The concept of poverty is translated into policy through a
more precise set of definitions and measures. While, as argued
in the Introduction, it is important not to confuse definitions
and measures, some of the issues raised straddle the two and
loop back into conceptualizations. Definitions are the subject
of this first chapter; measures are dealt with in the second.
After a general discussion of different approaches to defining
poverty, chapter 1 looks at the traditional opposition between
‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ definitions and at alternative formulations
that attempt to reconcile the two.