Talking of poverty: From the analytical to the political

Abstract

Poverty talk has far-reaching effects at personal and society level. Overwhelmingly negative narratives undermine mental health of people in poverty and forces them in a position to cope with, resist and contradict the fallacious stereotypes that are spread about them. Narratives are not shaped in a vacuum, nor are they value neutral. Power is at the heart of poverty discourse, with words carefully curated to create and reinforce societal hierarchies and inequalities. Building on the contributions in this special issue, this conclusion therefore argues that studies of poverty discourse cannot confine themselves to the analytical but must also engage with the political.