For a Heuristic of Social Suffering: The Paradoxes of the Association between Pity and Public Policy
Keywords:
social suffering, pity policy, compassion, justiceAbstract
In this article it is aimed to critically discuss the relevance and the implications of addressing social suffering as a central category of public action and representation of contemporary social issues. More precisely, we seek to position the reflection within the framework of the “pity policy†and of the contours, controversies and paradoxes that it may entail in terms of the political rhetoric and pragmatic of today. In this context it is particularly relevant the debate inherent to the limitations of the “humanitarian†and of a “viewer morality†for the construction of a justice policy regarding social suffering.
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