Rethinking Poverty: Class and Ethical Dimensions of Poverty Eradication

Marxism and poverty have always had a contradictory existence. In the South, Marxists have been in the forefront of many colonial struggles for political independence. They were often caught in the crossfire of trying simultaneously to fulfil two objectives: building socialism while, at the same time, eradicating poverty. While socialism/communism’s ethical imperative aspires to create a non-exploitative society, poverty eradication has been concerned with overcoming the material threat to people’s livelihoods. An exploitation-free world does not necessarily mean the eradication of poverty, while the eradication of poverty does not automatically entail the erasure of exploitative relations.