RECONFIGURING POVERTY – POVERTY AS A
CATALYST OF SOCIAL MARGINALIZATION &
EXCLUSION FROM THE SOCIETY
Ola Kohut and Sanja Sontor
Hertie School of Governance
Berlin, Germany
Reconfiguring Poverty – Poverty as a Catalyst of Social Marginalization &
Exclusion From the Society
R ECONFIGURING P OVERTY – P OVERTY A S A C ATALYST O F S OCIAL
M ARGINALIZATION & E XCLUSION F ROM T HE S OCIETY
The elimination of poverty is a mission that underpins the work of all of those interested in
development of poor countries. The central objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
is the halving of poverty by 2015. In the World Bank’s official discourse, as well as in the discourse
of other major donors, almost every policy is assessed in relation to its impact on poverty, whether the
aim of it is debt relief or macro-economic stabilization. The objective of poverty reduction enjoys
great support of the donor community. Ironically, however, there is an increasing debate about what
this objective actually means. Sociologists and economists have trouble with the definition of poverty,
which leads to a rather messy approach to current policy formulation.
When estimating poverty worldwide, the World Bank uses the same poverty line reference, which is
expressed in a common unit across countries and entails USD 1.25 (PPP) per day. This, rather simple
criterion is, however, a flawed criterion. In many African or Southeast Asian countries USD 1.25 does
go quite a long way. What is one dollar in New York or London? In a big city one can earn it in a few
minutes – just by standing on the crossroads, reaching out to people. The more pressing question for
us is different: Even if an income of a beggar exceeds the minimum subsistence arbitrarily defined by
professionals, is he/she able to participate in the normal social life?
The monetary approach to defining poverty is dominant in descriptions and analysis, both nationally
and internationally. Clarification of how poverty is defined is extremely important as different
definitions of poverty may imply and lead to 1) the use of different indicators for measurement, and 2)
the identification of different individuals and groups as poor, which in both cases would require
different policy solutions for poverty reduction.
In our opinion, it is the social exclusion that deprives people of choices and opportunities to escape
from poverty and denies them a voice to claim their rights. Social exclusion also perpetuates poverty,
conflict and insecurity, additionally trapping the excluded in a vicious circle. If we are to tackle
poverty effectively, we need to recognize the layers and complexities of the problem, and, where
appropriate, find different ways of working with partner governments, international community, and
civil society organizations to overcome it. The poor are not a homogenous, single age or ethnic group.
They do not form a single class. They are not members of a single occupation. The poor are a
heterogeneous collection of individuals who have only one thing in common, their poverty. Their
poverty, however, often results in social isolation and marginalization.
In our presentation we will argue for the redefinition of poverty, which should also include aspects of
social inclusion and participation in the society. The World Bank’s definition, which denotes poverty
in monetary terms, or the European Commission definition, which defines poverty not by income but
by material resources, do not capture the problem of lack of inclusion of poor people in the society.
Secondly, we will argue that the current indicator systems of poverty used by international
organizations should study the many other dimensions of poverty relating to social exclusion.
Finally, we will advocate for strengthening of the “social capital” aspect, explaining how the
community setting can affect poverty levels of a region, and how improving of the local socioeconomic ties can improve the situation of the poor. We will illustrate our thesis by bringing up
examples from the former socialists countries and presently developed European countries. In one of
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Reconfiguring Poverty – Poverty as a Catalyst of Social Marginalization &
Exclusion From the Society
our cases we will focus on Polish regions and analyze the reasons behind their different scores on
poverty rankings.
-------------------------Our methodology will include research and listing of indicators according to our, more inclusive,
definition of poverty. We will rank these indicators. Depending on the result of our research, we
might come up with specific issues to be included while measuring poverty, in case they do not
appear in the existing poverty indicator systems.
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