Organizers
The Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research (CEPR) of the University of Salzburg is an interdisciplinary research institution with multiple integrations in national and international institutions and networks. It is dedicated to the research of poverty and social exclusion, in particluar in relation to questions of ethics and philosophy. The CEPR has currently members with backgrounds in social geography, political science, theology, history, literature studies, and philosophy.
The CEPR carries out (externally funded) research projects, organizes workshops and conferences, both for researchers as well as practitioners and policy makers, and its members regularly publish research papers and peer-reviewed edited volumes, special issues and monographs as well as reports and books aimed at a lay audience.
Since the 2013 the CEPR organizes an annual conference on changing focus themes. These conferences are interdisciplinary and open to all interested researchers, practitioners and policy makers. They aim to bring together current research on poverty, inequality and social exclusion and to discuss policies and other measures of poverty alleviation. The conference theme of 2017 is religion and poverty.
Currently the CEPR also hosts a research project on social justice and child poverty, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
The CEPR also publishes a fully peer-reviewed Book Series with Springer on Philosophy and Poverty. Below you find also some recent publications by members of the CEPR.
Find out more about the CEPR on its homepage: www.povertyresearch.org
The CEPR carries out (externally funded) research projects, organizes workshops and conferences, both for researchers as well as practitioners and policy makers, and its members regularly publish research papers and peer-reviewed edited volumes, special issues and monographs as well as reports and books aimed at a lay audience.
Since the 2013 the CEPR organizes an annual conference on changing focus themes. These conferences are interdisciplinary and open to all interested researchers, practitioners and policy makers. They aim to bring together current research on poverty, inequality and social exclusion and to discuss policies and other measures of poverty alleviation. The conference theme of 2017 is religion and poverty.
Currently the CEPR also hosts a research project on social justice and child poverty, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
The CEPR also publishes a fully peer-reviewed Book Series with Springer on Philosophy and Poverty. Below you find also some recent publications by members of the CEPR.
Find out more about the CEPR on its homepage: www.povertyresearch.org
Recent Publications
Ethics and the Endangerment of Children's Bodies (Palgrave Macmillan 2017)
by Gunter Graf & Gottfried Schweiger
This book addresses the endangerment of children’s bodies in affluent societies. Bodily integrity is an important part of a child’s physical and mental well-being, but it can also be violated through various threats during childhood; not only affecting physical health but also causing mental damage and leading to distortions in the development of the self. The authors give an account of three areas, which present different serious dangers: (1) body and eating, (2) body and sexuality, and (3) body and violence. Through an in-depth examination of the available theoretical and empirical knowledge, as well as a thorough ethical analysis, the central injustices in the mentioned areas are identified and the agents with responsibilities towards children displayed. The authors conclude by providing invaluable insight into the necessity of an ethical basis for policies to safeguard children and their bodies.
by Gunter Graf & Gottfried Schweiger
This book addresses the endangerment of children’s bodies in affluent societies. Bodily integrity is an important part of a child’s physical and mental well-being, but it can also be violated through various threats during childhood; not only affecting physical health but also causing mental damage and leading to distortions in the development of the self. The authors give an account of three areas, which present different serious dangers: (1) body and eating, (2) body and sexuality, and (3) body and violence. Through an in-depth examination of the available theoretical and empirical knowledge, as well as a thorough ethical analysis, the central injustices in the mentioned areas are identified and the agents with responsibilities towards children displayed. The authors conclude by providing invaluable insight into the necessity of an ethical basis for policies to safeguard children and their bodies.
Ethical Issues in Poverty Alleviation (Springer 2016)
edited by Helmut P Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger & Clemens Sedmak
This book explores the philosophical, and in particular ethical, issues concerning the conceptualization, design and implementation of poverty alleviation measures from the local to the global level. It connects these topics with the ongoing debates on social and global justice, and asks what an ethical or normative philosophical perspective can add to the economic, political, and other social science approaches that dominate the main debates on poverty alleviation. Divided into four sections, the volume examines four areas of concern: the relation between human rights and poverty alleviation, the connection between development and poverty alleviation, poverty within affluent countries, and obligations of individuals in regard to global poverty.
An impressive collection of essays by an international group of scholars on one of the most fundamental issues of our age. The authors consider crucial aspects of poverty alleviation: the role of human rights; the connection between development aid and the alleviation of poverty; how to think about poverty within affluent countries (particularly in Europe); and individual versus collective obligations to act to reduce poverty. Judith Lichtenberg, Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University
This collection of essays is most welcome addition to the burgeoning treatments of poverty and inequality. What is most novel about this volume is its sustained and informed attention to the explicitly ethical aspects of poverty and poverty alleviation. What are the ethical merits and demerits of income poverty, multidimensional-capability poverty, and poverty as nonrecognition? How important is poverty alleviation in comparison to environmental protection and cultural preservation? Who or what should be agents responsible for reducing poverty? The editors concede that their volume is not the last word on these matters. But, these essays, eschewing value neutrality and a retreat into technical mastery, challenge us to find fresh and reasonable answers to these urgent questions. David A. Crocker, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
edited by Helmut P Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger & Clemens Sedmak
This book explores the philosophical, and in particular ethical, issues concerning the conceptualization, design and implementation of poverty alleviation measures from the local to the global level. It connects these topics with the ongoing debates on social and global justice, and asks what an ethical or normative philosophical perspective can add to the economic, political, and other social science approaches that dominate the main debates on poverty alleviation. Divided into four sections, the volume examines four areas of concern: the relation between human rights and poverty alleviation, the connection between development and poverty alleviation, poverty within affluent countries, and obligations of individuals in regard to global poverty.
An impressive collection of essays by an international group of scholars on one of the most fundamental issues of our age. The authors consider crucial aspects of poverty alleviation: the role of human rights; the connection between development aid and the alleviation of poverty; how to think about poverty within affluent countries (particularly in Europe); and individual versus collective obligations to act to reduce poverty. Judith Lichtenberg, Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University
This collection of essays is most welcome addition to the burgeoning treatments of poverty and inequality. What is most novel about this volume is its sustained and informed attention to the explicitly ethical aspects of poverty and poverty alleviation. What are the ethical merits and demerits of income poverty, multidimensional-capability poverty, and poverty as nonrecognition? How important is poverty alleviation in comparison to environmental protection and cultural preservation? Who or what should be agents responsible for reducing poverty? The editors concede that their volume is not the last word on these matters. But, these essays, eschewing value neutrality and a retreat into technical mastery, challenge us to find fresh and reasonable answers to these urgent questions. David A. Crocker, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty (Palgrave Macmillan 2015)
by Gottfried Schweiger & Gunter Graf
Child poverty is one of the biggest challenges of today, harming millions of children. In this book, child poverty is investigated from a philosophical social justice perspective, primarily in the context of modern welfare states. Based on both normative theory (particularly the capability approach) and empirical evidence, the authors identify the injustices of child poverty, showing how it negatively affects the well-being of children as well as their whole life course. But child poverty is not “given by nature”. It is avoidable and there is certainly the moral duty to alleviate it. Therefore, Graf and Schweiger develop a normative theory of responsibilities, which clarifies the moral role of different agents in the poor children’s environment – the family, the state and my others, that have so far been neglected in philosophical theories. They conclude their book by sketching how their theory can be extended to global child poverty and what it means to show equal respect and concern for every child – not matter where and in which context it was born.
This book is open access under a CCBY license.
I hope it will be clear that Schweiger and Graf’s book is full of important insights and information. It provides a comprehensive theory of child poverty with very strong implications for political practice and thereby exemplifies a very successful blend of political philosophy and social science. Moreover, it provides a fertile ground for further philosophical and social scientific debate. It is simply a must read for everyone interested in the problem of child poverty. Christian Neuhäuser, Professor of Political Philosophy, TU Dortmund
Schweiger and Graf’s book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of child poverty and the resources within the Capability Approach (CA) to analyse the ways in which poverty disadvantages children. As they note, capability theorists have not, until relatively recently, devoted much attention to how the capability theory might be developed and extended to children. Schweiger and Graf helpfully explore how capability theory can be sensitive to the special vulnerabilities that children exhibit as well as to their status as developing agents. Colin Macleod, Professor in law and philosophy, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria
The injustice of child poverty motivates much of contemporary social and global justice theorising. Yet within justice theorising, very little time is spent on examining the distinctiveness of child poverty itself as an issue of justice. Given this backdrop, Schweiger and Graf’s A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty breaks new ground and fills an important gap in the literature. The book provides us with a much needed platform for further discussions about the challenges of child poverty in our world today and about how justice theorising can respond. Krushil Watene, Massey University, New Zealand
Those who are engaged in the debate around child poverty and social justice will find the book recently published by Gottfried Schweiger and Gunter Graf useful and compelling. [...] This book is a recommended reading for scholars and practitioners willing to strengthen their knowledge on the main challenges that we need to take into account to tackle child poverty. Caterina Arciprete & Mario Biggeri, Development Economics, University of Florence
by Gottfried Schweiger & Gunter Graf
Child poverty is one of the biggest challenges of today, harming millions of children. In this book, child poverty is investigated from a philosophical social justice perspective, primarily in the context of modern welfare states. Based on both normative theory (particularly the capability approach) and empirical evidence, the authors identify the injustices of child poverty, showing how it negatively affects the well-being of children as well as their whole life course. But child poverty is not “given by nature”. It is avoidable and there is certainly the moral duty to alleviate it. Therefore, Graf and Schweiger develop a normative theory of responsibilities, which clarifies the moral role of different agents in the poor children’s environment – the family, the state and my others, that have so far been neglected in philosophical theories. They conclude their book by sketching how their theory can be extended to global child poverty and what it means to show equal respect and concern for every child – not matter where and in which context it was born.
This book is open access under a CCBY license.
I hope it will be clear that Schweiger and Graf’s book is full of important insights and information. It provides a comprehensive theory of child poverty with very strong implications for political practice and thereby exemplifies a very successful blend of political philosophy and social science. Moreover, it provides a fertile ground for further philosophical and social scientific debate. It is simply a must read for everyone interested in the problem of child poverty. Christian Neuhäuser, Professor of Political Philosophy, TU Dortmund
Schweiger and Graf’s book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of child poverty and the resources within the Capability Approach (CA) to analyse the ways in which poverty disadvantages children. As they note, capability theorists have not, until relatively recently, devoted much attention to how the capability theory might be developed and extended to children. Schweiger and Graf helpfully explore how capability theory can be sensitive to the special vulnerabilities that children exhibit as well as to their status as developing agents. Colin Macleod, Professor in law and philosophy, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria
The injustice of child poverty motivates much of contemporary social and global justice theorising. Yet within justice theorising, very little time is spent on examining the distinctiveness of child poverty itself as an issue of justice. Given this backdrop, Schweiger and Graf’s A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty breaks new ground and fills an important gap in the literature. The book provides us with a much needed platform for further discussions about the challenges of child poverty in our world today and about how justice theorising can respond. Krushil Watene, Massey University, New Zealand
Those who are engaged in the debate around child poverty and social justice will find the book recently published by Gottfried Schweiger and Gunter Graf useful and compelling. [...] This book is a recommended reading for scholars and practitioners willing to strengthen their knowledge on the main challenges that we need to take into account to tackle child poverty. Caterina Arciprete & Mario Biggeri, Development Economics, University of Florence
Contact
For further information about the Workshop in Philosophy and Poverty, please contact:
Dr Gottfried Schweiger
Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research
University of Salzburg
Mönchsberg 2a
A-5020 Salzburg
Austria
E-Mail: gottfried.schweiger(a)sbg.ac.at
Dr Gottfried Schweiger
Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research
University of Salzburg
Mönchsberg 2a
A-5020 Salzburg
Austria
E-Mail: gottfried.schweiger(a)sbg.ac.at
The background picture on this homepage is from Pixabay and can be freely used under the Creative Commons CC0 Licence.
Newsletter
If you want to stay informed about activities and events of the Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research please sign up for our newsletter, which is published about three times a year.
