Rural poverty in a comparative context

The analysis and interpretation of poverty is an important focus for both policy and social action because it concerns the treatment of the most vulnerable in society. Its different manifestations in rural and urban places also justify attention to the dynamics supporting those differences. This chapter outlines some of the key conceptual and operational issues implicated in the analysis of poverty as a basis for conducting such research. It begins with a description of various conceptual frameworks which have guided poverty definitions and some of the dominant ways in which they has been operationalized among OECD countries before turning to the issue of rural and urban differences. After a brief outline of various explanations for poverty the chapter concludes with six suggestions regarding rural poverty research.