The International Glossary on Poverty

THIS PUBLICATION HAS been compiled by the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), an international network of poverty researchers whose major objective is to improve the quality of poverty research and to promote comparative studies on poverty. To this end, this publication serves as an instrument to facilitate such comparative studies throughout the world by presenting the large variety of poverty definitions, as well as references to the contexts in which they have been used.

The Introductory chapter explores the question whether poverty definitions matter. Some historical background to the scholarly analysis of poverty and the problems associated with it is outlined. The intention of extending access to knowledge so as to strengthen the positive links between social research and social reforms, and consequently the alleviation of poverty, is expressed.

The Glossary itself runs alphabetically and is comprehensive, containing almost two hundred entries. These entries cover the multi-dimensional characteristics of poverty with reference to the criteria of income and wealth, gender, race, age and disability. Some of these are on the fringes of poverty issues, and others will be familiar only to those academics who work within a particular disciplinary definition of poverty. Some are carved out in a detailed manner, while others are presented in a more sketchy manner. Some of the definitions now have only a historical value, while others are currently en vogue. In selecting relevant poverty definitions the net has been cast wide.

The editors have tried to ensure that coverage is truly comparative by including as much literature from the South as is available. The range of entries does not accurately reflect the fact that most of the poor live in the South, but it does provide some scope for readers to explore important differences of emphasis and concern that give a distinctiveness to different continental and national traditions of poverty research and policy making. The Glossary widens the choice for the observant researcher and offers a shortcut into the enormous literature on poverty.
In conclusion, one of the editors acknowledges the complexity of meaning. He outlines the eleven senses in which the social sciences understand poverty, recognising the overlaps. He then discusses the implications that complex poverty definitions have at the policy level, arguing that a unified policy will serve only to hinder the eradication of poverty. For policy to be beneficial to the poor, it is essential, he argues, that it be judged by its practice. And this has to be judged by a range of criteria, not a single standard.