This collection of essays focuses attention on the global impact of legal policies on levels of poverty. They illustrate the distinct dimensions of poverty in a range of different political and cultural settings and also show how poverty is exacerbated by quite discrete local cultural factors in some instances. There is,nonetheless a universal element which runs through all the contributions. The fate of those who are disadvantaged in society depends crucially on their access to goods through the world of work. Thus gender, ethnic background or disability can result in individuals having a much higher chance of experiencing poverty than those outwith these groups and the success of these groups in achieving a measure of prosperity is bound up with a multiplicity of geographical and political factors.



This book is part of the Oñati International Series in Law and Society.

Introduction: Poverty and the Law
Asbjørn Kjønstad and Peter Robson

INTRODUCTION

1. The Rights of the Poor: Conceptual Issues
Paul Spicker

THE EXPERIENCE OF POVERTY

2. The Law and the Poor: Institutional Support and Economic Need in Italy
Yuri Kazepov

3. Strategies for Police Accountability and Community Empowerment
Ross Hastings and R.P. Saunders

STRATEGIES TO CONFRONT POVERTY

4. Poverty, Social Exclusion and the Impact of Selected Legal Measures against Caste Discrimination in South Asia
Kalinga Tudor Silva and Ajith Hettihewage

5. Disability and Poverty in the United Kingdom
Peter Robson and Nicola Loughran

ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THE POOR

6. The Development of the Notion of Poverty and the Equal Protection Clauses: A Comparative Analysis of Italy and the United States
Antonella Mameli

7. Substantive Justice and Procedural Fairness in Social Security: The UK Experience
Michael Adler

OVERVIEWS

8. The Rule of Law and Poverty Reduction: Some Issues
Hélène Grandvoinnet

9. An Army of Ideas: Marginalisation, Indigenous Rights and Civil Society in Mexico since the Zapatista Rebellion
Camilo Perez-Bustillo

“...the list of contributors is both eminent and international.The book is valuable” –  Dave Cowan, Social and Legal Studies

“The book is an intriguing collection of essays on the subject of poverty and the law, analysed across a number of dimensions.” –  Trevor Buck, University of Leicester, Child and Family Law Quarterly