Empowering destitute people towards transforming communities

3.1Dimensions of powerlessness and ill-being (as opposed to SHALOM/ Wellbeing)

According to Narayan et al. (2000:249), the ten dimensions of powerlessness and ill-being, and their interconnectedness, can be illustrated as follows:














Narayan et al. (2000: 249) proceed to describe the nature of the powerlessness and ill-being in every one of these ten dimensions:

Dimension	Nature of powerlessness and ill-being
Livelihood and assets	Precarious, seasonal, inadequate
Places	Isolated, risky, unserviced, stigmatized
The Body	Hungry, exhausted, sick, poor appearance
Gender Relations	Troubled and unequal
Social Relations	Discriminating and isolating
Security	Lack of protection and peace of mind
Behaviours	Disregard and abuse by the more powerful
Institutions	Disempowering and exclusion
Organizations of the Poor	Weak and disconnected
Capabilities	Lack of information, education, skills, confidence

3.1.1Livelihoods and assets: precarious, seasonal, and inadequate

Poor women and men survive through a patchwork of low-paying, temporary, seasonal, often backbreaking, dangerous and sometimes illegal work. According to a discussion group participant from Morro da Conceição, “If you earn a minimal wage or so and pay 110 reais for rent, what will you live on? You’ll live on odd jobs in order to eat.”
Precariousness is compounded by limited ownership of and access to assets: physical, financial, human, environmental, and social. A large majority in the study perceive economic opportunity as distant from them. “Everyday there are more unemployed, everyday one sees more men around the neighborhood all day long,” said a study participant from Moreno, Argentina. In Malawi, poor men cried, “the problem is that these boat owners know we are starving. As such we would accept any little wages they would offer to us because they know we are very desperate…we want to save our children from dying.”

3.1.2Places of the poor: isolated, risky, unserviced and stigmatized

Not only do poor people live in geographically isolated areas—remote rural sites or urban slums poorly served by basic infrastructure and transportation—but they also live in areas that can be physically dangerous, unhealthy and unsanitary, or prone to natural disasters. “Look at our river!” exclaims a poor middle-aged man from Bulgaria, “The cows stop milking when they drink this water.” Many poor communities sit on hillsides, flood plains, arid lands or polluted areas. Poor people often report that they have to pay more than better-off neighbourhoods for the few services they do receive.

3.1.3The body: hungry, exhausted, sick and in poor appearance

The poorer people are, the more probably their livelihoods depend on physically demanding work: often involving long hours, dangerous conditions and meagre returns. Those who are hungry, weak and look bad are frequently paid less and less reliably. A poor people’s principal asset is often his or her body, but it can flip instantly to a devastating liability with illness or injury. As a poor woman from Zawyet Sultan, Egypt, explains: “We face a calamity when my husband gets ill. Our life comes to a halt until he recovers and goes back to work.”
Poor people in very many communities report difficulties accessing medical care due to corruption regarding fees and preferential treatment for those with influence and money. In addition, people speak frequently about being asked to wait a long time, being treated with rudeness and indifference by medical staff, and lack of access to quality services and treatments in general. This statement from a discussion group participant in Vares, Bosnia and Herzegovina could speak for many in the study: “Before everyone could get health care, but now everyone just prays to God that they don’t get sick because everywhere they ask for money.”

3.1.4Gender relations: troubled and unequal

The exclusion of poor women from social, political and economic life is still widespread despite the fact that poor women, more than ever, are earning incomes. Violation of deeply entrenched gender roles of men as “breadwinners” and women as “caretakers” has created turmoil in households. Men express anger and humiliation over being unable to maintain their role as the household’s main or sole breadwinner.
Many poor men and women shared about their struggles with verbal and psychological abuse in the home, and report this to be a more serious problem than in the past. Much of this is linked to deepening economic pressures and changing gender roles but also to alcohol and drug addiction, gambling, polygamy and promiscuity. Overall, the discussion groups from 90 percent of the communities where violence was discussed acknowledge the presence of domestic violence against women in their villages and neighbourhoods.

3.1.5Social relations: discriminating and isolating

Social relations include the experience of being left out, looked down upon, pushed aside, and ignored by those more powerful at all levels. This affects poor people’s access to resources and opportunities and their ability to influence decisions that shape their lives. Poor people often face negative behaviour and discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, caste, material poverty, age, religion, and physical location. Social isolation and economic stress fracture some communities, while in others, poor people organize themselves to take defensive action.

3.1.6Security: lack of protection and of peace of mind

Many poor people feel that they are more insecure and vulnerable today than 10 years ago. These insecurities have many causes, and feelings of being unprotected and of the greater unpredictability of life make people anxious and fearful. “As if land shortage is not bad enough we live a life of tension worrying about the rain: will it rain or not? There is nothing that we say: ‘this is for tomorrow,’ we live hour to hour,” says a poor woman of Kajima, Ethiopia. Poor people lack the following: connections to those with power and information; the ability to bargain for fair treatment, fair wages or access to capital; and protection by police and the law. Increased hardship has strained traditional social support systems, adding further to insecurity in their lives. Widowhood invariably brings on destitution and social and physical vulnerability.

3.1.7Behaviours: disregard and abuse by those more powerful

Poor people often experience those who possess more power over them as abusive, rude and uncaring. This includes those upon whom they depend for livelihoods and for services. Being forced to submit to such behaviour compounds their lack of self-worth and sense of powerlessness.

3.1.8Institutions: disempowering and excluding

From the perspective of poor people, there is a crisis in the behaviour and governance of many public, private and civic institutions that are important in their daily lives. Their contact with those with greater wealth and power—including traders, land owners, employers, the elite, officials, and service providers—is often a source of pain and indignity. A particularly striking finding is the widespread reports of corrupt, criminal and sometimes brutal behaviour by the police. But poor people call for institutions that are responsive, accessible, participatory, fair, caring, trusting, uniting, and truthful.

3.1.9Organizations of the poor: weak and disconnected.

Poor women and men participate in and rely heavily on a range of informal and formal local networks and organizations, although by and large these groups are limited in number, resources, and leverage. Such groups and networks rarely connect with similar groups across communities or with resources of the state or other agencies. Isolated and disconnected, their organizations remain as assets aiding survival but experience difficulties leveraging their bargaining power with institutions of the state, market, and civil society.

3.1.10Capabilities: lack of information, education, skills and confidence

Poor people are often isolated from information about jobs, economic opportunities, and credit services, as well as from information on government services and their own rights as citizens. Inadequate education, limited skills, and impaired self-confidence compound their helplessness and powerlessness when faced with wrongdoing and exploitation.