Infinite Game of Poverty Alleviation (IGPA) and Accumulation of Environmental and Socio-Cultural Capital

Abstract

Although poverty alleviation has become an infinite game globally since the late 1940s, Sri Lanka has not identified poverty as an issue until recently. The socio-welfare-based economic policies and continuous election-centered poverty alleviation programs push the country into the IGPA, even though the country is accumulated with plentiful natural and socio-cultural resources. Consequently, Sri Lanka struggles with severe economic crises and political chaos, worsening IGPA, which has not been adequately addressed in prevailing academic literature. This study attempts to fill this void by adopting the social-constructivism approach. Nine semi-structured interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted, plus direct observation of the rural landscape of Sri Lanka. Findings indicate IGPA has become an influential determining factor in deciding the potential ruling government, and every government has included IGPA in their political manifesto under different titles. However, the disintegration between rural poverty alleviation and sustainable capitalization led the nation to be retained with IGPA.