(thematic section edited by Fabio Dei, Severino Saccardi, Simone Siliani and Giacomo Trentanovi)
The thematic section addresses the issue of poverty, a condition that has always existed throughout history and which has taken on different connotations and experiences and sociological representations, depending on the cultures and the eras.
The contributions of the authors (anthropologists, economists, sociologists, psychological and social workers) provide a complex picture of this social phenomenon, which cannot be reduced to economic deprivation alone and which must also be considered in relation to the living, working, affective and cultural spheres of individuals or social or family groups.
This is an issue that needs to be tackled with analytical tools beyond mere statistical data: a ‘global’ approach capable of taking into account the complexity of the topic shall be considered. Poverty directly questions political choices. From this point of view, Giorgio La Pira’s short but intense essay “L’attesa della povera gente” (published at the beginning of the 1950s), which is quoted in the present title of the issue, is illuminating. It suggests politicians to take charge of the most fragile part of society with tangible answers (such as employment and the ‘housing question’). La Pira tried to address poverty himself as mayor of Florence in the post-war period, a time of precarious living conditions. Albeit in a profoundly changed historical context, the ability to capture the deepest substance of La Pira’s message is linked, today, to the future of democracy in our challenging globalised world.
