This collection of essays focuses attention on the global impact of legal policies on levels of poverty. They illustrate the distinct dimensions of poverty in a range of different political and cultural settings and also show how poverty is exacerbated by quite discrete local cultural factors in some instances. There is,nonetheless a universal element which runs through all the contributions. The fate of those who are disadvantaged in society depends crucially on their access to goods through the world of work. Thus gender, ethnic background or disability can result in individuals having a much higher chance of experiencing poverty than those outwith these groups and the success of these groups in achieving a measure of prosperity is bound up with a multiplicity of geographical and political factors. This book is part of the Onati International Series in Law and Society.

This collection of essays focuses attention on the global impact of legal policies on levels of poverty. They illustrate the distinct dimensions of poverty in a range of different political and cultural settings and also show how poverty is exacerbated by quite discrete local cultural factors in some instances. There is,nonetheless a universal element which runs through all the contributions. The fate of those who are disadvantaged in society depends crucially on their access to goods through the world of work. Thus gender, ethnic background or disability can result in individuals having a much higher chance of experiencing poverty than those outwith these groups and the success of these groups in achieving a measure of prosperity is bound up with a multiplicity of geographical and political factors. This book is part of the Onati International Series in Law and Society.

This volume brings to light a variety of previously ignored ways in which law can be central to the causes and structure of poverty, and explores new legal arenas and theories that could form the basis of a transformative use of law in order to reduce poverty. The contributions range over a wide terrain, including international human rights conventions, domestic constitutional and statutory provisions, and the law relating to social insurance and social assistance. Poverty is examined as being in certain respects legally constructed (i.e. there are ways in which specific laws create and exacerbate poverty). Also explored is the role of law in establishing specific rights or entitlements that contribute to reducing poverty, in particular social security provision and litigation as a tool for combating poverty. Finally, and most concretely, the volume examines divergent approaches to legal initiatives addressing specific aspects of poverty such as tackling child labour, reducing economic discrimination against women, and protecting the freedom of employees to organize collectively. Throughout the volume is an acute awareness of the contradictory ways in which law can impact on poverty, and on the reality of poverty as not simply a domestic issue, but a cross-border and global challenge.