The latest CIES e-Working Paper, entitled "Objective and subjective poverty: Towards an analysis of complementarities in public policies", by Manuel Saliulo, PhD candidate in Public Policy, is now available on Open Access.
Abstract
The distinction between subjective and objective poverty has emerged as a central debate in conceptualizing and operationalizing anti-poverty policies, with both theoretical and pragmatic implications. This article, which is theoretical and part of ongoing doctoral research, explores how the complementarities between objective and subjective poverty can enrich the debate and influence the design of public policies. The guiding question is: What are the implications of including subjective poverty in policies traditionally based on objective indicators? The authors mobilized, and the theoretical dialogues drawn from them affirm that the main political and academic challenge lies in formulating an integrated model that considers objective indicators of deprivation while valuing individuals' perceptions of their condition and life expectancy. As an original contribution, the Community Monitoring and Evaluation Panel (CMEP) is proposed as a methodological device for community mobilization and participatory monitoring, designed to integrate this broader vision, which is particularly relevant in contexts marked by the absence or fragility of State presence, thereby necessitating more localized, participatory, and culturally situated approaches.
