ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter presents the book’s two major questions: (i) how can we conceptualise charity as a response to people experiencing poverty? and (ii) how can we reimagine it? At their core, these questions provoke debate and highlight a dilemma about what we, as citizens, should do when confronted with poverty. How can we be justified – and just – in individually acting to soothe the consequences of poverty through charity, rather than working collectively to end poverty? The chapter engages debates that the practice of charity, on the one hand, constitutes individual care and evidence of a flourishing and vibrant society, and on the other hand, that charity to people who are poor is a regressive force that undermines social rights and public provision for all. The chapter demonstrates that debate about charity is, at the same time, debate about public provision, the welfare state, and indeed the organisation of society. From this premise, the chapter considers how the provision of charity to people who are poor constitutes a site where the boundaries of a normative society are contested.
