A participatory research-action project about the relationship between extreme poverty, violence and peace.

It is not possible to live in peace while the inhumane  conditions of extreme poverty persist. […] Materials deprivation reduces people to mere survival ; insecurity causes families to break up ; exploitation robs people of their potential ; humiliation, exclusion and contempt reach a point at which people living in extreme poverty are not recognized as human beings.

« Our lives are made up of violence ». This reality challenges not only all humanitarian aid and anti-poverty programs, nor only those institutions created by and for society as a whole ; it also radically challenges all relations among individuals and peoples. The lack of understanding among human beings, and the unsuitability of proposed solutions, both stem from a limited understanding of reality. This understanding is incomplete because it has been conceived without the individuals concerned, which is in itself a source of violence and neflect.

Peace cannot be based on the silence of people who have to bow their heads because they have been deprived of the means to exist with dignity and defend themselves. In the face of violence that can damage people for life, institutions and policy-makers should take the first step.

Dossiers et documents de la Revue Quart Monde n°20

This book is available in French and Spanish.

Pour commander aux Etats-Unis.