ABSTRACT
This study aims to analyze the definitions and causes of poverty within the framework of different paradigmatic approaches, and to uncover their discursive foundations through the application of genealogical inquiry and critical discourse analysis.
A qualitative research design was employed. Data were collected through a systematic review of seminal theoretical works addressing the definition and causes of poverty. The collected data were examined using genealogical inquiry and critical discourse analysis. These analyses processes enabled the classification of definitional and causal framings of poverty in relation to the knowledge–power relations embedded within distinct explanatory models of the social world.
The analysis compares subculture-oriented behavioral, market-rationality-oriented functionalist, and production-relations-oriented conflict approaches, outlining their main proponents, definitions and causal explanations, core concepts, and key assumptions. Critical discourse analysis revealed that functionalist and neoliberal discourses tend to depoliticize poverty by emphasizing individual responsibility and market rationality, whereas conflict approaches highlight structural causes but often overlook micro-level heterogeneity. The strengths, weaknesses, methodological limitations, and discursive roles of each approach are discussed in depth.
The conclusion highlights that poverty, as a multidimensional, historical, systemic, and discursive phenomenon, can only be objectively defined and explained through a holistic, multi-layered, and critically interrogative analysis. It emphasizes that academic studies should focus on the processes of impoverishment rather than on the poor and the manifestations of poverty.
Keywords : Poverty, Genealogy, Critical discourse analysis, Impoverishment.
