The History of African Poverty by Numbers

Evidence and Vantage Points

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8980679
AutoresMorten Jerven (0000-0002-7302-3575, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume59
Fascículo3
Páginas449-461
Data de publicação2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of African History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021853718000440
OpenAlexW2911974347
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas37

Poverty has a long history in Africa. Yet, the most conventional and influential history of African poverty is a very short one. As told by the World Bank, the history of poverty starts in the 1980s with the first Living Standard Measurement Study. This history of poverty by numbers is also a very narrow one. There is a disconnect between the theoretical and historical underpinnings of how academics understand and define poverty in Africa, and how it has been quantified in practice. While it is generally agreed that poverty is multidimensional and has certain time- and location-specific aspects, the shorthand definition for poverty is the dollar-per-day metric. This article reveals how particular types of knowledge about poverty have gained prominence and thus shaped the dominant interpretation of poverty in Africa. It argues that, based on other numerical evidence, the history of poverty in Africa could be radically different from the dominant interpretation today

Basic needs · Culture of poverty · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Interpretation (philosophy · Poverty · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Computer Science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · History · Income, Poverty, and Inequality