oscar lewis's culture of poverty thesis

• DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican1066-19
• Corpus ID: 6439337

The culture of poverty

• Published in Scientific American 1 November 1963

1,729 Citations

The culture of poverty debate: some additional data, poverty, culture of, poverty and the limits of literary criticism, the culture of poverty in paris on the eve of the revolution, poverty and culture, "why not but i can't" – influence of a 'culture of poverty' on learning - a case study, the culture of poverty: an ideological analysis author(s):, popular perceptions of poverty in dutch society, comparative communist political culture, armoede as subkultuur, related papers.

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The culture of poverty

• Published: January 1998
• Volume 35 , pages 7–9, ( 1998 )

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• Oscar Lewis  

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Oscar Lewis is the author of a number of books, including, such best sellers as Five Families and The Children of Sanchez . He has taught at Brooklyn College and Washington University and is now a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois. He has just completed a new book, Pedro Martinez: A Peasant's View of the Mexican Revolution , and is writing another on the culture of poverty in Puerto Rico.

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Lewis, O. The culture of poverty. Soc 35 , 7–9 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02838122

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Issue Date : January 1998

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2 “Not Modern Men”: Oscar Lewis’s Theory of Global Poverty

• Published: September 2023
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This chapter explores the creation of an explicitly cross-cultural theory of poverty, one that updated distinctions between rich and poor for an age of cultural relativism and global development. It revisits the life and work of anthropologist Oscar Lewis and his controversial “culture of poverty” theory. From Lewis’s work for John Collier’s Indian Personality Project in Mexico to his fieldwork in rural urban slums in Mexico, Puerto Rico, India, and the United States, this chapter reinterprets Lewis as a major theorist of “underdevelopment,” arguing that his culture of poverty thesis became one especially trenchant way of thinking about “world poverty” for policymakers in the 1960s.

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October 1, 1966

The Culture of Poverty

Does membership in a group that has been poor for generations constitute belonging to a separate culture? A study of Puerto Ricans in both Puerto Rico and New York indicates that it does

By Oscar Lewis

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Culture of Poverty

• Last Updated: Aug 10, 2023

The culture of poverty theory, first postulated by Oscar Lewis in the 1960s [1] , proposes that poverty is not solely an economic issue, but also a cultural one. According to this theory, the poor are not simply victims of economic circumstances but also maintain a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that perpetuate their impoverished condition [2] .

Origins of the Culture of Poverty Theory

Oscar Lewis, an American anthropologist, introduced the culture of poverty theory in his ethnographic studies of Mexican and Puerto Rican families in the 1960s. Lewis argued that poverty is a subculture with its own structure and rationale, a way of life passed down from generation to generation along family lines [3] .

Key Features of the Culture of Poverty

According to Lewis, the culture of poverty is characterized by:

• A strong sense of fatalism, an acceptance of poverty as a chronic condition that will unlikely change.
• Little use of banks, more reliance on informal credit sources.
• Frequent interpersonal violence.
• Lower levels of participation in community organizations and voluntary associations [4] .

Criticisms of the Culture of Poverty Theory

The culture of poverty theory has been heavily criticized over the years. Critics argue that the theory tends to blame the victims of poverty for their situation, and that it ignores larger structural forces, such as discrimination, lack of opportunities, and the impact of macroeconomic factors.

Victim-Blaming Critique

Some social scientists argue that the culture of poverty theory blames the poor for their poverty. By attributing poverty to cultural values, the theory shifts the focus from systemic causes and towards individual and group behaviors.

Structural Critique

The structural critique emphasizes that poverty is primarily due to societal structures and economic systems. These critics point out the lack of equal opportunities, systematic discrimination, and macroeconomic factors such as unemployment rates and wage levels.

Empirical Evidence

Empirical evidence on the culture of poverty is mixed. Some studies provide support for certain aspects of the theory, while others contradict it.

The culture of poverty theory provides an interesting perspective on poverty and its persistence. However, the theory’s controversial nature, along with the diverse empirical evidence, suggests that poverty is a complex phenomenon with both cultural and structural dimensions. Policymakers should consider these complexities when designing programs to alleviate poverty.

[1] Lewis, O. (1966). “The culture of poverty”. Scientific American.

[2] Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2011). “Poor economics: A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty”. PublicAffairs.

[3] Lewis, O. (1966). “La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in The Culture of Poverty—San Juan and New York”. Random House.

[4] Stack, C. (1974). “All our kin: Strategies for survival in a Black community”. Harper & Row.

Vasundhra, an anthropologist, embarks on a captivating journey to decode the enigmatic tapestry of human society. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity, she unravels the intricacies of social phenomena, immersing herself in the lived experiences of diverse cultures. Armed with an unwavering passion for understanding the very essence of our existence, Vasundhra fearlessly navigates the labyrinth of genetic and social complexities that shape our collective identity. Her recent publication unveils the story of the Ancient DNA field, illuminating the pervasive global North-South divide. With an irresistible blend of eloquence and scientific rigor, Vasundhra effortlessly captivates audiences, transporting them to the frontiers of anthropological exploration.

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Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

La vida en pobreza: oscar lewis, puerto rico, and the culture of poverty public deposited, downloadable content.

• Oscar Lewis was a cultural anthropologist whose work documented the lives of the world‘s poor. He developed a hypothesis called the ―culture of poverty‖ which held that the desperately poor in modern nations live within a distinct subculture that transcends national boundaries and separates the poor from the broader societies in which they live. Lewis also developed a novel ethnographic method that relied on a combination of tape-recorded interviews, material culture analysis and psychological examination. This dissertation traces the development of Lewis‘s theory and method through several of his works, focusing on La Vida, Lewis‘s final major work and most widely read book. La Vida examined an extended Puerto Rican family living in San Juan and New York City. The book was a landmark work in the War on Poverty debates, as well as the debate about the relationship of Puerto Rico to the United States. Lewis himself considered the book to be an anti-imperialist tract, though he did not make that clear publicly. The culture of poverty, in vogue in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s, was by 1968 under sustained attack. Scholars and the public retreated from it, and Lewis‘s star went into decline. Although the culture of poverty may be flawed, Lewis‘s work remains vital to understanding poverty in modern societies.
• Dike, Steven Andrew
• Pittenger, Mark
• University of Colorado Boulder
• cultural anthropology
• culture of poverty
• Puerto Rico
• Oscar Lewis
• Dissertation
• In Copyright
• English [eng]

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