Poverty Knowledge in South Africa: A Social History of Human Science, 1855–2005 - Softcover

Davie, Grace

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107551730 ISBN 13: 9781107551732

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Poverty is South Africa's greatest challenge. But what is 'poverty'? How can it be measured? And how can it be reduced if not eliminated? In South Africa, human science knowledge about the cost of living grew out of colonialism, industrialization, apartheid and civil resistance campaigns, which makes this knowledge far from neutral or apolitical. South Africans have used the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), Gini coefficients and other poverty thresholds to petition the state, to chip away at the pillars of white supremacy, and, more recently, to criticize the postapartheid government's failures to deliver on some of its promises. Rather than promoting one particular policy solution, this book argues that poverty knowledge teaches us about the dynamics of historical change, the power of racism in white settler societies, and the role of grassroots protest movements in shaping state policies and scientific categories. Readers will gain new perspectives on today's debates about social welfare, redistribution and human rights, and will ultimately find reasons to rethink conventional approaches to advocacy.

About this title

Book Description:

Poverty is South Africa's greatest challenge. But what is 'poverty'? And how can it be measured and addressed? Davie argues that poverty knowledge teaches us about the dynamics of historical change, the power of racial thinking in white settler societies, and the role of ordinary people in shaping state policy.

About the Author:

Grace Davie is Associate Professor of History at Queens College, City University of New York. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Southern African Studies, Waging Nonviolence, YES! magazine, and OD Practitioner.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1107551730
• ISBN 13: 9781107551732
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 346