THE CULTURE OF POVERTY - AN IDEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

For three decades Oscar Lewis's subculture of poverty concept has been misinterpreted as a theory bent on blaming the victims of poverty for their poverty. This essay corrects this misunderstanding. Using a soc iology of knowledge approach, it explores the historical origins of th is misreading and shows hotel current poverty scholarship replicates t his erroneous interpretation of Lewis's work. An attempt is made to re medy this situation by arguing that Lewis's subculture of poverty idea , far from being a poor-bashing, ideological ploy, is firmly grounded in a Marxist critique of capital and ifs productive contradictions. As such, Lewis's work is a celebration of the resilience and resourceful ness of the poor, not a denigration of the lower class and the cultura l defenses they erect against poverty's everyday uncertainty.