This book challenges thinking about the nature and causes of poverty in both the Global North and Global South. Together with a companion volume providing more detailed interdisciplinary and theoretical insights into the phenomenon of shame in relation to poverty, the book shows how the pain of poverty is emotional as well as material. Moreover, the emotional hurt differs little in kind or degree between countries as diverse as Norway and Uganda, Britain and India, China, South Korea and Pakistan. The shame felt as a consequence of poverty can lead to depression and suicide and prevent people from being able to help themselves. It is made worse by the words and behaviour of those without experience of poverty and by policies that unfairly blame, shame and stigmatise people in poverty. The volume will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students across many disciplines and to anyone who cares about their neighbours or about the wellbeing of people and societies across the globe.

About the Author

Elaine Chase is a Research Fellow at the Department of Social Policy and Green Templeton College, University of Oxford Her research interests include the sociological dimensions of poverty, migration, social exclusion, rights and wellbeing. She has conducted research and written widely on these themes from a UK and international perspective and with a particular focus on young people and communities most likely to face marginalisation and disadvantage. ; Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo is a Professor in the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University, Uganda, and is a distinguished social anthropologist and an experienced trainer/lecturer, researcher and advocate for gender equality and social transformation. Grace has done extensive research in poverty and social exclusion , gender poverty and social transformation, Reproductive Health, in particular maternal health, HIV/AIDs in conflict situation. She has also researched on women and ICT and Gender and climate change. She has published widely, most recent being a co-authored book entitled Women, Work and Domestic Virtue in Uganda which got an award from African Studies Association.

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