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The Smithian ontology of ‘relative poverty’: revisiting the debate between Amartya Sen and Peter Townsend

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  • Toru Yamamori

Abstract

Although ‘relative poverty’ is a phrase of immediate recognition, wide circulation and an ever increasing acceptance in the last half century, the concept itself remains surprisingly undertheorised. This paper wishes to try and remedy this discursive deficiency by proposing an ontological elucidation of the nature of our needs. The author re-visits the dispute between Amartya Sen and Peter Townsend — a duel of crossed wires (if not sabres), which can be seen as representative of the various theoretical takes on the nature of relative poverty. While the dispute itself ended with an unfortunate misunderstanding between the two scholars, whose different disciplinary affiliations have done nothing but replicate the rift, the author nonetheless foregrounds the commonality between the two thinkers – their respective identification with Adam Smith. By exploring points of differences and convergence with Adam Smith’s own ontology of needs, which the author reconstructed elsewhere, the paper hopes to offer insights into the ontology of ‘relative poverty’ as well as to suggest that taking this ontology seriously would lead us inevitably to a re-examination of ‘economic methodology’.

Suggested Citation

  • Toru Yamamori, 2019. "The Smithian ontology of ‘relative poverty’: revisiting the debate between Amartya Sen and Peter Townsend," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 70-80, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jecmet:v:26:y:2019:i:1:p:70-80
    DOI: 10.1080/1350178X.2018.1561081
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    Cited by:

    1. Zenghui Huo & Mei Zhang, 2023. "Multidimensional Deprivation and Subgroup Heterogeneity of Rural Households in China: Empirical Evidence from Latent Variable Estimation Methods," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 975-997, February.
    2. Paul Simshauser, 2022. "The 2022 energy crisis: horizontal and vertical impacts of policy interventions in Australia's national electricity market," Working Papers EPRG2216, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    3. Simshauser, P., 2021. "Vulnerable households and fuel poverty: policy targeting efficiency in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2129, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Andrew Dunn, 2022. "Equality Street: Ideology and attitudes towards the purely relative definition of poverty," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 13-29, February.
    5. Goedemé, Tim & Decerf, Benoit & Van den Bosch, Karel, 2020. "A new poverty indicator for Europe: the extended headcount ratio," INET Oxford Working Papers 2020-26, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

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