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Sociological Perspectives on Poverty, edited by Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh Sociological Society, Ankur Prakashani, Dhaka, 2010, pp.380, price, Tk. 400.
Poverty is a multifaceted social reality which has been largely relegated to the economic scholarship and analysis. Though sociologists of the past have deliberated on this issue yet with the emphasis upon data, quantitative methods and perhaps with the advancement of global economic institutions, poverty was divested of its social features, thus it was limited to the ministries of economic affairs, largely manipulated by the political elite of the society. So poverty became an issue of political parties' manifestos as well, such as roti, kapra aur makan (food, clothes and shelter) in Pakistan. Due to the underdevelopment of social sciences, except economics, this glaring reality of over half of the under -fed, under-clothed and poorly sheltered populace has been distorted. Its solutions were also sought by the economists and political scientists, who were largely ill-informed or ignorant especially due to lack of qualitative data. Furthermore, the 'elite' class of the developing countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries in the South Asian region, has consciously maintained its social and mental distance from the downtrodden. Who needs to know about the obvious hatred even atrocities of the landed class on the tenants in rural Pakistan. This is no more a forlorn reality; it persists even today. Bonded labour, private jails, maltreatment of women through the institutions of Jirga, panchayat, or ancient customs of karo-kari, killing in honour killing, wani, swara, etc., all allude to the fact that poverty is much more a sociological issue, deserving a thorough analysis by the sociologists, along side the economists. This is the fact which makes the book under review very much relevant for the Pakistani society whereas the ideas expressed in it have a universal application for all the poor who live on the face of globe be it the global North or global South.
The book comprises eleven selected article published in the Bangladesh Journal of Sociology. The journal was started in 2004, and it published its special issue on poverty as Volume 1, Number 2 in 2004. The articles in this issue and the following ones, dealt with various aspects of poverty. Not only that the book is...