Review of the book Poverty, by R. Lister.

In the world today, despite a raging COVID-19 pandemic that has killed millions and a human induced climate change recking havoc on millions more, poverty still represents perhaps the biggest blot on the human conscience in the
21st century. Thus, meriting the attention it still receives. The second edition of the book, Poverty by Ruth Lister provides refreshing insights into the still evolving concept of poverty. This is an update on the first edition published in 2004. In her own words, this edition is an attempt to, ‘do justice to the extensive and rich literature on poverty that has been published since I wrote the first edition’ (pp. xi). Right from the onset, Lister makes the case for activism as the prime motivation for scholarship on poverty. This is important so that scholarly debate on poverty does not end up only as a thought exercise.