Poverty and Shame: Global Experiences explores Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's contention that shame lies at the absolutist core of poverty. It draws on a wealth of empirical evidence to demonstrate how paying greater attention to the psychological and social consequences of poverty provides new insights into how poverty is perpetuated. Based on research in seven very different global contexts, it reveals how, irrespective of whether people live above or below a designated poverty line, in cultures as diverse as rural India, Uganda and Pakistan, urban/suburban UK, China, Norway and South Korea, the ability to participate in society as a full and recognised citizen is largely contingent on having the material resources deemed normal for that society. When such means are not available, the common response is to feel inadequate and to save face by withdrawing to varying degrees from society. Such a response further limits opportunities to exit poverty and arguably results in perpetuating its cycle. Yet society in turn plays a fundamental role in what we term the poverty-shame nexus, by persistently evaluating others against dominant norms and expectations and prioritising certain explanations of poverty over others. Hence shame in relation to poverty is co-constructed, a dynamic interaction of internally felt inadequacies and externally inflicted judgements.

This book, together with the companion volume The Shame of Poverty by Robert Walker invites readers to question conventional understandings about poverty and its impact. In so doing, the volumes provide a foundation for a more satisfactory global conversation about the phenomenon of poverty than that which has hitherto been frustrated by disagreement about whether poverty is best conceptualised in absolute or relative terms.

Table of Contents:
1 Elaine Chase & Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo: Introduction; Elaine Chase: Section 1: Cultural conceptions of poverty and shame: Preface; 2 Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo: Oral Tradition and Literary Portrayals of Poverty; the Evolution of Poverty Shame in Uganda; 3 Sohail Anwar Choudhry: The Wealth of Poverty-induced Shame in Urdu Literature; 4 Leemamol Mathew & Sony Pellissery: Film and literature as social commentary in India; 5 Ming Yan: Poverty and shame in Chinese literature; 6 Elaine Chase, Robert Walker & Sohail Anwar Choudhry: Poverty and shame: seeking cultural cues within British literature and film; 7 Yongmie Nicola Jo: Disclosing the poverty-shame nexus within popular films in South Korea ( 1975-2010); 8 Erika Gubrium: 'Then' and 'now': Literary representatio nof shame, poverty and social exclusion in Norway; Elaine Chase: Section 2 : Experiences of poverty and shame in seven countries: Preface; 9 Grace Bantebya- Kyomuhendo: 'Needy and vulnerable, but poverty is not my identity': Experiences of people in poverty in Uganda; 10 Sohail Anwar Choudhry: Tales of inadequacey from Pakistan; 11 Sony Pellissery & Leemamol Mathew: 'I am not alone' : Experience sof poverty induced shame in a moral economy; 12 Ming Yan: Experiences of poverty and shame in urban China; 13 Elaine Chase & Robert Walker: The 'shame' of shame: experiences of people living in poverty in Britain; 14 Yongmie Nicola Jo & Robert Walker: Social isolation and poverty in South Korea: A manifestation of the poverty-shame nexus; 15 Erika Gubrium & Ivar Lodemel: Relative poverty in a rich, egalitarian welfare state: Experiences from Norway; Elaine Chase: Section 3: The role of media and society in the construction of poverty-related shame : Preface; 16 Amon Ashaba Mwiine & Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo: Poverty the invisible and inseparable 'shadow': Reflections from the media and the better off in rural Uganda; 17 Sohail Anwar Choudhry: How best to shame those in poverty: Perspectives from Pakistan; 18 Sony Pellissery & Leemamol Mathew: Persistence of shaming in hierarchical society: The case of India; 19 Ming Yan: Society and shaming: General public and media perceptions of poverty in urban China; 20 Elaine Chase & Robert Walker: Constructing reality?: The 'discursive truth' of poverty in Britain and how it frames the experience of shame; 21 Erika Gubrium: 'No one should be poor': Social Shaming in Norway; 22 Elaine Chase and Grace Bantebya -Kyomuhendo: Poverty and shame: the future