Skip to main content
Book cover

Dimensions of Poverty

Measurement, Epistemic Injustices, Activism

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

  • Includes two open access chapters
  • Is the only book to date that deals with poverty conceptualization, measurement, and alleviation from such a broad perspective
  • Combines perspectives from development studies, political science, moral philosophy and social theory
  • Includes contributions that are devoted to relational, political and epistemic poverty
  • Deals with normative and technical problems of multidimensional poverty measurement

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Poverty (PPOV, volume 2)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (22 chapters)

  1. Poverty as a Social Relation

  2. Philosophical Conceptions in Context

Keywords

About this book

This anthology constitutes an important contribution to the interdisciplinary debate on poverty measurement and alleviation. Absolute and relative poverty—both within and across state boundaries—are standardly measured and evaluated in monetary terms. However, poverty researchers have highlighted the shortfalls of one-dimensional monetary metrics. A new consensus is emerging that effectively addressing poverty requires a nuanced understanding of poverty as a relational phenomenon involving deprivations in multiple dimensions, including health, standard of living, education and political participation. 

This volume advances the debate on poverty by providing a forum for philosophers and empirical researchers. It combines philosophically sound analysis and genuinely global research on poverty's social embeddedness. Next to an introduction to this interdisciplinary field—which links Practical Philosophy, Development Economics, Political Science, and Sociology—it contains articles by leading international experts and early career scholars. The contributors analyse the concept of poverty, detail its  multiple dimensions, reveal epistemic injustices in poverty research, and reflect on the challenges of poverty-related social activism. The unifying theme connecting this volume's contributions is that poverty must be understood as a multidimensional and socially relational phenomenon, and that this insight can enhance our efforts to measure and alleviate poverty. 




Reviews

“Dimensions of Poverty makes a useful contribution to the literature on poverty and should be a standard reference for those working in this field.” (Paul Shaffer, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Vol. 22 (4), 2021)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Valentin Beck, Henning Hahn

  • Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Robert Lepenies

About the editors

Valentin Beck is a Lecturer and Research Associate at the Institute of Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin (2012-) and currently a Alexander von Humboldt Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley (2018-20). His research is in Political and Moral Philosophy and Economic Ethics. In his monograph Eine Theorie der globalen Verantwortung (Berlin: Suhrkamp 2016), he developed an approach to global responsibilities, especially regarding poverty and structural injustice.  

 Henning Hahn is a Visiting Professor for Political Philosophy and Ethics at Freie Universität Berlin and former global justice research fellow at Yale University. Henning was one of the initiators of the German chapter of ASAP (academics stand against poverty). His major research interests include global justice, world poverty, political reconciliation and human rights.

 Robert Lepenies is a research scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, and member of the Global Young Academy. He works on the politics of nudging and on themes in the philosophy of the social sciences, international political economy and public policy (particularly environmental policy).

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us