Poor relief systems in rural Italy: the territory of the diocese of Tortona in the eighteenth century

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-239
Author(s):  
LUCIANO MAFFI ◽  
MARCO ROCHINI
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Political ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Formal Support ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Grain Stores

AbstractThis article studies the development of poor relief in the rural areas of the diocese of Tortona in the eighteenth century, through the analysis of the parish reports written for the pastoral visits of bishops Giulio Resta and Giuseppe Lodovico Andujar in 1741 and 1743. The reports record the most important assistance activities organised by different social actors: dowries for poor girls; bread, money and clothing to distribute to the poor; but also formal support in the form of hospitals providing shelter and care for pilgrims and the sick; the monti di pietà, which loaned money and the grain stores, which provided essential loans of grain. The diocese of Tortona in the eighteenth century represents a privileged point of view for understanding how the development of poor relief in the ancien régime was influenced by the political and institutional, geographical, landowning and socio-ecomomic context. Here, a complex institutional situation, combined with a diverse geographical and socio-economic context, gave rise to a variety of poor relief systems.

Humane Markets

2019 ◽  
pp. 293-315
Author(s):  
James R. Otteson
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Institutions ◽  
Moral Concern ◽  
Commercial Society ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Political Economic

Markets are often criticized for being amoral, if not immoral. The core of the “political economy” that arose in the eighteenth century, however, envisioned the exchanges that take place in commercial society as neither amoral nor immoral but indeed deeply humane. The claim of the early political economists was that transactions in markets fulfilled two separate but related moral mandates: they lead to increasing prosperity, which addressed their primary “economic” concern of raising the estates of the poor; and they model proper relations among people, which addressed their primary “moral” concern of granting a respect to all, including the least among us. They attempted to capture a vision of human dignity within political-economic institutions that enabled people to improve their stations. Their arguments thus did not bracket out judgments of value: they integrated judgments of value into their foundations and built their political economy on that basis.

scholarly journals Renewing the Bornean Longhouse: Empowering the Rural Poor in Sabah, Malaysia through Architectural Intervention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Kein Peng Wong
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Culture ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

<p>Despite the fact that Malaysia has undergone independence for some 50 years, and the country as a whole has boomed economically to be one of the strongest in South-East Asia - why are there rural kampong regions particularly in Sabah still living in stagnant poverty compared to nearby urban settlements, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor?  Sabah has and is undergoing severe forms of poverty in the various forms it comes by, in comparison with other Malaysian states. These forms of poverty include economic regional and ethnic disparities with the poorest of the poor seen especially in the rural areas; deficit in basic infrastructure and education; communities lacking the political voice within the federal government especially in the area of addressing poverty where it is needed most; and growing deforestation as detrimental to these peoples’ way of life in the name of ‘national progress’. This sets the tone for exploring alternative ways to develop the state’s economy in a way that is sustainable and empowering. There is no denying that we live in a capitalist era where economic drivers and development are at the forefront of political affairs and is a dominant factor for getting things done. It is therefore essential that for there to be true and broad community empowerment; economically advantageous solutions need to be found to actually implement a lesser dependence on unsustainable development practices. This research also suggests in using strategic Tourism development as a political vehicle to provide impetus for such change, where particularly the Architect and architecture can play a significant role in.  It suggests architectural principles that can be applied to a given Tourism scheme - specifically in Sabah - that can help tilt this exploding sector to benefit and empower these poverty stricken communities, yet make smart business sense. Case studies are presented to illustrate how various Pro-poor Tourism initiatives in other countries have in some ways been successful, and in some ways not, and how recurring issues can be mitigated in Sabah’s context through architectural intervention.  As a design proposal, this research shows how ‘The Bornean Longhouse’ is a perfect piece of architecture that provides the foundation for integrating all these strategies mentioned, as well as the fact that it provides a marketable Tourism niche product for potential long-stay visitors. It is a piece of architecture that embodies the deep rooted values of these fading indigenous culture that if renewed – will bring a sense of cultural empowerment and pride back to these peoples. It also acts to provide an architectural solution to reinforce and empower these communities in light of dying traditions to an individualistic global culture; potential economic benefit through a more sustainable and evenly-distributed solution to economic growth; plus having the political support through the heavily backed Malaysian Tourism industry to explore a broad and effective empowerment scheme.</p>

scholarly journals The Political Economy of Gas, Soy and Lithium in Morales’s Bolivia

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 45-59
Author(s):  
Nicole Fabricant ◽  
Bret Gustafson
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Planning ◽  
Mineral Extraction ◽  
Gas Drilling ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Soy Production ◽  
The Relationship

Bolivia has accomplished some of its goals since Evo Morales was elected president in 2006. It has made advances in expanding inclusion for indigenous peoples and reducing levels of poverty. They have expanded services and infrastructure for the poor and prioritized long-abandoned rural areas. Middle class has grown by more than 10% and both government and the economy have tripled in size.  Yet Bolivia remains deeply embedded in extractivist economics. This piece looks at the relationship to global trade and the political paradoxes that gas drilling, soy production and mineral extraction create for the country. Export-oriented dependency have had predictable effects on labor relations, policy planning, and most significantly the lives of people on the ground.

Epilogue

2012 ◽  
pp. 226-230
Author(s):  
Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
Dutch Republic ◽  
Remarkable Feature ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The City

This chapter identifies the most important characteristics of poverty and welfare among the Portuguese community of early modern Amsterdam. One remarkable feature of the poor in the Amsterdam Portuguese milieu is the prominence of women, until recently hardly considered. The reasons for this were manifold: as a key group in the effort to perpetuate Jewish tradition in the peninsula, women were consistently persecuted by the Inquisition and many fled in fear of it, as well as out of the desire to live openly as Jews. Also, economic opportunities for men outside the Dutch Republic led to many women being left on their own in the city, dependent on welfare. The poor relief provided by the Portuguese community was not exceptionally generous, at least when judged by Amsterdam standards, nor was it granted permanently to all poor people. The system was hierarchical and elitist, presided over by a closed, wealthy caste who ran a strict regime. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the Amsterdam Portuguese community had lost its international attraction as a place of refuge.

Poverty

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Forrest
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Social Medicine ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
Religious Attitudes ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church

Poverty was an endemic condition across Europe from the later middle ages until the end of the eighteenth century. It was the most intractable of the social problems which beset Europeans and offered a constant rebuke to monarchs and church leaders alike, proving almost as difficult to define as it was impossible to cure. This was an age before social science or social medicine, when there were still no agreed definitions of what constituted poverty, no clear sense of who was and was not poor; and there was little understanding of basic levels of subsistence in terms of protein or diet. Nor were there serious attempts before the eighteenth century to count the poor, or to assess the extent and pervasiveness of poverty. This is partly a question of social and religious attitudes. Poor relief was seen as a matter for the church and for clerical charity. The assumption that poverty was a problem for governments to legislate on still lay in the future, while the almost obsessive concern with statistics which characterizes modern government began only during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic period.

“Charity Properly Understood”: Changing Ideas about Poor Relief in Liberal Spain

1991 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anrian Shubert
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
The Poor

When the English cleric Joseph Townsend visited Spain at the end of the eighteenth century, he was impressed by the apparent tolerance with which beggars were treated and by what he called the “excessively generous” way in which charity was distributed. He cited, with both surprise and disapproval, the Bishop of Cordoba, who daily fed some 7,000 people by distributing 1,000 kilograms of bread.1 This image of Spain as a paradise for the poor persisted until well into the nineteenth century. George Borrow, who travelled through the country in the 1830s trying to sell Bibles without much luck, remarked approvingly that poverty was not despised in Spain as it was in other countries:Yet to the honour of Spain be it spoken, it is one of the few countries in Europe where poverty is never insulted nor looked upon with contempt.…In Spain the very beggar does not feel himself a degraded being for he kisses no one's feet and knows not what it is to be cuffed or spitten upon.

Advocating for Poor Relief in Zurich: Heinrich Bullinger's Contributions to Religious Ideals and Policy Reforms

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Chung-Kim
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
Political Involvement ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Religious Ideals

Despite the demarcations of the political and religious spheres, Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) considered the city's system of poor relief to be a pastoral concern. The chief minister of Zurich expected the wealth from confiscated church property to be used for communal needs and believed that the magistrates needed the ministers to guide them in poor relief reforms. This article demonstrates that Bullinger's biblical interpretation was not peripheral to his political activity, but rather central to his contributions to poor relief and to the justification of his political involvement in poor relief reform. More specifically, Bullinger's involvement in poor relief reform was a consistent development from his articulation of his theological views in the 1530s, applied to the Zurich context in the 1550s, and politically supported in the 1570s. An examination of Bullinger's biblical interpretation and scriptural references in his commentaries, sermons, and speeches reveals a consistent concern for the care of the poor from the early years of his career to the end of his ministry in Zurich.

scholarly journals Renewing the Bornean Longhouse: Empowering the Rural Poor in Sabah, Malaysia through Architectural Intervention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Kein Peng Wong
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Culture ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

<p>Despite the fact that Malaysia has undergone independence for some 50 years, and the country as a whole has boomed economically to be one of the strongest in South-East Asia - why are there rural kampong regions particularly in Sabah still living in stagnant poverty compared to nearby urban settlements, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor?  Sabah has and is undergoing severe forms of poverty in the various forms it comes by, in comparison with other Malaysian states. These forms of poverty include economic regional and ethnic disparities with the poorest of the poor seen especially in the rural areas; deficit in basic infrastructure and education; communities lacking the political voice within the federal government especially in the area of addressing poverty where it is needed most; and growing deforestation as detrimental to these peoples’ way of life in the name of ‘national progress’. This sets the tone for exploring alternative ways to develop the state’s economy in a way that is sustainable and empowering. There is no denying that we live in a capitalist era where economic drivers and development are at the forefront of political affairs and is a dominant factor for getting things done. It is therefore essential that for there to be true and broad community empowerment; economically advantageous solutions need to be found to actually implement a lesser dependence on unsustainable development practices. This research also suggests in using strategic Tourism development as a political vehicle to provide impetus for such change, where particularly the Architect and architecture can play a significant role in.  It suggests architectural principles that can be applied to a given Tourism scheme - specifically in Sabah - that can help tilt this exploding sector to benefit and empower these poverty stricken communities, yet make smart business sense. Case studies are presented to illustrate how various Pro-poor Tourism initiatives in other countries have in some ways been successful, and in some ways not, and how recurring issues can be mitigated in Sabah’s context through architectural intervention.  As a design proposal, this research shows how ‘The Bornean Longhouse’ is a perfect piece of architecture that provides the foundation for integrating all these strategies mentioned, as well as the fact that it provides a marketable Tourism niche product for potential long-stay visitors. It is a piece of architecture that embodies the deep rooted values of these fading indigenous culture that if renewed – will bring a sense of cultural empowerment and pride back to these peoples. It also acts to provide an architectural solution to reinforce and empower these communities in light of dying traditions to an individualistic global culture; potential economic benefit through a more sustainable and evenly-distributed solution to economic growth; plus having the political support through the heavily backed Malaysian Tourism industry to explore a broad and effective empowerment scheme.</p>

The origins and development of institutional welfare support in early modern Württemberg, c.1500–1700

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL WARDE
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
Institutional Practice ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Extensive Information ◽  
Detailed Picture

ABSTRACTThis article examines the development of formal poor-relief provision across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in rural Germany, through a case study of a district of the Duchy of Württemberg. It presents a detailed picture of practices to support the poor, whether through payments and alms from the poor chest, institutions providing credit, common rights or village and town granaries. In building up a picture of institutional practice, it also presents extensive information on the recipients of relief. It is argued that both the institutional framework and new trends in its development during the period ante-dated the Reformation, and that this society enjoyed a wide and varied capacity to support the poor that bears comparison with the English Old Poor Law. However, in a differing socio-economic context, demand for support remained more limited, and the demographic catastrophe of the Thirty Years' War arrested trends towards increasingly formalized collections, pensions and doles.

Demographic Outline

2012 ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Single Women ◽  
Poor Relief ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Economic Depression

This chapter presents a demographic outline of poverty in the Portuguese Jewish community in early modern Amsterdam. It has become clear from examining records of the numbers of people on poor relief that at times the community was larger than used to be assumed. Behind the beautiful façade of prosperity and grandeza that the community liked to show to the outside world, the kahal had to wrestle with the ever more pressing dilemma of having to look after paupers, who had flocked to Amsterdam expecting to find there a safe and sheltered life, free of persecution, war, and economic depression. By the end of the seventeenth century, a third of all Portuguese Jews were drawing permanent poor relief and almost half were drawing either permanent or temporary poor relief. Portuguese on welfare were often found in small families, mostly headed by women; larger families tended to be headed by men. In the eighteenth century, the character of Portuguese poverty changed. From then on—with the exception of single women—the poor were dominated by men trying to support their families through the economic slump with financial help from the Portuguese community.

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