The Individual and Cultural Origins of Poverty - Term Paper Example

Theories of Poverty: An Explorative study Introduction In both developing and developed countries, individuals and societies expect to attain a certain standard of living. However, in some cases such standards are not achieved. The upshot is that individuals and society may adopt a lower standard of living. They may be able to eke out a livelihood and yet according to the definitions of the external world and various institutions, they are living in poverty. Hence, at the outset, we attempt to define poverty at a broader level. Here we will only state that poverty is the state of living where the individuals’ basic needs may not be fulfilled at all times, the reference being to food, clothing and shelter. The main rationale for our constrained definition is that our focus would be on understanding the theories of poverty in this explorative paper. To develop an understanding of the theories of poverty, we look at the origins: individual and cultural. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on the individual and cultural origins of poverty. We explore each agenda from different research perspectives. This will help us develop a multi-dimensional lens through which we view the subject. Structure We first explore the various factors in understanding poverty from the viewpoint of the Individual theory. Here we identify the interactions of the individual with others in society, the political and regulatory set-up. We also try and understand the psychographic and demographics of the individual and how these factors could affect poverty. The second part of our essay concentrates on identifying the cultural nuances that impact poverty. Again we study the theory from the viewpoint of the various forces that act on the cultural characteristics. We explore the interaction of culture with religion, politics and the structural issues that have influenced poverty. Towards the end, we summarize our perspectives and work on providing a balanced viewpoint. 1. Poverty from the Individual perspective For an individual, poverty can be defined not only in monetary terms but also in terms of stunted capabilities which hamper the achievement of full human potential (Green 2006). Here, poverty amounts to a state of being in a zone of powerlessness and excluded from the decision making prerogatives that accompany people who are in better employment positions. If an individual belongs to this state, then that could possibly translate to living in unhygienic conditions, with poor access to education, healthcare and employment opportunities. We now trace the factors that could cause this existential state. The individual theory states that poverty could be attributed to the mental make-up of the individual. In effect, the theory subscribes to the notion that due to lethargy, ill-health or lack of educational resources, an individual continues to exist in a state of poverty. Here, the onus is on the individual to climb out of the poverty trap. There could be common demographic and psychographic characteristics that make a certain class of individuals to fall into the poverty zone. This has been studied across countries and continents. A research in Cote d’Ivoire, Africa focused on the structural change (Grootaert 1995) and its impact on poverty levels. It found that certain classes of people were hit the hardest, especially in the informal sector. In rural areas, poverty levels rose rapidly especially among those engaged in export crop. This was traced to low yields and the effect of price protection provided by the Government; regulatory mechanisms did little to alleviate the grass-root problems. We can also develop another angle to the individual theory of poverty. It was observed that attitudes to the poor tended to reinforce behavioral characteristics that further deepened the levels of poverty. For instance, a study that focused on the attitude of people towards the poor (Cozzarelli, Wilkinson & Tagler 2001) found that people held strongly negative stereotypes about the poor than about the middle class. Moreover, the survey participants tended to blame the poor individuals themselves for continuing to live in a state of poverty. Possibly, this assumes that individuals who are poor tend to have poor internal locus of control. The result is that they are unable to pull themselves out of the trap and over time, a series of self-reinforcing behavioral patterns set in, further dampening the prospects of emancipation. Individuals do not exist in vacuum. They cannot lead lives of isolation for longer periods. Various roles and responsibilities of individuals bring them into contact with the external environment. This environment consists of society composed of family, relatives, friends and the employment circle. The outer circle could comprise the regulatory, governmental and political framework. Individuals interact with members of this framework occasionally whenever policy decisions impact certain characteristics such as availability of food, pricing issues for essential supplies and taxation. In other words, social and political forces could also have a bearing on the levels of poverty (Rupasingha & Goetz 2007). The authors by way of a research study find that several developmental issues can be influenced at the county level. They aver that the local communities need to enhance the level of social capital in their factions. It implies that the locus of control swings from the political forces to the smaller nucleus which is the regional community. Extending the argument further, logically, the individuals who make up the community need to develop a more intense, internal locus of control. This would then ensure that they themselves drive developmental activities in the regional economic zone, thereby leading to betterment of the society and enabling them to climb out of poverty. While we have discussed the macro-level implications of poverty from the individual perspective, we can also shift our lens to view it from a micro angle. A specific stream of research which has assessed a parameter such as international homelessness (Shinn 2007), where the author adopts the twin-barrel lens of socio-cultural and individual perspectives. The author observes that individual demographic and social factors can be related to homelessness in different countries. She also studies the concept from a triple lens perspective which can be simply stated as economic capital, social capital and human capital. We observe her findings from this angle in more detail. Economic capital relates to income and wealth. Income could depend on employment potential or ability to be self-sustaining based on one’s own entrepreneurial activities. An economic theory states that adults who come from poorer backgrounds have less fall-back resources in the event of difficult situations. Another factor could be that growing up in poverty leads to poor physical and mental health, which could be related to an inability to sustain employment. In a similar fashion, children from poor families have stunted opportunities to acquire quality education that would later sustain them in adulthood, while seeking stable employment. Effectively, Shinn (2007) lays out a fairly exhaustive list of individual grass-roots characteristics that could contribute to poverty. Social capital relates to formal and informal organizational structures in which people function by way of their daily roles and routines. Divorce and breakdown in families are often factors that contribute to homelessness. Yet, we need to view it from the perspective of families that have adequate public support. For such cases, the marital harmony may not impact the individuals’ understanding of society. Perhaps, we can even extend the argument and postulate that the state of the marital union may not affect children’s’ proclivity to poverty at a later stage in life. All that research throws up is that social networks provide a safety net for individuals when they encounter hard times. Human capital refers to the acquired knowledge assets that help enable individuals to secure and hold jobs, raise families and move towards better positions in society. Therefore it encapsulates education, training and experience that an individual can acquire over the course of life. It is quite evident that economic and social capital could moderate the role of human capital on poverty. Obviously, given a lack of income or absence of social networks, human capital acquisition by way of education or experience would not be easy. Hence it is important to consider the three-dimensional perspective in a holistic manner. 2. Poverty as a Cultural Construct A cultural or societal mindset could impact levels of poverty. Earlier, we argued that poverty can be viewed as an individual construct, wherein we looked at various behavioral and attitudinal characteristics of individuals. However, we also need to look at the origins of poverty from a cultural standpoint. A culture depicts a certain class status. It signals and symbolizes a certain belonging. Hence we try and identify various tenets of the cultural characteristics impacting poverty. Earlier, research focused on understanding the role of technological, human and physical capital in explaining poverty and economic development. In more recent times, institutions and their impact on the economy have occupied the spotlight in economic growth literature (Tebaldi & Mohan 2010). These studies attempt to explain the impact of institutional factors on the cultural set up and thereby articulate the interplay between individual and cultural factors in the origins of poverty. The authors find that stronger regulatory and political systems are more effective in alleviating poverty. They suggest that institutions need to be improved for their effectiveness of execution to fight rising poverty levels. This is applicable for both developing and developed countries. To trace the cultural roots of poverty, we could look at the viewpoint of colonialism. While Great Britain created her colonies and in an enterprising manner went on to establish businesses in diverse countries, it also had a different impact on the cultural factors. For example, in several Latin American countries and in some Asian countries such as India, the British created a legacy of the ruler and the ‘ruled’. Naturally, the ‘ruled’ developed their own culture over time. Unfortunately, this culture exhibited traces of subservience. Possibly this could give us insights as to why cultural factors also play a role in sustaining higher levels of poverty. To cite a point, the British dominated trade in Latin America during the later part of the 19th century; their exploitative behavior possibly created cultural anti-foreigner mindsets, though on the whole, it exposed Latin Americans to higher standards of living and luxury goods (Stavig 2005). Would it be a logical extension to propose that globalization also created cultural milieus where natives perceived their own society and mores as being superior? This might have led to cloistered societies which refused to embrace globalization. A few such societies might have continued to languish in poverty. Thus, we can trace the cultural roots of poverty. Lack of economic resources and resistance to development led to observation of questionable practices such as ‘Sati’ in India even in the twentieth century. While observing that these are largely cultural practices, they imply a blind obedience and conformance to social and cultural norms (Tripathy & Mohapatra 2011); the external world often links them with notions of poverty. Arguably, the educated classes living in cosmopolitan cities are unlikely to follow such a ghastly practice, where the widow jumps into the funeral pyre of her deceased husband willingly. Hence, we notice glimpses of a culture that is rooted in mindless ideals that serve no purpose, yet such rituals and practices continued to exist. The implication for researchers is that poverty cannot just be studied as a cultural construct; it also needs to delve deep into the origins of ancient, ritualistic practices within communities that defy rational rules of living. For these could be linked to poverty: obscure relationships, which have not been studied before. Observe a different scenario in the developed world: the role of the Government in welfare, unemployment insurance and pension benefits. Several developed countries in Europe have higher unemployment benefits. Cultural mindsets prevailing here emphasize that if an individual fails in his obligation by way of losing employment, the state steps in to reassure him, providing him a subsistence allowance. This could lead to creation of societies and mindsets that discourage honest application of mind and physique to employment. It would not be far-fetched to say that in developed countries, the very existence of such a provision could lead to cultural norms that discourage hard work and enterprise. Such smaller segments of societies may continue to bask in receiving unemployment benefits, thereby leading to growth of poverty even in developed economies. Is economic justice meted out to all communities irrespective of race, caste or creed? Sadie T.M. Alexander’s struggle to obtain Black political rights bears mention. She advocated policies to encourage development of minority communities, especially Black Americans. She believed that higher levels of education and experience would help Black Americans move towards equality status (Banks 2008). The underlying implication is that larger sects of minority communities are often living in poverty. Additionally, due to subtle, barely perceptible, nevertheless existent form of racial discrimination has forced them to fight for equality rights even in well developed economies. The minority communities which do not take up education and high status positions in industry fall prey to the drag-down effects of poverty. This has been observed for immigrants also. Hence, going back to our focus on the cultural factors, we can infer that poverty levels are high in such cultural settings, where equality status exists on paper, yet may not be fully evident in practice. While the state often steps in to increase the representation of the minorities as noticed in the case of the Indian Political system (Chin & Prakash 2011), the question that arises is whether such acts of the Government are aimed at mitigating poverty or are they just means to increase the vote-bank? Populist politics, as practised in India hints that the latter could be true. Then, all the issues of providing reservation for backward classes (such as the dalits, a minority community) may not serve the purpose (Chin & Prakash 2011). Researchers need to be able to sift out the real reasons for the implementation of such political reservations and also study the post-implementation effects. Concluding Discussion In our explorative essay, we have broadly described the two definitions of poverty: Individual and Cultural. For each classification, we have adopted multiple lenses through which we have, with the appropriate magnification, viewed several diverse and thoughtful perspectives. Through the eyes of researchers who have worked in this area we have identified critical areas of study for our discussion. While individual traits and behavioral characteristics play a role in explaining the construct of poverty, we also need to understand the deeper implications. In the individual theory construct for poverty, we reviewed the role of economic capital, social capital and human capital. We also discussed how each cannot be viewed in isolation. They tend to reinforce and augment each other in terms of their influence in explaining poverty. We also discussed how attitudes about the poor often have negative stereotypes through a survey. Additionally, we explained the role of the external forces such as the Government in identifying the individuals living in poverty and how the interaction could benefit the poor in the long run. Moving on to the cultural construct of poverty, we identified the role of communities and their influence in shaping poverty. We looked at examples from developed as well as developing nations. We strongly argued against discriminative practices that foster rising levels of poverty. We observed how poverty levels are often very high among the minority classes and among immigrants. In the developed economies, the state encourages lethargy and hinders application of honest effort by provisioning unemployment benefits and welfare schemes. The extent to which they actually mitigate poverty is not known. Similarly, in the developing economies, political reservations try to stem rising poverty levels by promising better prospects to minorities. Again their resultant impact on poverty levels is not explained. On the whole, we have attempted to give a balanced perspective while elaborating on the two constructs chosen to explain theories of poverty. As we can readily assess, both the constructs have points of overlaps with each other. A single, stand-alone theory cannot explain the phenomenon of poverty completely. What we really need are more integrative theories to understand the phenomenon of poverty better. Only then, we would also be able to develop mechanisms that can alleviate poverty effectively. 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