POVERTY - ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOC IETAL CONSTITUTION AND SCIENTIFIC APPLICATION OF A CONCEPT

Current poverty research applies the absolute, the relative and the po litical as well as the subjective approach to the definition of povert y. There is a widerspread agreement that the decision for one of these approaches is influenced by normative as well as pragmatic, i.e. non- scientific aspects. However, all of them show weaknesses which limit t he possibility to apply them to less developed or former societies. A definition of poverty which avoids these shortcomings is introduced. T his definition views poverty as a social relation which according to g eneral opinion regards the right for support and aid as being an estab lished right. Following social exchange theory, the demand for aid is being interpreted as a disturbance of social reciprocity. Finally it i s shown in this paper how the knowledge of right for support affects t he relation between supportees and supporters.