Pobreza em sua dimensão conceitual: contribuições às reflexões no campo da Avaliação de Políticas Públicas

Abstract

This article discusses the opportunities and constraints arising from the use of income indicators to approach the poverty issue, highlighting its almost conceptual equivalence to the subject. It considers that poverty includes various dimensions: economic, social and political, but primarily refers to social trajectories and their implications for everyday life of those in vulnerable situations. In addition to lack of material resources and social rights ensured, being poor means to be affected by experiences and feelings that constrain the exercise of social-emotional and cognitive skills, thereby limiting the conditions of action. Thus, in addition to the established indicators used in the approaches devoted to the subject, we highlight the necessity to investigate these experiences, considering the individuals in their contexts, and taking into account their trajectories and intersubjectivities associated with the social condition of poverty. This kind of approach should bring knowledge to the topic and elicit reflection to the field of public policy evaluation.