The management and representation of deprivation in Valletta : an anthropological exploration of the social complexity of poverty in an island-state capital

Abstract

This dissertation is about the management and representation of deprivation in an island-state capital. Perceptions of poverty affect the way people present themselves in the private and public domains. In Valletta, deprivation is a condition which people try to conceal and others try to display. A description of social experiences shows how some people in Valletta manage their existence according to how morality, emotions and coping mechanisms affect their ‘being-in-the-world’. A glimpse of everyday life shows how social estimation affects the ones who evaluate others, and how others are evaluated by them. Poverty in Valletta is constituted by various gradations thus making it a condition difficult to fully understand.