The article, “Teaching the poor to behave” (June 30), is a sound critique of the often justified tendency of economists and intellectuals to reduce the complexity, magnitude and reality of poverty to mere individual behaviour and/or attitude. The social dynamics of cognition proposes and establishes that thought and behaviour are patterned after social and structural influences and that even one’s self concept or self image is very much the creation of the social environment be it local (micro) or global (macro). Choosing to be blind to the structural dimensions of issues like poverty is to justify the unjust structures and blame the victims.
P. Devanesan,Thanjavur
