Book Launch: Poverty and Deprivation in Europe
In late January 2012 the College of Human Sciences hosted an event which focused on addressing these questions. The conference drew on the findings of recent research on Ireland from a multi-year research project supported by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS), as well as on emerging research internationally, and builds on themes from the Summer School on poverty research held in UCD in September 2011 with the support of the IRCHSS and the Department of Social Protection. It will be of interest to academics and researchers, those engaged with public policy in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and graduate students across a range of social science disciplines.
During the conference Minister Joan Burton TD launched "Poverty and Deprivation in Europe" a new publication by Brian Nolan and Christopher T. Whelan, published by Oxford University Press.
Research on poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish those in poverty, and this is also true of official poverty measurement and monitoring. However, awareness of the limitations of income has been heightening interest in the role that non-monetary measures of deprivation can play. This book takes as starting-point that research on poverty and social exclusion has been undergoing a fundamental shift towards a multidimensional approach; that researchers and policy-makers alike have struggled to develop concepts and indicators that do this approach justice; and that this is highly salient not only within individual countries (including both Britain and the USA) but also for the European Union post-enlargement. The difficulties encountered in applying a multidimensional approach reflect limitations in the information available but also in the conceptual and empirical underpinnings provided by existing research.
The central aim of this book is to contribute to the development of those underpinnings and productive ways of employing non-monetary indicators of deprivation. It will appeal to readers from diverse disciplinary perspectives, especially those concerned with substantive issues and policy implications. In addressing this audience it also provides a non-technical account of recent developments in the rapidly expanding academic literature, serving as a guide to those who wish to explore it in greater depth. The book maps out the current landscape and the best way forward, concluding by offering a critical evaluation of the EU's 2020 poverty reduction target.
The book features:
A comprehensive critique of uni-dimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion based solely on incomeProvides an up to date and interdisciplinary perspective on key policy issuesAddresses the use of social indicators at national and EU level in the context of active debate on the best manner to implement such approachesExamines the implications of EU enlargement for our understanding of poverty and social exclusionOffers a critical evaluation of the EU's 2020 poverty reduction target
About the Authors:
Brian Nolan previously worked in the Economic and Social Research Institute, where he was Head of the Social Policy Research Division, and in the Central Bank of Ireland. He is a UCD graduate and has a doctorate in economics from the London School of Economics. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, and President of the Irish Economics Association. He has participated in a range of collaborative research networks and projects, and is research co-ordinator of the GINI project funded under the EU's FP7 programme, focusing on the economic, social and political impacts of growing inequalities [see http://www.gini-research.org/articles/home]
Christopher T. Whelan was formerly a Research Professor in the Economic and Social Research Institute. He was Chair of the Standing Committee for the Social Sciences of the European Science Foundation from 2002 to 2006 and of the Governing Council of the EU Economic Change, Quality of Life and Social Cohesion (EQUALSOC) Network of Excellence from 2005-2009. He is Chair of the European Consortium for Sociological Research. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, associate editor of the European Sociological Review and a member of the editorial board of Longitudinal and Life Course Studies.
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