Can the Poor Organize to Fight Poverty: Theoretical Evidence On Policies

Abstract

Central to this article is an argument that:”Self-organisation of the poor to provide for their own social security or as a means to combat poverty is inherently limited in what it can do”. This article presents a surface scan on poverty as a concept to establish an understanding of the key influences on poverty status. A model that explains linkage of monetary income to capability of the household in terms of functioning is presented followed by another model on a link between national policies to household income/welfares. This policy link is associated with the poverty politics, explaining that poverty though measured at household level its alleviation needs national initiatives and strategies, hence defeating the argument that the poor at household level can organize themselves out of poverty.