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Cultural diversity and anti‐poverty policy
Author(s) -
Lamont Michèle,
Small Mario Luis
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2010.01754.x
Subject(s) - poverty , diversity (politics) , cultural diversity , political science , development economics , socioeconomics , economic growth , sociology , economics , law
This article examines how anti‐poverty policy has considered the role of culture and how it ought to do so. While some have explained poverty as a function of the presumed cultural deficiency or distinctiveness of the poor, we suggest that these explanations have not been convincing and that policy requires a broader and more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between culture and behaviour. In fact, we suggest that cultural differences may be positively employed in comprehensive anti‐poverty strategies.