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Stigma, Shame and the Experience of Poverty in Japan and the United Kingdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2013

Eileen Sutton ,
Simon Pemberton ,
Eldin Fahmy  and
Yuko Tamiya
Eileen Sutton
Affiliation:
School of Oral and Dental Sciences, University of Bristol E-mail: e.sutton@bristol.ac.uk
Simon Pemberton
Affiliation:
School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham E-mail: s.pemberton.1@bham.ac.uk
Eldin Fahmy
Affiliation:
School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol E-mail: eldin.fahmy@bristol.ac.uk
Yuko Tamiya
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Kobe Gakuin University E-mail: tamiya@eb.kobegakuin.ac.jp
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Abstract

Whilst stigma and shame are central features of the experience of poverty in capitalist societies, we know relatively little about crucial aspects of these phenomena, particularly how these experiences differ according to variety of capitalist formation. This article draws on the available empirical literature to examine these relational aspects of poverty in two very different societies, the UK and Japan. Through comparing these literatures, we are able to comment on the ways in which stigma is manifest in differing social, personal and institutional contexts and, therefore, is internalised as shame in similar and divergent forms in these respective societies. We note the very different social values and forms of welfare that constitute these societies which are at times responsible for contrasting experiences of shame, yet conclude that stigma and shame perform important functions within capitalist societies as a means to legitimate the continued existence of poverty within these social systems, and are therefore universal phenomena.

Keywords

Stigmashamepovertysocial exclusion
Type
Themed Section on Comparative Perspectives on Poverty and Inequality: Japan and the United Kingdom
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 143 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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