Poverty: a history

by Geremek, Bronisław

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Title Statements

Full title :Poverty : a history / Bronislaw Geremek ; translated by Agnieszka Kolakowska.

Summary

The rich and those in authority in church and state have, over the centuries, expressed mixed feelings about the poor, have oscillated between pity and fear, compassion and revulsion. Why this should have been so, the effects it had on private and public actions, and the changing nature and origins of the poor themselves form the subject of this book. A great sweep of time is covered, from the first millennium to the present day. Even in the Middle Ages, there was little sentimentality about the poor. But with the economic crises that afflicted Europe in the sixteenth century, mass poverty came to be seen as harmful, dangerous and a source of instability. The scale of poverty was increasing; the gap between rich and poor had become more manifest. It is here, Professor Geremek shows, that the utopian ideals of socialism were born. This book shows how central the role of poverty has been throughout the history of Europe. It casts a fresh and revealing perspective on the actions of individuals, groups and nations, and on the underlying nature of the greatest social changes the continent has experienced. -- From publisher's description.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:1994.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Blackwell
Place of Publication:Oxford
Language:eng
Publication Date:1994.

The Physical Object

Description:xi, 273 pages ; : 24 cm

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:0631154256, 9780631154259, 9780631205296, 0631205292
oclc:ocm30036452
LC Classification:HC240.9.P6
Dewey Decimal:362.5/094

Introduction : what is poverty? -- The Middle Ages : is poverty necessary? -- The disintegration of medieval society -- Reformation and repression : the 1520s -- The reform of charity -- Charitable polemics : local politics and reasons of state -- Prisons of enlightenment -- Poverty and the contemporary world -- Conclusion : a return to compassion?

Subjects

Armoede Armut Church work with the poor Church work with the poor -- History. -… Europe Europe -- Conditions sociales Europe -- Social conditions Geschichte History Liefdadigheid Pastorale des pauvres -- Histoire. -- E… Pauvres -- Histoire. -- Europe Pauvreté -- Aspect psychologique Pauvreté -- Aspect religieux Poor Poor -- History. -- Europe Poor persons Poverty -- Psychological aspects Poverty -- Religious aspects Service social -- Histoire. -- Europe