Discipline: Social Science, Cultural Studies
"Being poor is not one aspect of people's life ... it is their life." This is the underlying theme that permeates Decaesstecker's work. While quite a number have been written about the disturbing reality of urban poverty in the Philippines, few have been able to integrate a systematic and empirical analysis of the phenomenon with an empathic understanding of the impoverished as distinct, feeling beings in the manner that Decaesstecker has.