The Shame of It: Global Perspectives on Anti-Poverty Policies

The shame experienced by people living in poverty has long been recognised. Nobel laureate and economist, Amartya Sen, has described shame as the "irreducible core" of poverty. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of this connection in the making and implementation of anti-poverty policies. This important volume rectifies this critical omission and demonstrates the need to take account of the psychological consequences of poverty for policy to be effective. Drawing on pioneering empirical research in countries as diverse as Britain, Uganda, Norway, Pakistan, India, South Korea and China, it outlines core principles that can aid policy makers in policy development. In so doing, it provides the foundation for a shift in policy learning on a global scale and bridges the traditional distinctions between North and South, and high-, middle- and low-income countries. This will help students, academics and policy makers better understand the reasons for the varying effectiveness of anti-poverty policies.

Table of Contents:
Resetting the stage ~ Erika K. Gubrium; New urban poverty and new welfare provision: China’s Dibao system ~ Ming Yan; Thick poverty, thicker society and thin state: Policy spaces for human dignity in India ~ Sony Pellissery & Leemamol Mathew; Self-sufficiency, social assistance and the shaming of poverty in South Korea ~ Yongmie Nicola Jo & Robert Walker; `Not good enough’: Social assistance and shaming in Norway ~ Erika K. Gubrium & Ivar Lødemel; Pakistan: A journey of poverty-induced shame ~ Sohail Choudhry; Separating the sheep from the goats: Tackling poverty in Britain for over four centuries ~ Robert Walker & Elaine Chase; `Food That Cannot Be Eaten’: The shame of Uganda’s anti-poverty policies ~ Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo & Amon Mwiine; Shame and shaming in policy processes ~ Sony Pellissery, Ivar Lødemel & Erika K. Gubrium; Towards global principles for dignity-based anti-poverty policies ~ Erika K. Gubrium & Ivar Lødemel.

About the Author :
Erika K. Gubrium is an assistant professor at Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway, with experience in the use of qualitative investigative approaches in Norwegian social policy. Sony Pellissery is an associate professor at the National Law School of India University. He is a leading authority on poverty-related research in India. Ivar Ldemel is a professor at Oslo and Akershus University College. He has served as a consultant for the World Bank, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OECD on minimum income policy.

Review :
"This is a truly global study of a global problem, written by a team from across the globe and based on original fieldwork. The focus on shame and shaming in policy processes breaks new ground." Professor Lutz Leisering, Bielefeld University, Germany "By examining anti-poverty policies and programmes from the perspective of poor people themselves, this book makes a novel and important contribution which will undoubtedly influence policy makers for years to come. Its study of the psychological dimensions of poverty in different countries also contributes to an emerging one-world perspective that will inform social policy scholarship everywhere. It deserves to be widely read." Professor James Midgley, University of California, Berkeley, USA "The book cautions policy makers and development practitioners that poverty eradication should also entail the eradication of the stigmas of poverty and calls for the recognition and protection of the humanity and dignity of poor people in anti-poverty policy implementation." Roland Lomme, Senior Governance Specialist, World Bank