Framing Aporophobia

Aporophobia is a new word formulated by the Spanish philosopher Adela Cortina that means 'rejection of the poor'. It is a global phenomenon, related to global poverty, international migration, the refugee crisis in Europe and North America and to the challenges faced by global inequality. It is a problem that has been ignored by human development and development policies.

This presentation by Flavio Comim offers an analytical framework for Cortina's theory. It explores the possibilities of translating this framework into a Global Aporophobia Index. Moreover, it suggests that aporophobia is a necessary concept to understand the links between poverty and inequality phenomena.

The policy recommendations suggested by this approach put the non-poor at the centre of the debate about poverty reduction policies.

About the speaker

Flavio Comim is a human development economist. He is Associate Professor of Ethics and Economics at the IQS School of Management, University Ramon Llull in Barcelona
and Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. He is also a Research Associate at the Von Hugel Institute, University of
Cambridge.

Flavio has worked as a senior economist for UNDP Brazil and has coordinated two National Human Development Reports (Brazil 2008-2010 and Panama
2012-2014). In addition, he has worked as a consultant for UNESCO, FAO, UNEP, WHO and ILO.

He has co-edited books such as 'The Capability Approach: concepts, measures and applications' with M. Qizilbash and S. Alkire (2008), 'Capabilities and Happiness' with L. Bruni and M. Pugno (2008), 'Children and the Capability Approach' with M. Biggeri and J. Ballet (2011), 'Capabilities, Gender, Equality', with M. Nussbaum (2014) and 'New Frontiers of the Capability Approach' with S. Fennell and P.B. Anand (2018).