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| == '''[[Pompeii]]''' ==
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| {{Image|Pompeii's forum.jpg|right|200px|"The forum at Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background."}} | | ==Footnotes== |
| '''Pompeii''' was a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] settlement in [[Campania]], situated where the River Sarno drains into the [[Bay of Naples]]. When Pompeii was founded and who by is uncertain,<ref>Beard, Mary (2008) ''Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town'', p. 34. London: Profile Books. ISBN 9781846684715.</ref> but by the mid-6th century occupied an area of 66 hectares. In the 1st century it became a Roman colony. In A.D. 79 Pompeii and nearby [[Herculaneum]] were buried when [[Mount Vesuvius]] erupted. The settlement was preserved and has become an important [[archaeology|archaeological]] site. In [[Roman mythology]], Pompeii was founded by [[Heracles|Hercules]] and may have been where the cult dedicated to the demi-god originated.<ref>Cooley, Alison & Cooley, M. G. L (2004). ''Pompeii: a sourcebook'', pp. 6–8, 17. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415262118.</ref>
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| The site of Pompeii was lost until the 18th century. Marble which had been worked on by masons was found in the area, and led to investigations which resulted in the discovery of Herculaneum. In 1748, Pompeii itself was discovered. In this first phase of rediscovery, investigations were funded by the wealthy but inflicted much damage on the site as artworks were taken away to be displayed in the patrons' homes. Pompeii and Herculanuem gained international renown in 1762 due to the writings of [[Joachim Winckelmann]], but the first rigorous archaeological excavations only began in 1860.<ref>Renfrew, Colin & Bahn, Paul (2004). Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, 4th edition. Thames & Hudson. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-500-28441-5.</ref>
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| The reason Pompeii is so well known today is not because it was exceptional in its time, but because of its remarkable preservation which offers [[archaeology|archaeologists]] insight into the Roman way of life. In the words of Alison E. Cooley and M. G. L. Cooley: "Pompeii was not a particularly significant Roman town. ... No Pompeian made his mark on Roman literature or politics. No crucial moments in Rome's history hinge on Pompeii. Yet today, because of the accident of its fate, Pompeii is a Unesco world heritage site, attracting up to five hundred times as many visitors each year as actually used to live in the town."<ref>Cooley & Cooley, ''Pompeii: a sourcebook'', p. 1.</ref>
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| ''[[Pompeii|.... (read more)]]''
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| ! style="text-align: center;" | [[Pompeii#References|notes]]
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Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020
The Mathare Valley slum near Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009.
Poverty is deprivation based on lack of material resources. The concept is value-based and political. Hence its definition, causes and remedies (and the possibility of remedies) are highly contentious.[1] The word poverty may also be used figuratively to indicate a lack, instead of material goods or money, of any kind of quality, as in a poverty of imagination.
Definitions
Primary and secondary poverty
The use of the terms primary and secondary poverty dates back to Seebohm Rowntree, who conducted the second British survey to calculate the extent of poverty. This was carried out in York and was published in 1899. He defined primary poverty as having insufficient income to “obtain the minimum necessaries for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency”. In secondary poverty, the income “would be sufficient for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency were it not that some portion of it is absorbed by some other expenditure.” Even with these rigorous criteria he found that 9.9% of the population was in primary poverty and a further 17.9% in secondary.[2]
Absolute and comparative poverty
More recent definitions tend to use the terms absolute and comparative poverty. Absolute is in line with Rowntree's primary poverty, but comparative poverty is usually expressed in terms of ability to play a part in the society in which a person lives. Comparative poverty will thus vary from one country to another.[3] The difficulty of definition is illustrated by the fact that a recession can actually reduce "poverty".
Causes of poverty
The causes of poverty most often considered are:
- Character defects
- An established “culture of poverty”, with low expectations handed down from one generation to another
- Unemployment
- Irregular employment, and/or low pay
- Position in the life cycle (see below) and household size
- Disability
- Structural inequality, both within countries and between countries. (R H Tawney: “What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches”)[4]
As noted above, most of these, or the extent to which they can be, or should be changed, are matters of heated controversy.
- ↑ Alcock, P. Understanding poverty. Macmillan. 1997. ch 1.
- ↑ Harris, B. The origins of the British welfare state. Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. Also, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ↑ Alcock, Pt II
- ↑ Alcock, Preface to 1st edition and pt III.
