Questioning Poverty, Questions for Poverty Analysis

Why is there generally an attempt on the part of governments and international agencies to under-estimate the actual magnitude of the problem of poverty, and what strategies do they use? If poverty has been reduced, one must ask: why does poverty exist in the first place and what might be the limits to what the governments can do to eliminate it? In discussing these questions, the paper presents two major criticisms of existing poverty analysis. It then briefly presents a multi-scalar political economy framework for poverty analysis, as informed by a philosophy of internal relations. It also poses a series of questions that must be addressed by scholars so that they may have a better explanation of global poverty, including its temporal and geographical variations, and be able to significantly mitigate, and finally eliminate, poverty.