The Blameless and the Feckless: The Enduring Stereotypes of the Deserving and Undeserving Poor in Britain's Past and Present

Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F49777513%3A23330%2F25%3A43976831" target="_blank" >RIV/49777513:23330/25:43976831 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://historicalsociology.cuni.cz/HS-55-version1-hs_17_2_0069.pdf" target="_blank" >https://historicalsociology.cuni.cz/HS-55-version1-hs_17_2_0069.pdf</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23363525.2025.16" target="_blank" >10.14712/23363525.2025.16</a>

Result language
angličtina
Original language name
The Blameless and the Feckless: The Enduring Stereotypes of the Deserving and Undeserving Poor in Britain's Past and Present
Original language description
Since the onset of the Early Modern era, which unleashed forces of unprecedented eco-nomic growth while also engendering considerable social instability, Britain has faced increasedrisks of mass poverty. Originally understood as a natural social condition and mostly sparedfrom judgment, poverty gradually began to be seen as a social problem and a financial burdenas the state assumed the role of the provider of poor relief in the form of so-called Poor Laws. Todetermine eligibility while keeping relief costs manageable, the categories of the deserving andundeserving poor were developed, based on the claimants ’ ability and willingness to work. In the18th and 19th centuries, this categorization took on strongly moralizing overtones, with povertyseen as individual moral failure rather than the result of systemic forces. Combining the histor-ical approach with Critical Discourse Analysis, the article examines the remarkable resilience ofthe deserving-undeserving narrative in Britain ’ s public debate and policymaking across time. Itdemonstrates that the tendency to blame the poor for their plight has not disappeared but contin-ues taking on new forms as political actors seek to justify ongoing or planned social spending cuts.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
60500 - Other Humanities and the Arts

Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

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