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Reconstructing Poverty-Related Shame Among Urban Seniors in China: an Exploration of Their Narrated Experiences and a Reflection on Anti-Poverty Interventions

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  • Yan-Yan Chen

    (Fudan University)

  • Liu Hong

    (Fudan University)

  • Robert Walker

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

Poverty is an objective state, as well as a set of subjective experiences. This study explored how low-income seniors in urban China make meaning under the pressures of poverty-related shame. Based on two rounds of in-depth interviews with participants in Beijing, spanning 9 years, the researchers concluded that low-income seniors feel deprivation, experiences of being belittled and inferior and a sense of self-deprecation due to material scarcity. Under such pressures, the seniors actively reconstruct poverty-related experiences, demonstrating that older people living in poverty have a powerful meaning-making system, which serves as evidence of their resilience. However, reconstructing experiences of poverty should not be taken for granted, but be regarded as an appeal for dignity-oriented social policies. This rich meaning-making system could be a foundation upon which anti-poverty advocates adopt and advance various strengths-based interventions. These findings also point to implications for quality of life research with older people living in poverty and anti-poverty measures for this population in other developing contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan-Yan Chen & Liu Hong & Robert Walker, 2022. "Reconstructing Poverty-Related Shame Among Urban Seniors in China: an Exploration of Their Narrated Experiences and a Reflection on Anti-Poverty Interventions," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 229-249, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:17:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11482-020-09895-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-020-09895-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    2. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James, 2011. "Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 476-487.
    3. Walker, Robert, 2014. "The Shame of Poverty," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199684823, Decembrie.
    4. Deepa Narayan & Robert Chambers & Meera K. Shah & Patti Petesch, 2000. "Voices of the Poor : Crying Out for Change," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13848, December.
    5. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Poor, Relatively Speaking," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 153-169, July.
    6. Robert Biswas-Diener & Ed Diener, 2001. "Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Satisfaction in the Slums of Calcutta," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 329-352, September.
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