Chapter 2: New Thinking on 
                 Poverty after 1950
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      The Second Poverty Enlightenment, 
                         1960-80
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             The second poverty enlightenment
     •  The period since 1800 that has the strongest claim to have 
        been a second “Poverty Enlightenment” is 1960-80. 
     •  Scholarly and popular authors could formulate accessible 
        arguments grounded on a body of theory and data
     •  Data from qualitative observations, sample surveys and much 
        analytic work in measuring living standards and setting 
        poverty lines. 
     •  Protests and Civil Rights Movement in US. Left-of-center 
        political/social movements in many countries. Newly 
        independent ex-Colonies looking for rapid escape from 
        poverty. 
     •  Political will + analytic expertise => new effort against poverty. 
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     Explosion of attention to poverty post-1960
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         The re-discovery of poverty in America 
     •  There was a sharp rise in concern over poverty in affluent 
        societies that built up from the 1960s, notably in the US. 
     •  In the wake of the civil rights movement (starting around 
        1955), important social commentaries: J.K. Galbraith’s (1958) 
        The Affluent Society and Michael Harrington’s (1962) The 
        Other America (both best sellers at the time). 
     •  Surprising success of Other America;  first 
        print-run= 2,500 copies; 1.3 million by 1990. 
     •  Political response in the US, including new 
        social programs under the Johnson 
        administration’s War on Poverty . 
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