Economic Sociology and the Study of PovertyThe economic sociology of poverty emphasizes poverty’s causes, nature, andconsequences. For a long time, sociologists have scrutinized the variation of poverty acrossdifferent countries, across rural and urban places. Research concerning the developing world andthe economic sociology of poverty in affluent democracies operates as separate areas. Theeconomic sociology of poverty focuses on society’s organization and structure and its connectionto individual lives and societal glitches.

Approaches to the Study of Poverty Offered by Economic Sociology
Economic sociology offers two classical approaches to social stratification and the study
of poverty, namely conflict theory and structural-functionalism theory. The conflict theory of
poverty contends that stratification is harmful to society. However, it continues because of its
benefits to the powerful and the rich (Cerio, 2019). This theory attributes stratification thus
poverty to the absence of opportunity from bias and discrimination against women, the poor, and
people of color. Structural functionalism theory is regarded as a sociological approach to poverty
argues that every part of society contributes to the stability of the more extensive system in one
way or another (Cerio, 2019). This school of thought finds that each of the relationships,
institutions, norms and roles that constitute a society together serves a purpose, and each is
crucial for the continued existence of the society.
Besides poor neighborhoods, households, and individuals, sociologists studying poverty
focus on the external explanations concerning poverty, including those founded on class, place,
economic power, gender, and related contextual variables (Brady, 2019). In this regard,
therefore, poverty is almost often comparative to context and place. Sociologists view poverty as
societies’ social condition with inequitable and unequal distribution of wealth and income, the

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exploitative impacts of global capitalism, and Western societies’ de-industrialization (Brady,
2019).
Conclusively, the economic sociology of poverty emphasizes the societal organization
and structure and its association to individual lives and social problems. Conflict and structural-
functionalism theories are among the most effective approaches offered by economic sociology
to studying poverty based on stratification and societal stability.

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References

Brady, D. (2019). Theories of the Causes of Poverty. Annual Review of Sociology, 45, 155-175.
Cerio, C. T. (2019). Revisiting the sociological theories of poverty: Conceptualising a framework
for rural poverty in the Philippines. Transatlantic Journal of Rural Research, 1(1), 33-52.
https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/59887353/Revisiting_the_Sociological_Theories_o
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