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Manchester Centre for Youth Studies»News & Events»Ancient Vulnerability
Poverty and Vulnerability in Classical Antiquity: Gendered and Life-Cycle Approaches
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This conference is hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University’s History Research Centre, and the interdisciplinary Manchester Centre for Youth Studies. The conference aims to examine, and propose fresh perspectives on, aged and gendered experiences of poverty and vulnerability, linked to the life-cycle of households and families, across the Greek and Roman worlds.
Dr Violaine Sebillotte-Cuchet (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Dr Claire Holleran (Exeter University, UK)
The prospect of falling into, coping with, or escaping poverty in classical Antiquity was in huge part determined by the dynamics of age and gender, and changing household circumstances. We can draw clear observations about living conditions and the degree of vulnerability to the effects of poverty, on the one hand, and people’s place in their individual or familial life cycle, on the other. A recent study published by the European Parliamentary Research Service has shown children to be the most vulnerable and at risk of poverty group across Europe today, while young people, in general, represent 10% of those at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion. Women, single parents, and large families are more exposed to poverty or social exclusion than other individuals in their age groups, while older people, especially women, rank among the most vulnerable groups in the population.
The nature of ancient economies would have made these groups even more vulnerable and exposed to economic and social insecurity and risk; an appreciation of such aged and gendered experiences of vulnerability is, therefore, crucial to a nuanced understanding of poverty in the Greek and Roman worlds. Research in this area has grown considerably in recent years, as evidenced by ground-breaking publications, though there remains work to be done on many aspects of this phenomenon, particularly around demography, youth, family, gender and the life cycle.
Our conference themes include, but are not restricted to:
This conference is part of the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie project “Poverty, Vulnerability and Family in Ancient Greece” and is supported by the Marie Curie grant, the History Research Centre at ManMet, and MCYS.
Dr Aida Fernández Prieto, MSC Fellow, ManMet and MCYS and Dr April Pudsey, Reader in Roman History, ManMet & Associate Director, MCYS.