The Constitution of Poverty: Toward a Genealogy of Liberal Governance

The author argues against the orthodox interpretation of the changing nature of the relief and administration of poverty from the 17th century to the reform of poor law administration in England in the mid-19th century. He locates the "constitution" of poverty in the debates on pauperism which took place at the end of the 18th century, arguing that this event marks a transformation in modes of government. The "policing" of the poor, of which the Tudor poor laws are a peculiar English version, is displaced by a "liberal" governance of poverty. The implications of this transformation are wide, concerning not only the state, the labour market, and political and economic discourse, but also households, breadwinners, forms of patriarchy, and the rise of an ethic of self responsibility among the propertyless. The study provides a critical historical framework for understanding the contribution of poor policies to the rise of capitalism both as an economic system and as a form of political and social organization.