Beyond the Extremely Poor: Social Policies and Individual Strategies in the Global South

Social policy research on the Global South generally has a focus on the extremely poor. However, especially but not only in a context of precarious prosperity and the COVID-19 pandemic, people beyond the extremely poor faced and continue to face numerous challenges. These include temporary or permanent discontinuation of income, unforeseen critical expenses, insufficient or unregular pensions or salaries, climate change, conflict and other challenges. To avoid moving into poverty, individuals and households chose a number of strategies that included asset selling, migration and household reconfiguration. Households also have to deal with changing social policies. In the context of resurgent authoritarianism and populist policies, social policies in some cases undermined the very basis of their livelihood strategies, in other cases addressed them as health personnel, teachers, civil servants or members of other strategic groups. In democratic regimes also, the reconfiguration of social policies and economic changes have created both challenges and opportunities.

This session is interested in papers that explore the strategies of individuals, households, governments or international organizations in the Global South for social groups beyond the extremely poor. It uses a broad notion of social policies that includes health care, agricultural, housing and other policies. It invites case studies or comparative studies of international actors both from the Global North and the Global South, governmental actors on different levels, non-governmental actors or social movements.