, when individuals, groups and even entire communities loose their markers as to what defines and delineates the right from the wrong and the true from the false.
These forms of poverty are not only unrelated to income and wealth but sometimes seen as the by-products of the individual and collective pursuit of material affluence.
Questions:
- Does it make sense to draw a distinction between the material and the non-material facets of poverty?
- What are the relations between the various facets of poverty and the prevailing conception of what constitutes development, a good life and a harmonious society?
II Should the non-material dimensions of poverty be matters of public concern?
A negative answer to this question rests on many arguments. First, there is the widespread view that public institutions and authorities ought not to interfere with issues that belong to the private sphere of life and society. To go beyond laws and policies that have the purpose of creating an environment conducive to human economic activity and creativity would involve risks of totalitarianism. Then are arguments of practicality. Governments, and a-fortiori international organizations do not have the means to address issues of cultural or social poverty. At best, they can try avoiding actions that would create such forms of poverty.
On the other hand, the frontiers between the public and the private are blurred. The globalization process gives to economic, financial and cultural forces that are not democratically accountable a great power on various aspects of the lives of individuals and the functioning of societies. And it is in fact difficult to separate neatly the material and the non-material aspects of poverty.
Questions:
- What are the characteristics of the current discourse of the United Nations on poverty?
- Should this discourse be enriched with a more comprehensive vision of poverty?