Imagining Poverty: Quantification and the Decline of Patern

Focusing on the evolution of public attitudes towards poverty in Britain from 1790 to 1835, the book explores the transition from paternalistic approaches to systematic management of the poor. It examines how political, economic, and philosophical shifts contributed to the New Poor Law of 1834. Utilizing emerging scientific methods, such as statistics and cost analyses, the narrative highlights the depersonalization of poverty, where individuals were treated as mere statistics rather than unique cases, leading to a more bureaucratic and detached management of social welfare.