Poverty-related shame has long existed as a proposition in the social policy context, although further empirical exploration has been lacking. Exploring Amartya Sen's contention that shame lies at the absolutist core of poverty, this ground-breaking contribution turns the focus on shame as a missing consideration in explanations of poverty and in the design of poverty policies. Drawing on qualitative research from seven different countries in the Global South and North, Walker's book – together with the companion volume Poverty and Shame : Global Experiences, edited by Chase and Bantebya-Kyomuhendo (2014) – aims to improve our understanding of poverty as a social rather than a political-scientific construction, and to address how this affects people living in poverty.

Chapters 1 to 4 seek to define the theoretical framework, conceptualising concepts such as poverty, shame and stigma. Chapter 1 shows that poverty has been associated with personal failure throughout history and across cultures. Poverty has also been conceived as a policy problem, since it raises humanitarian issues. The second chapter discusses how to define and measure poverty. Walker argues that, compared with absolute and relative measurements, studies taking a multidimensional approach most accurately describe the reality of people living in poverty. Furthermore, Walker argues that poverty should be treated as a human rights issue. Chapter 3 focuses on constructions of shame. In this context, shame entails a negative assessment of oneself and is associated with a feeling of ‘being small’. From a societal perspective, shame tends to be more evident in collectivist than in individualistic cultures. The threat of shame also binds societies together, since shaming and feeling ashamed constitute a symbolic breaking of the social bonds that hold society together. In Chapter 4, Walker brings the concept of shame and poverty together, modelling the poverty‒shame nexus, which refers to Sen's (1983) thesis that shame is a universal feature of poverty. Walker argues that people in poverty generally feel ashamed for not being able to live up to society's expectations, leading to low self-esteem and hindering human agency. Surrounding networks, such as family and neighbours, may also heighten feelings of shame. The model highlights that policy is another element in the process, imposing further stigma, defined as the bureaucratised shame manifested in the framing, structures and implementation of policy.

Chapters 5 to 10 seek to establish the poverty-shame nexus based on fieldwork undertaken in a limited number of contrasting settings: rural Uganda, India and Pakistan; small-town Norway; urban Britain, Norway and Pakistan; and metropolitan China and South Korea. Chapters 5 and 6 describe cultural conceptions of poverty and shame, and the linkage between them. These chapters draw on literature, film and oral traditions, which provide access to dominant values that partly shape social understandings of poverty, its causes and consequences, and the part shame plays in this context. Chapter 5 presents evidence of the poverty‒shame nexus, while Chapter 6 describes occasions where the nexus is complex or, rarely, non-existent. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on adults’ and children's experience of poverty. Chapter 7 shows that shame is an important constituent of the experience of poverty, even though national settings differ. Internalised shame is triggered by a sense of personal failure, and, consequently, of not feeling valued by other people. It is reinforced by external shame, manifested in arenas such as family, schools and officialdom. Chapter 8 explores the consequences of shame with reference to the life experiences of people in poverty. Respondents use coping strategies, such as keeping up appearances and concealing things from themselves and others. Negative consequences, such as depression, social withdrawal, avoidance and anger, are other responses to poverty-related shame. Chapter 9 further explores external shame, drawing on focus-group interviews with representatives of the general public living in the same localities as the individuals living in poverty. Reference is also made to survey data on attitudes, mostly taken from the World Attitudes Survey. They show that respondents in countries with a Confucian legacy, as well as Anglo Saxon countries, define laziness as the principle cause of poverty. Respondents from Uganda, India and Britain tend to label people in poverty as lazy, inadequate and untrustworthy, while causes of poverty are predominantly seen as individualistic. Similar views are expressed by respondents in China, Norway and Pakistan, but they are more muted and juxtaposed with structural accounts of the causes for poverty. The chapter also shows that anti-poverty programmes clearly inflict shame on beneficiaries in all seven countries. Chapter 10 looks at the role played by the media discourse, politics and policy in the shaming process. Walker shows that policy and media dynamics are complex in each of the countries considered, but that there is a strong pubic attachment to the work ethic and a strong tendency to assume that poverty is attributable to lack of effort. The closing Chapter 11 concludes with two strong arguments: shaming people living in poverty is likely to be counterproductive, reducing individual agency and the effectiveness of antipoverty programmes. Secondly, a policy of stigmatisation and discrimination is also a violation of human rights, and arguably illegal. Walker also refers to ILO Recommendation 202 (2012), which requires ILO member states to provide a nationally defined minimum level of income for their citizens.

Walker demonstrates that shaming people in poverty has severe negative consequences for their wellbeing. Walker emphasises that other people and the public discourse are also responsible for imposing further shame on people in poverty. This shows that poverty has a relational aspect in the sense that the experience of poverty is determined by others as well as by oneself. However, further research is needed to be able to establish a universal linkage between shame and poverty. Lastly, this outstanding work is an original and rich contribution to shaping a new understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty. It shows that the poverty‒shame nexus exists, albeit in different national settings, and it urges policy-makers, as well as researchers, to take responsibility for advocating and shaping policies that promote human dignity and create a just and inclusive society for all.