Social representations of poverty and social bonds in Colombian society
Author: Valeria Ayola-Betancourt, valeria.ayola@ehess.fr
Department: Centre Maurice Halbwachs
University: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France
Supervisor: Serge Paugam
Year of completion: 2025
Language of dissertation: French
Keywords:
Poverty
, Social representations
, Inequality
, Colombia
Areas of Research:
Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy
, Political Sociology
, Sociology of Development
Abstract
We proposed to study poverty differently, as a social and relational phenomenon, referring to forms of solidarity and the moral construction of a society. We explore this in Colombian society, one with high levels of objective inequality between its members. We focus on what makes up the social bond in Colombia, and, from there, how attachment to the poorest is conceived. This research draws on social attachment theory, social representation theory, and cultural sociology, which studies symbolic and social boundaries. First, we study social bonds from a historical and empirical perspective and show how family ties protect and recognize individuals, despite the fragility of citizenship. Next, we test the hypothesis of a naturalization of poverty as a collective process. On the one hand, we analyzed ten questions from representative opinion surveys. On the other hand, we conducted interviews in four different territories, the cities of Bogota and Cartagena and the villages of Viota and San Jacinto. We outline a naturalization of poverty as a primary and historical system, which is also functional in the context. Despite this, we reveal the disagreeing by those who recognize the external causes of poverty, but also by factions calling for a society based on merit criteria. There is a desire to reduce inequalities, notwithstanding the weakness of the associative and civic spheres is an obstacle to normative transformations that would enable the poor to be helped as full members, away from moralizing statements. This case may shed light on some of the mechanisms involved in the legitimization of objective inequalities.
