Poverty and Morality: Religious and Secular Perspectives

This multiauthored book explores how many influential ethical traditions – secular and religious, Western and non-Western – wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the needs of the poor. These traditions include Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, among the religious perspectives; classical liberalism, feminism, liberal-egalitarianism, and Marxism, among the secular; and natural law, which might be claimed by both. The basic questions addressed by each of these traditions are linked to several overarching themes: what poverty is, the particular vulnerabilities of high-risk groups, responsibility for the occurrence of poverty, preferred remedies, how responsibility for its alleviation is distributed, and priorities in the delivery of assistance. These essays are preceded by a background chapter on the types, scope, and causes of poverty in the modern world and some contemporary strategies for eliminating it. The volume concludes with Michael Walzer’s broadly conceived commentary, which provides a direct comparison of the presented views and makes suggestions for further study and policy.

William A. Galston is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has also taught at the University of Maryland, College Park, and served as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and Executive Director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal. His most recent books include Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and Liberal Purposes: Goods, Virtues, and Diversity in the Liberal State (Cambridge University Press, 1991).

Peter H. Hoffenberg is Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa, where his courses include Comparative Economic History and The History of Economic Thought. He is the author of An Empire on Display: English, Australian, and Indian Exhibitions from the Crystal Palace to the Great War (2001) and numerous articles and book chapters. He is currently writing a book about the British Empire and poverty.