Minority Group Theory
2 Theories of Poverty In the social sciences it is usual to start with conceptions or definitions of a social problem or phenomenon and proceed first to its measurement and then its ex- planation before considering, or leaving others to consider, alternative remedies. The operation of value assumptions at each stage tends to be overlooked and the possibility that there might be interaction between, or a conjunction of, these stages tends to be neglected. What has to be remembered is that policy prescriptions permeate conceptualization, measurement and the formulation of theory; alternatively, that the formulation of theory inheres within the conceptualization and measurement of a problem and the application of policy. While implying a particular approach to theory, Chapter 1 was primarily con- cerned with the conceptualization and measurement of poverty in previous studies. This chapter attempts to provide a corresponding account of previous theories of poverty. It will discuss minority group theory, the sub-culture of poverty and the cycle of deprivation, orthodox economic theory, dual labour market and radical theories, and sociological, including functionalist, explanations of poverty and inequality. Until recently, little attempt was made to extend theory to the forms, extent of and changes in poverty as such. Social scientists, including Marx, had been primarily concerned with the evolution of economic, political and social inequality. Economists had devoted most interest to the factor shares of production and distribution rather than to the unequal distribution of resources, and where they had studied the latter, they confined themselves to studies of wages. Sociologists had kept the discussion of the origins of, or need for, equality at a very general level, or had confined their work to topics which were only indirectly or partly related, like occupational status and mobility, and the structure and persistence of local community.
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