Abstract
While much poverty research has concentrated on the definition and measurement of
poverty, the primary concern of this thesis is the meaning of poverty in
contemporary society. It is suggested that, while existing research describes the
conditions and hardships that people experience in poverty, much less attention is
given to how they make sense of and respond to these conditions. This thesis
attempts to address this issue by exploring the narratives of people living on an
urban council housing scheme, a group who tend to be regarded by the rest of
society as poor and socially excluded.
The first part of the thesis examines the subjective definitions and conceptions of
poverty held by local residents. It finds that local residents generally resist the idea
that they are poor. In their own accounts, they emphasise their personal capacity and
scope for control, rather than the constraints that they face. The research goes on to
ask: what is it about the experience of people in these areas and their understanding
of the meaning of poverty which makes them deny that they are poor? For those
interviewed, poverty is interpreted at a personal level as a form of identity associated
with a lack of agency. People are identified as poor not by their material
circumstances alone, but by their inability to cope with and remain on top of
conditions of material hardship. It is in this context that respondents stress their
ability to manage and overcome the difficulties they face and by this means seek to
demonstrate their personal competence and moral adequacy.
In the second part of the thesis, the relationship between poverty, agency and
identity is explored with respect to the community and local people's involvement in
community action. Two distinct discourses on poverty are identified in the accounts
of local residents active in local groups and organisations. An exclusive discourse of
poverty identifies poor people as a distinct social group by reference to their
weakness, demoralisation and dependent status. Local activists experience this
discourse as exclusionary and disempowering. However, a more inclusive discourse
on poverty is apparent in the accounts of some activists which links the experience
of poverty to more positive forms of collective action and mutual support developed
in the community. This discourse is compatible with a conception of people as social
agents, actively involved in maintaining their welfare in conditions of relative
material deprivation.
The thesis raises questions about the ways in which poverty is understood in
different contexts and by different groups. It also reveals the problematic nature of
poverty discourse for individuals who experience material hardship or belong to
groups identified as poor. It is the struggle to maintain a positive self-conception in
the light of negative meanings conveyed through poverty discourse that emerges
from this study. An important aspect of community-based activity is the rejection of
a stigmatised identity as poor people which reduces people to the status of social
objects. By contrast, the construction of a more positive social identity emphasises
their actions as subjects. The thesis concludes by suggesting that greater attention
needs to be given to the social meanings and forms of categorisation involved in
defining people as poor. It is proposed that future research should attempt to identify
different kinds of poverty discourse and how these relate to particular conceptions of
poverty and social perceptions of poor people.
