Aporophobia is a concept coined by the philosopher Adela Cortina with which she sought to make visible this dark social phenomenon that involves the rejection of poor and deprived people. Thus, it refers to the aversion that individuals without resources cause in the population. A universal phenomenon linked to many prejudices and whose causes generate much controversy.
In the following Psychology-Online article, we are going to deal with this delicate topic, talking about what is aporophobia, the main causes, examples and how to combat it. Find out what dislike of poor people means today and what we can do to change it.
What is aporophobia
Aporophobia is a term coined by Adela Cortina in 1995 to refer to the rejection, aversion and distrust thatin a general way, poor people cause in the majority of the population. The term includes the Greek word “aporo” which means poor and “phobia” which means fear or aversion, due to the rejection of poverty that this word implies.
The term was included in the RAE in 2017 and the author herself commented in a video from the series “Let’s Learn Together”, sponsored by BBVA and the newspaper El País, that her wish was for said word to be incorporated into the dictionaries of all languages as a measure that would make this prejudiced universal phenomenon visible.
We do not consider the suffix “phobia” the most appropriate, since it refers to an aversion referring to rejection due to fear and the meaning given to this term does not presuppose any fear. However, it does constitute an irrational aversive rejection that has nothing to do with fear or phobia. In this article you will find more information about the.
Causes of aporophobia
Why are the poor rejected? Aporophobia has a neurological origin, since it is a universal phenomenon that occurs in all countries, regardless of their social and cultural condition. We are biologically determined to “reciprocity”, that is, to offer in exchange for receiving something for our offering. For this reason, poverty generates rejection, because poor people cannot offer anything, so we refuse to offer anything to this group.
Next, we will see some arguments that expose other causes of aporophobia, through different points of view:
Anthropological point of view
There are philosophical-spiritual currents that affirm that the archetypal desire of human beings is to serve their neighbors altruistically and selflessly. It is precisely this selfless service that fulfills the person, without any need to receive any reward in return. According to this perspective, the causes of aporophobia cannot be biological.
Economic and sociological point of view
The capitalist societies have inserted In the human being, through repetition and artificial remodeling, a whole series of needs, beliefs and values totally superficial and far from the original human values that exist in more humanized societies. Discover what exists.
One of the most widespread and inserted values is the value of money, which did not exist in ancient societies. This has become something essential in people’s lives so that it governs a good part of our lives. This excessive valuation of money It has been internalized in such a universal way by all people that, from there, we prejudge poverty and people without resources.
These arguments allow us to understand aporophobia as a rejection of the poor derived from the capitalist socioeconomic system which predominates in most countries of the world. In fact, one way to verify this fact would be to find out if this prejudiced attitude exists in societies with socioeconomic systems alien to consumerism and capitalism, such as, for example, ethnic minorities.
Examples of aporophobia
Adela Cortina coined the term aporophobia because she realized that there was an attitude of rejection that was not xenophobia, or hatred of foreigners, but rather a rejection only of certain foreigners. One of the examples of aporophobia would be that tourists with purchasing power are not rejected, but those who arrive in our countries with unfavorable social and economic conditions are.
It was this that led him to delimit the concept, including in it not a rejection of poor foreigners but a generalized rejection of any poor person, foreigner or not.
How to combat aporophobia
Since it is a neurological problem, the solution lies in brain remodeling that goes through a supportive and inclusive education that transmits values of respect to all people and their human dignity. According to Cortina (2017), this is a problem that must be addressed at the institutional level, since only from there can social inequalities be ended.
Ending aporophobia would involve a interventionin principle of social structuring and functioning, where societies were not based on money as almost the only and main value and the main thing was social exchange of individual training and human values recover their value. Based on this socioeconomic change, social education would be a fundamental element to reeducate the entire society in these new, more humane and reconciliatory values.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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References
- Curtain, A. (2017). Aporophobia, the rejection of the poor: a challenge for democracy. Barcelona: Paidós.