Why we should care about poverty and inequality: exploring the grounds for a pluralist approach

Bucelli, Irene (2019) Why we should care about poverty and inequality: exploring the grounds for a pluralist approach. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. pp. 1-22. ISSN 1369-8230

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Abstract

Policy debates surrounding poverty and inequality often focus on practical solutions and seldom explore the normative underpinning that would justify our concerns with these phenomena. Why should we care about poverty, or about inequality? From a philosophical standpoint, can we separate the two, such that it is possible to be deeply concerned about poverty but unconcerned about inequalities? Do our reasons for caring about one contrast with our reasons for caring about the other? While there is a growing empirical literature exploring the mechanisms connecting the two, the philosophical literature has seldom focused on their relationship. Firstly, this paper provides a clear map of the philosophical debate, clarifying the normative assumptions that underlie positions conceptually prioritizing inequality and poverty respectively. Secondly, the paper suggests ‘a pluralist approach’, that stresses the overlap of our normative concerns with poverty and inequality and highlights parallel problems that restrictive interpretations of these concepts face, pointing to the importance of considering broader phenomena and processes (such as deprivation and exclusion) that illuminate the relationship between the two.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2019 Informa UK Limited
Divisions:	STICERD Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Date Deposited:	26 Feb 2019 14:36
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2024 02:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/100139

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