Listening to ‘life knowledge’: a new research direction in poverty studies

Abstract

This article points to a current research direction in poverty studies, which explores the knowledge of people living in poverty. The article examines three studies from the USA, Europe and Israel which give voice to the ‘life knowledge’ of people living in poverty regarding different aspects of their lives. Through these examples, the article examines the potential contribution of ‘life knowledge’, possessed by people who are welfare-reliant, to the body of knowledge concerning welfare policy. Knowledge of this sort challenges standard preconceptions about the ways in which people cope with hardship and about the ways in which assistance might be given. The article discusses the ways in which ‘life knowledge’ can be recognised as such and investigated, and how it might contribute to the formation of public policy.