Towards a phenomenology of poverty: Defining poverty through the lived experiences of the 'poor'

This article argues for the importance of defining poverty from the perspective of those who experience poverty. How poverty is defined and operationalised is critical to policy and academic debates, as this is intertwined with explanations, causes, and possible solutions. Yet current definitions ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of sociology (Melbourne, Vic.) Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 439 - 454
Main Authors Simpson Reeves, Laura, Parsell, Cameron, Liu, Shuang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published South Melbourne, VIC SAGE Publications 01.09.2020
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Experience
Low income groups
Measurement
Panel data
Phenomenological sociology
Phenomenology
Poor
Poverty
Social conditions
phenomenology
lived experiences
poverty
Australia
poor
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Summary:This article argues for the importance of defining poverty from the perspective of those who experience poverty. How poverty is defined and operationalised is critical to policy and academic debates, as this is intertwined with explanations, causes, and possible solutions. Yet current definitions are typically provided by the 'non-poor'. What we lack is knowledge of whether these definitions of the concept are similar to or different from those understood and conceptualised by those experiencing poverty. Australian poverty research has typically relied on panel data, administrative data, or surveys to construct and define 'poverty'. We propose that Australian poverty scholars embrace phenomenology as a way to highlight the voices of those experiencing poverty.
Bibliography:Journal of Sociology, Vol. 56, No. 3, Sep 2020, [439]-454
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ISSN:1440-7833
1741-2978
DOI:10.1177/1440783319851204