In the United States, and also in France with the book by Hugues Lagrange, culture returns to the center of research devoted to poverty. The file “ culture of poverty » takes stock of this work to which the crisis is paradoxically giving new relevance, half a century after the introduction of the concept by Oscar Lewis.
The year 2010 was marked, both from a scientific and political point of view, by the return to favor of the notion of “ culture of poverty “. This notion, coined by the anthropologist Oscar Lewis, fueled the criticism of Welfare State American from the 1960s by focusing on the African-American minority. Since then, talking about the culture of poverty has been seen as a way of making the poor bear responsibility for their situation (blame the victim), and to consent to the dismantling of the social state under the pretext of fighting against the dependence of the poor on it.
While the economic and social crisis gives vulnerability an unprecedented scale, the question of the culture of poverty has been the subject, on both sides of the Atlantic, of renewed and highly controversial proposals. In the United States first of all, David J. Harding, Michèle Lamont, Mario Small have brought together a series of empirical studies which show that it is possible and necessary to take into account the cultural dimension of poverty to understand it and answer it. Other works have returned to this notion to the point of making Patricia Cohen say New York Times that “ “Culture of Poverty” Makes a Comeback “.
In France, it is the book by Hugues Lagrange, The denial of cultureswhich polarized the debates by reinvesting this dimension in the analysis of social vulnerability whereas since the 1990s, it is the perspective of the link with the labor market which has dominated. These proposals were the subject of discussions between the authors and their reviewers in The life of ideas. This file brings together these contributions and those which, published in other media, fuel the renewal of a notion that is as stimulating as it is problematic.
Summary of the file:
- Nicolas Duvoux, Elise Tenret & Nadège Vezinat, “ Rediscover the meaning of social life. Interview with Michele Lamont », May 20, 2011.
- Culture and poverty: transatlantic perspectives. Debate between Michele Lamont & Hugues Lagrange, 2011.
- Michel Kokoreff, “ Neighborhoods and cultural differences », about Hugues Lagrange, The denial of cultures (Threshold), January 11, 2011.
- Solène Lardoux, “ Objections of a demographer », about Hugues Lagrange, The denial of cultures (Threshold), January 11, 2011.
- Nicolas Duvoux « Rethinking the culture of poverty “, about DJ Harding, M. Lamont, M. L. Small, eds., “ Reconsidering Culture and Poverty “, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceOctober 5, 2010.
- Nicolas Duvoux, “ A syndrome of precariousness », January 15, 2010.
- Jules Naudet, “ Diving into the black American ghetto », February 23, 2009.
Read also:
- Michèle Lamont, Mario S. Small, David J. Harding, “ Reconsidering Culture and Poverty » (pdf on the Harvard website) ; “ Fragile Families », Volume 20 Number 2 Fall 2010, The Future of Children, Princeton-Brookings.
- Patricia Cohen, “ Culture of Poverty Makes a Comeback “, New York TimesOctober 17, 2010.
- Debate between Sudhir Venkatesh and William J. Wilson on Talk of the Nation, NPR
- Stephen Steinberg, Poor Reason (Culture of Poverty) “, Boston ReviewJanuary 13, 2011.
- Mario L. Small responds to Stephen Steinberg.
- Didier and Eric Fassin, “ Poverty of culturalism “, The WorldSeptember 30, 2010.
- Laurent Mucchielli, “ Denial of cultures or return to old culturalism », October 6, 2010.