Towards a Reconceptualization of Poverty: Implications for Its Eradication and Policy.

Abstract

The success of any poverty alleviation strategy depends partly on how poverty is conceptualized. The overarching goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is “Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere” and this demonstrates the need to conceptualize poverty beyond not only monetary dimensions but also considering it as an experience and a strategy on which other peoples’ lifestyles depends on. To improve the understanding of the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty the article proposes that poverty can be grouped into three dimensions namely: moral, material and social. By restricting the access to resources by those who lack them, those with political, economic and social power exhibit moral poverty. Targeting moral poverty is the key strategy to eliminate all forms of poverty.