Lisa Dodson’s Contributions on Poverty
Millions of people across the world languish in poverty. As such, poverty is the state for the majority of the people around the globe. Approximately half of the earth’s population is below the poverty line (Shah, 2014). Also, according to UNICEF, about 22000 children across the world die each day as a result of extreme poverty and they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth. For this reason, poverty is a major social issue and, thus, it has become important to have the contributions of individuals who are educated, experienced and willing to share their knowledge on the subject matter. Mainly, this is because academics play a critical role in contributing on various issues of social significance such as poverty. It should also be noted that some of the expected responsibilities of academics include teaching, conducting research and community service. Specifically, these academics are charged with the responsibility of sharing their views and expertise on issues that are pertinent to the current affairs of the society outside the classroom. For this reason, this essay discusses the contributions and works of two scholars, Lisa Dodson and Frasisco Azpitarte Raposeiras on the issue of poverty.
Currently, Lisa Dodson is a renowned professor of sociology at Boston College. Before joining the college as a professor, Lisa worked in various capacities such as a union activist, an obstetrical nurse, and as a director of the Division of Women’s Health in Massachusetts. The academic is not only a teacher, but also a consultant and contributor and guest speaker in various forums and conferences. Dodson’s area of interest is anti-poverty research and policy with great focus on the effects of poverty on mothers and children. The professor also has special interests in women rights, human rights, poverty and equality in wealth distribution, the economy, among others. So far, she has conducted several researches on the concept of poverty from different angles. To begin with, she conducted a research on national policy with respect to low wage work and family. She has also authored two books that discuss the issue of poverty in the society. The books are titled The Moral Underground: How Ordinary People Subvert an Unfair Economy” (2011) and “Don’t Call Us Out of Name: The Untold Lives of Women and Girls in Poor America” (1999). The scholar has been vocal on the war against poverty and the pursuit of a great society.
Francisco Azpitarte Raposeiras’s Contributions on Poverty
In addition, it is imperative to note that Lisa Dodson has contributed significantly to the issue of poverty. She has done this through research journal articles that have been peer revuwed and published for use by the public. One of her research articles titled “Helping Parents Get a College Education Helps Children Succeed,” shows how empowering parents with education helps them obtain well paying jobs and, thus, earn income to support the family (Deprez and Dodson, 2018). A stable family income then allows the parent to support their children in terms of basic needs as well as education, and therefore helps in alleviating poverty in the long run. In another journal article titled “Poor Mothers and Habits of Hiding: Participatory Methods in Poverty Research” Lisa in collaboration with Schmalzbauer (2005) show how poor and marginalized communities hesitate to share their worlds. As a result, it becomes difficult to understand their problems and challenges which then affects the reliability of social research on the issue.
Aside from contributing to the issue through journal articles, Dodson also makes contributions through published website articles. In 2005, Dodson wrote an article in The Conversation where she claimed that the society does not fight poverty anymore. In this web article she shows how the government has failed in providing safety nets. It does not promise to keep children from low-income families cared for and safe. Furthermore, the government no longer formulates policies that cater for the welfare of the poor in the country. Thus, through this article, Dodson (2015) reminds the government and society as a whole of its responsibilities towards the low-income households and, hence makes a significant contribution to the issue of poverty in the society.
In addition to that, Dodson has made a lot of contribution as a professor and a large number of students. Throughout her 20 year teaching experience, she has taught about low-wage work and welfare policy and inequality in the society. She has also been consistently working on action research projects that comprise of the participation of poor families. Also, it involved working with other parties with the aim of presenting evidence to influence federal and state policies. Mainly, this is intended at influencing policy makers and government authorities to create policies that that favor the poor within the society and help improve their living conditions in the society. It is, however, important to point out that the professor does not have a social media presence. A search on Facebook for the professor yielded no results and, therefore, could not review some of her contributions through the social network.
Areas of Interest of Lisa Dodson and Francisco Azpitarte Raposeiras
Just like Dodson, Francisco Azpitarte Raposeiras has also made noteworthy contributions to the issue on poverty. Dr. Frasisco Azpitarte is a lecturer of social policy at the Loughborough University, department of Social Sciences. Before joining the University, he worked at the University of Melbourne as a Ronald Henderson Research Fellow. He also worked at The Brotherhood of St Laurence in the same position. All through his career, he has exhibited great interest in the analysis of poverty and inequality within the society. Likewise, he has a strong interest in the analysis of social policy as a way of addressing poverty issues within the society. It is also imperative to point out that his research played a critical role in contributing towards the understanding of the issue of poverty among societies. Predominantly, this is because his research mainly focuses on distribution analysis including the measurement of multiple-deprivation and poverty, the pro-poorness of growth, and income and wealth inequality.
Francisco has conducted various research studies and published multiple articles in academic journals as a further contribution towards enlightening the society on the concept of poverty. It is worth noting that Francisco has published in leading journals such as the Journal of Economic Inequality, The European Journal of Law and Economics, and the Review of Income and Wealth journal. In all these journals, the author has discussed various aspects in the field of economic equality, poverty, and income distribution. For instance, in 2011, Azpitarte published a article in the Review of Income and Wealth journal titled “Measuring Poverty Using Both Income And Wealth: A Cross?Country Comparison Between The U.S. and Spain.” In this publication, he examines the correspondence between the income of a household and its vulnerability to income shocks. The study contributes towards the understanding of how various households are affected by the instability of income, and hence provides a multi-dimensional approach to understanding the social issue of poverty.
Aside from journal article publications, the academic also has a considerable experience in conducting collaborative research projects that have been funded by both private and public institutions. For instance, he conducted a collaborative study on ‘social exclusion in Spain and the EU’ with respect to the distribution of wealth, labour market and income dynamics. This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (The Conversation, 2013). He further conducted another joint research with the Foessa Foundation on the concept of exclusion and social development in Spain (The Conversation, 2013). Indeed, this research played a critical role in helping the stakeholders better understand the factors that contribute to social exclusion in the region and, thereafter, formulate policies to remedy the situation.
Significance of Research on Poverty
In addition, Frasisco Azpitarte has written various website articles on the topic of poverty. In turn, this has gone a long way towards improving the society’s understanding of the concept. Similarly, governments and policy makers have been able to use his research to formulate policies that work towards poverty alleviation in their nations. It is, however, imperative to note that just like Dodson, there exists no evidence of the Dr.’s presence on social media. A search in Facebook for the professor did not bring forth any results for his account.
All in all, both academics have equally played a critical role in contributing towards the issue of poverty. Both Lisa Dodson and Frasisco Azpitarte Raposeiras have dedicated their research to the field. It is imperative to note that although they have tackled the issue from different angles, their contributions cannot be downplayed. Poverty is world menace that needs to be understood well in order to formulate suitable policies to curb across the globe. Thus, their continued dedication to research on the concept is critical. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the research conducted by Frasisco Azpitarte Raposeiras has greater weight and can be used by governments across the globe to help reduce the level of poverty among households.
All factors taken into consideration, the issue on poverty is a critical area that requires intensive study and research. For this reason Professor Lisa Dodson and Dr. Frasisco Azpitarte Raposeiras have massively contributed towards the understanding of the issue towards their various researches. As such, both academics have shown great interest in the field of income and wealth inequality, and poverty as a whole. Thus, they have dedicated their research work towards studying and understanding the concepts further. Primarily, they have contributed to the subject matter through published academic journal articles, website articles, and collaborative research projects with both private and public organizations. For this reason, their contributions to the subject matter is important and cannot be downplayed.
Reference List
Azpitarte, F. (2011). Measuring Poverty Using both Income And Wealth: A Cross?Country Comparison Between The U.S. and Spain, Review of Income and Wealth, 58(1), pp.131-143.
Azpitarte, F. (2013). Francisco Azpitarte. [Online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/profiles/francisco-azpitarte-92300 [Accessed 28 Dec. 2018].
Deprez, L. S., and Dodson, L. (2018). Helping Parents Get a College Education Helps Children Succeed. [Online] Scholars Network Strategy. Available at: https://scholars.org/brief/helping-parents-get-college-education-helps-children-succeed [Accessed 28 Dec. 2018].
Dodson, L. (2015). We don’t fight poverty anymore. [Online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/we-dont-fight-poverty-anymore-35314 [Accessed 28 Dec. 2018].
Dodson, L., and Schmalzbauer, L. (2005). Poor Mothers and Habits of Hiding: Participatory Methods in Poverty Research, Journal of Marriage and Fanily, 67(4), pp.949-959.
Staff: Dr. Francisco Azpitarte. [Online] Loughborough University. Available at: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/francisco-azpitarte/ [Accessed 28 Dec. 2018].
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