Intuitively, The Poor have relatively fewer monetary and physical resources than The Rich. But how does an economic-centric understanding of poverty affect our response? Vollman examines his experiences in light of economic definitions of poverty, from modern analyses published by governments, to historical social analyses by multitude of thinkers, including Rousseau, Smith, and Sinclair. At the center of of each of the economic analyses is the concept of quantitative (monetary or resource) normality, which Vollmann questions, given the relativity of markets in different economies (p 34). Therefore Vollmann attempts a more universal, qualitative, experiential normality through additional “dimensions of poverty” which include: Invisibility, Unwantedness, and Dependence (p 101). These additional dimensions are not in contrast to economic normality, rather they enable Vollmann to explore the impacts of economic poverty across cultures. Read More
What is Your Normality?
“Normality may well school its subjects adequately enough in how to live and in how to die,” writes Vollmann, “What is your normality?” (p. 246) With this question, Vollmann brings to a head this point that normality is radically important and it is relative, meaning it is not fixed and universal. Read More
Seeing the Poor
Poor People is William T. Vollmann’s first-hand account of his interactions with individuals from around the globe. What these individuals have in common is their classification as “Poor.” Through interviews and escapades, Vollmann enters into a dialogue with both poor individuals and with thinkers who wrote about Poverty, and more importantly, an appropriate response to “The Poor.” Vollmann concludes that materialism, an economic-centric definition of normality, is destructive to community because it undermines one’s sense of responsibility toward others. Vollman struggles to escape from the pressures of materialism, to see those living in poverty for who they are. He invites the reader to struggle with him. Read More »