Social History of poverty Flashcards
What did classical economists overlook?
Future changes and underlying processes
What, in general terms, did the poor laws do?
Created a deserving and undeserving poor
When were the “new” poor laws?
The poor law of 1834
What is a good example of poverty conditions in the 20th century?
Robert Tressell Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
When was the old poor law established?
During the reign of Elizabeth 1st
What forms of welfare existed under the old poor law?
- Charities
- Parishes
- Uneven welfare provisioning by parish
How was uneven provisioning of welfare under the old poor law exacerbated by urbanisation?
Population increased in cities, where less social welfare could be distributed per person
Led to Malthus’ ideas
What was Adam Smith’s main focus?
Specialisation of specific processes
- “division of labour”
- Productivity and competition
- Agriculture created biological limit to potential
(Smith 1776)
What was David Ricardo’s main focus?
- Comparative advantage of international trade
- Diminishing marginal returns as population grows
Why did Ricardo say marginal returns decrease as population growth increases?
More marginal land needed as population grows (links to Malthus), but causes quality to decrease, so lower returns
A rational for neo-Malthusians who focus on poverty in rural areas
Did Malthus hate the poor?
No, he saw population growth as causing more pressures to be put on the poor - they were vulnerable to something beyond their control
It just led to blame being put on the poor through family planning and reducing ecological footprints etc
Who has highlighted that the photosynthetic constraint is not absolute? Why?
Wrigley 2004
Fossil fuel use allowed technology to increase agricultural production, transport and storage
Why was the “new” poor law created in 1834?
Old one was costly - more urban population and ambiguous criteria
Why was outdoor relief criticised during the “old” poor law?
People seen as lazy if not doing work (links to contemporary benefits) + contributed to pop growth
What was the idea behind discipline in the workhouses?
To make people able-bodied workers because being poor was viewed as their fault, something which could be fixed
What is the irony of workhouses?
- Costly and ineffective
- LAIZZES-FAIRE on one hand for markets, but STATE control and spending in the workhouses
Driver 2004
What is a panopticon?
A prison designed to instil fear, forcing people to regulate themselves (Williams 2020)
How were workhouses represented as moral?
- Fixing and mending bodies
- To protect other bodies in society
- For the protection of civil society
- Foe economic benefits through increasing the number of workers etc (overlooks basic principles…)
Williams 2020
How did workhouses contribute to the creation of a two-tier system?
- Wealthy cared for by the state, institutions and workers
- The poor were imprisoned and disciplined in the workhouse
What does Tressell compare the workhouse to?
The grave - meant that discipline also occurred through work itself out of fear of workhouses
What does the history of the poor laws highlight?
- Shapes present day welfare
- The persistence of frameworks and discourses (Foucault 1969)
- Reflects on the past vis-a-vis the present
