Changing perceptions of the Poor in classical economic thought

Alain Clément ()
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Alain Clément: TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - ENS LSH - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This paper reviews the various types of discourse on the poor and on the relation-ships between poverty and a number of economic and social institutions that were seen al-ternatively as either solutions to or causes of poverty. At the beginning of the 19th century, the poor were considered autonomous economic agents responsible for their own condition. Progressively environmental explanations for the existence of poverty are discussed in this economic analysis. By the middle of the 19th century, these new arguments, combined with analysis about non specific forms of behaviour, justified new attitudes and new politics to-wards the poor.

Keywords: history of economic thought; poverty; 19th century; histoire de la pensée économique; pauvreté; XIXe siècle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Published in Cahiers d'Economie Politique = Papers in political economy, 2005, N° 49, pp.61-82

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00138308

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