Poverty, state policies on poverty, and social work

Abstract

This work focuses on the issue of poverty within the current discourseon development, which tends to criticize the capitalist notion of progress,as well as the most recent proposed strategies, weighted from the vantagepoint of alternative development models. First, such discourse is analyzedby means of diverse approaches to poverty, as a way of understandingand communicating social matters. The second section addresses povertyas a political problem that has varied according to state-run actions,and considering the state’s expansions and reductions through time. Inconsequence, three major focal points of current thought are highlighted:the analyses on capability and freedom, the state´s resources and programsto address the issue of poverty, and the management of social risk—threecornerstones of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.The third section addresses some issues on the role of social workers andtheir need to analyze the cycle of public policies, in order to contribute tothe conceptualization of social work in academic environments. The lastsection offers final considerations and leaves open questions for furtherresearch.