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Vašát, Petr

"Sme na jedný lodi": Morálka a ekonomika v prostředí třídy nejchudších

Vašát, Petr. 2013. „"Sme na jedný lodi": Morálka a ekonomika v prostředí třídy nejchudších.“ Český lid: Etnologický časopis 100 (4): 427-448. ISSN 0009-0794.

The aim of the article is to critically reassess relation between moral and economy of agents from the poorest class. The relational concept of the poorest class designates here homeless, drug-users, and some poor individuals generally that all have common particular social practices on the one hand and a position within of the social space on the other hand. The theoretical-conceptual frame of the article is the theory of practice of Pierre Bourdieu, “the nested geography” of Adrian Smith and Alison Stenning, and the approach to a moral economy of Jonathan Parry and Maurice Bloch. Based on the ethnographic research in the urban environment of the city of Pilsen the article put forth consistent definitions of used concepts – i.e. economic practices, moral, and moral economy – and relation among them that have heretofore been missing in the urban poverty studies. Instead of studies that just vaguely point out existence of sharing or other form of reciprocal behavior, the article offers empirically-based conceptualization of the moral economy. In this definition it stands as response to poverty and marginalization of the researched agents. It is therefore an expression of moral dimension of habitus and stands as complementary strategy to economic practices and economic systems within that is an agent or a group of agents involved.

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Topics: 
housing
human relations
social capital
social inequalities