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Poverty and 'Shame'; Small-Scale Technology in India

Laurie Taylor looks at cross-cultural research that explores the psycho-social effects of being poor. Also, small-scale technology in modern India.

Poverty and 'Shame' - shame was once described as the 'irreducible core' of poverty by Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen. Laurie Taylor looks at new cross cultural research which examines the psycho-social consequences of being poor in countries as diverse as Britain, Pakistan and South Korea. Elaine Chase, Research Officer at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford, considers the way that shame and stigma have been experienced by British people receiving welfare aid throughout history. She found that feelings of unworthiness, guilt and shame were common. In the current day, her study found that poor people accepted that 'other peoples' poverty was the result of personal failures rather than structural factors. The only alibi for their present circumstances was to deflect blame on to the 'undeserving' poor. She's joined by Sohail Choudhry, Research Assistant, also at the University of Oxford, whose Pakistan based interviews offered a contrasting perspective. Pakistanis on the 'breadline' also felt shame, but were also more inclined to blame the government and the 'big guns' for their reduced state.

Also, Professor of History, David Arnold, describes the impact of small scale technology on modern India. How the sewing machine, bicycle and typewriter reinvented every day life and work leading to new ways of thinking about the politics of colonial rule and Indian nationhood.

Producer: Torquil Macleod.

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28 minutes

Last on

Mon 31 Mar 2014 00:15
Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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Elaine Chase

Research Officer, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford

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Poverty and Shame: Global ExperiencesÌý
Edited by Elaine Chase and Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo
Oxford University Press (forthcoming)

Sohail Choudhry

Lead Researcher, Pakistan for global 'Poverty and Shame' project at the University of OxfordÌý

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Chapter six: Pakistan: a journey of poverty-induced shame by Sohail Choudhry
In The Shame of it: Global Perspectives on Anti-Poverty Policies
Erika K. Gubrium (Author, Editor), Sony Pellissery (Editor), Ivar Lodemel (Editor)
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN-10: 1447308700
ISBN-13: 978-1447308706

David Arnold

Professor emeritus of Asian and global history in the Department of History at the University of Warwick

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Everyday Technology: Machines and the Making of India's Modernity
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN-10: 0226922022
ISBN-13: 978-0226922027

Ethnography Award

Thank you for all your entries.ÌýÌý

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TheseÌýare now being reviewed by the judges for the Award, Professor Dick Hobbs, Professor Henrietta Moore, Dr Louise Westmarland, Professor Bev Skeggs. The Chair is Professor Laurie Taylor. (Please do not contact any judges directly).

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The judges will be looking for work which displays flair, originality and clarity, alongside sound methodology. The work should make a significant contribution to knowledge and understanding in the relevant area of research.

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The panel of judges will select six finalists, and from that shortlist the judges will select an overall winner who will be awarded a prize of £1000.

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The finalists will be contacted by telephone early spring of 2014 and the winner of the Award will be announced at the .

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Please see the for all the rules.

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  • Wed 26 Mar 2014 16:00
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4
  • Mon 31 Mar 2014 00:15
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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