Social Representations of Poverty in the Mexican groups. The importance of social thinking
Social Representations of Poverty in the Mexican groups. The importance of social thinking

Summary/Abstract: Due to the increasing social inequalities, poverty is at the core of social debates. However, the analyses of poverty remain in an epistemologically constrained realm, indicating a predilection for economical explanations, in the detriment of an apprehension of the social dimension. The classic studies have neglected a major aspect of the poverty problem, that of its social representation, fundamental in understanding the real stakes. Poverty is detached from its social and cultural context, from its everyday signification. What is poverty? Who are the poor? Compared to whom? What type of poverty are they subjected to? These questions have not ceased to preoccupy experts. This psycho-social study has the goal of analyzing the social representations of poverty in terms of the way in which the subjects think, perceive and experience poverty, acting as systems of appropriation and interpretation of reality, allowing individuals to guide their own behavior and practices. This study is divided into two parts. A qualitative method was applied, using semidirective interviews, content analysis, and a semantic approach through free association. Our population is composed of different groups of the Mexican society: the middle class; a population involved in fighting poverty in the context of non-governmental organizations; and those considered as poor. Results reveal a duality of social representations of poverty. In effect, we found a social-structural representation of poverty and a cultural-religious- moral one, two manners of thinking and experiencing poverty, two social representations that together are combined in a complex society, characterized by a historical and cultural syncretism.

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