What is Poverty? Rethinking Poverty Through Lived Experience in Istanbul
17th Conference of the European Sociological Association Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures, Warszawa, Polonya, 25 - 28 Ağustos 2026, (Yayınlanmadı)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Yayınlanmadı
- Basıldığı Şehir: Warszawa
- Basıldığı Ülke: Polonya
- İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Defining poverty is not just a technical matter, but also a profound social and political question. Despite decades of debate, poverty research remains divided between income-based measurement and multidimensional index approaches, while the experiential knowledge of those living in poverty is often treated as secondary or explanatory. This study argues that poverty cannot be adequately understood without reintegrating lived experience into the conceptual and measurement process. In this context, it aims to define poverty at the local level and conceptualize it under an inclusive poverty approach, which is a novel framework that we suggest it as a fourth stage in the analysis of poverty after the monetary, participatory, and multidimensional poverty approaches.
The paper presents the qualitative field component of an ongoing mixed-methods project conducted in Istanbul, Türkiye. Following a systematic review of monetary, participatory, and multidimensional poverty literatures, the study employs a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) framework in the district of Sancaktepe. Sancaktepe is one of the districts in Istanbul with a high annual population growth rate and is an urban area that exhibits migration, informal employment, and socioeconomic diversity. In this study, field research is conducted in three different neighborhoods to reflect the social, economic, and spatial diversity of Sancaktepe district. The data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with individuals who identified themselves as experiencing deprivation to explore six thematic headings: definition and lived experience of poverty, causes of poverty, strategies for coping with poverty, social exclusion and discrimination, social policies, future expectations and suggested solutions.