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H2020Individual fellowship2021–2023

PVF-AG · Poverty, vulnerability and family in ancient Greece

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2021-10-01 → 2023-09-30
EU contribution
€212,934
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF

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Results in brief

Poverty, vulnerability and family in ancient Greece

The Project “Poverty, Vulnerability and Family in Ancient Greece” has looked at gendered experiences of poverty and socio-economic vulnerability in the family unit in classical and post-classical Athens (5th-3rd century BC). As socially and historically constructed categories, both phenomena are linked to specific historical and cultural contexts, which explains the importance of their reconstruction for historical case studies. Simultaneously, their analysis can help us to understand timeless trends and responses that are recurring in our contemporary world. The global socio-economic crisis of recent years — exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic— has made "Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere" the first of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN's 2030 Agenda, which also includes other goals aimed at reducing vulnerability. More recently, new humanitarian catastrophes have highlighted the topicality of this issue and its importance for understanding today's societies. With the above in mind, this project has had the following objectives 1- to establish a definition of poverty and vulnerability in classical and post-classical Athens that encompasses the importance of experience and agency, 2- to identify and analyse the different factors that led to situations of vulnerability and/or poverty, 3- to identify the resources that the classical democratic city provided to its most vulnerable citizens and the possible changes over time and, finally, 4- to evaluate the different strategies developed by the poor and most vulnerable citizens to escape from poverty. Furthermore, the topicality of these issues has offered the opportunity to reflect on problems that afflict our contemporary world from a historical perspective (social impact objective). Other project’s parallel objectives have been to foster the development of the fellow by receiving training in different aspects related to the development of this project and contributing to the internationalisation of her research profile.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

This research seeks to reconstruct personal experiences of poverty and socio-economic vulnerability at the family level ̶ focusing particularly on women and girls ̶ in classical and post-classical Athens (5th -3rd cs. BCE). The aim is thus to provide the first systematic, contextualised and holistic view of the structural and cultural nature of these interrelated phenomena for the Greek world and to examine their impact on the lived experience of the women and girls of that time.The achievement of this general aim will involve approaching poverty and vulnerability in the aforementioned framework from a multidisciplinary and dynamic view, considering diverse historiographic approaches and postulates, different type of ancient sources, as well as the incorporation of sociological and anthropological methods into historical research. This mixed and innovative insight will not only permit to set a working definition of those phenomena in ancient Athens, but also to identify and analyse the main factors leading up to situations of vulnerability and/or poverty in this period, as well as the resources and strategies available to or developed by the most vulnerable citizens to face their situation and the possible changes over time.The in-depth analysis of these questions will highlight the importance of understanding poverty and poverty-related vulnerability as a socially and culturally constructed categories and, consequently, how the study of these phenomena can contribute to better understand 5th -3rd cs. BCE Athenian society, but also present time. Addressing how poverty and socio-economic vulnerability have been experienced by different people differently ̶ especially by children and women ̶ in classical and post-classical Athens, while providing us with a more complete picture of Athenian society, may also enable us to recognise trends and responses that are timeless, thus helping to better understand our current world.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • THE MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY · MANCHESTERCoordinatorUnited Kingdom

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union