What the history of “poverty thinking” means for future “development”

The document analyzes the transition of poverty conceptualization from a moralistic, legal status to a functional, multidimensional experience. It details the influence of Enlightenment optimism, Cold War-era development theories, the neoliberal 'Washington Consensus', and the eventual shift toward human-centric and intersectional frameworks.

• Western thinking on poverty has transitioned from viewing it as an inevitable condition or a moral failing to a social ill that can be eradicated through public action and economic promotion.
• Post-WWII development theory was heavily influenced by the Cold War, leading to 'high development theory' and modernization theory, which posited that capitalist economic growth and democratization would eventually make poverty a residual problem.
• Neo-Marxist and dependency theorists challenged growth-centric models, arguing that poverty in the 'periphery' (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) was a direct result of exploitative relationships with the 'core' (Europe and North America).
• The 1980s were dominated by the 'Washington Consensus', which promoted neoliberal policies of stabilization, liberalization, and privatization; however, these structural adjustments often proved disastrous for the poor.
• Around 1990, a paradigm shift occurred with the introduction of the '$1 a day' absolute poverty measure by the World Bank and the UNDP's Human Development Report, which decoupled human development from simple economic growth.
• Contemporary poverty analysis has moved toward a multidimensional and phenomenological approach, utilizing intersectionality to understand how overlapping identities (such as race, gender, and ethnicity) compound to create endemic poverty.

APA

Osborne, M., Kemp-Benedict, E., & Betancur, J. C. (2023). What the history of “poverty thinking” means for future “development”. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/history-poverty-thinking-development-sei2023.025.pdf

Chicago

Osborne, Matthew, Eric Kemp-Benedict, and Juan Camilo Betancur. What the history of “poverty thinking” means for future “development”. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/history-poverty-thinking-development-sei2023.025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Osborne |first1=Matthew |last2=Kemp-Benedict |first2=Eric |last3=Betancur |first3=Juan Camilo |title=What the history of “poverty thinking” means for future “development” |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=April 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/history-poverty-thinking-development-sei2023.025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{osborne2023what, author = {Osborne, Matthew and Kemp-Benedict, Eric and Betancur, Juan Camilo}, title = {{What the history of “poverty thinking” means for future “development”}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/history-poverty-thinking-development-sei2023.025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }