ABSTRACT
One of the core elements in the constitution of the margins is the absence of material resources that define the very capacities of human life. Poverty then is articulated in terms of the ability to meet basic needs, experienced at the individual, collective, and state levels (Burkey, 1993). At the individual level, poverty is defined economically, as a marker of individual and household incomes. Furthermore, it is defined in terms of access to the basic needs for resources such as clean air and water, sufficient and balanced food, appropriate clothing and shelter, physical and emotional security, and physical and emotional rest. At the community and state levels, poverty is defined in terms of the absence of basic infrastructures of communication, resources for maintaining the health and well being of community members in order to sufficiently maintain the community, political systems for leadership and decision-making, educational systems for learning, information sharing and continuing the culture of the community, and physical and cultural security (Burkey, 1993). Essential to these definitions of poverty is the conceptualization of basic resources that make up the necessities for human life, both economically as well as politically.
