- ATD Fourth World

Background

The Research and Training Institute, first known as the Social Research Bureau, was created in 1960 by Alwine de Vos van Steenwijk, at the request of Joseph Wresinski, founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World.

Its mission is two-fold:

• To assist the International Movement ATD Fourth World in the formulation and development of its strategy, message, language and analyses through continual interaction with the latest trends in research.
• To support the building of knowledge, research and training in all areas affecting the lives of the poorest, taking into account their personal knowledge and experience as well as the contributions made by practitioners and academics.

Activities

International conference
Preparation of the forthcoming international conference "Exclusion As A Challenge To Democracy: The Contribution Of Joseph Wresinski", in collaboration with l’Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), the Association Française de Science Politique, and France Culture, to be held in December 2008.

Summer Seminar: Discovering the Relevance to Today’s World of Joseph Wresinski’s Project for Society
This seminar, which will be held 26-29 August 2008, is part of the preparation for the international conference referred to above. Its aim is to bring together academics, members of ATD Fourth World and others working alongside those living in poverty, in order to study different texts written by Joseph Wresinski, to present their work and, through discussion and argument, to examine the relevance of his approach today and its impact worldwide. See: Summer Seminar.
Contact: institut@atd-quartmonde.org

Annual Seminar - Campus
Campus bring together academic research, experience from working in the field and knowledge of people living in poverty, in a dialogue on extreme poverty and social exclusion, human rights and the thinking of Joseph Wresinski. See: Campus 2007.

Special seminars

• Extreme Poverty and Decent Work with Action Mondiale contre la Pauvreté-France, Paris, December 2006.
• Extreme Poverty and Development with the Agence Française de Développement, Paris, June 2006.
• Attacking Extreme Poverty with the World Bank, Washington DC, October 2005.

Research-Action-Training

Amongst others, the Research and Training Institute has contributed to the programmes Fourth World - University project (1996-1998) and Fourth World - Partnership project (2000-2001), both of which had the overall objective of bringing together the knowledge and experience of Fourth World activists, permanent volunteers, academics and professionals. More recent projects include: Another Approach to Poverty Indicators in Belgium (2002-2004); and family monographs from Burkina Faso and Peru (contribution to the World Bank study “Moving out of Poverty” 2005).

Current Projects

Preparation of a book, provisionally entitled Making Extreme Poverty History, with family monographs from countries in four different continents (France, Burkina Faso, Peru and the Philippines) and analyses and propositions with a view to bringing Human Rights to all. Publication is anticipated in 2008.

Recent Projects

• A survey of the living conditions (housing, employment, access to services etc.) of 260 families in close contact with ATD Fourth World in France.

Recent Publications

• Resisting Extreme Poverty: Learning From Families in Burkina Faso and Peru, a chapter contributed to Moving Out Of Poverty: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Mobility by Deepa Naryan and Patti Petesch (2007), published by the World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan.
• Participatory Approaches to Attacking Extreme Poverty: Case Studies Led by the International Movement ATD Fourth World (2006), World Bank Working Paper no. 77, edited by Xavier Godinot and Quentin Wodon.
• How Poverty Separates Parents and Children: A Challenge to Human Rights (2004). Fourth World Publications, 155 pages, 16 €.
• Another Approach to Poverty Indicators In Belgium (2004). The summary in English and the full report in French are available from ‘Service de Lutte Contre la Pauvreté, la Précarité et l’Exclusion Sociale’ www.luttepauvrete.be
• Persistent Poverty in Europe in 2015 (2003). Find at: Insecurity and Extreme Poverty in Europe
  (Original: La Pauvreté en Europe: essai de prospective, published in Futuribles n°290, October 2003, www.futuribles.com)
• Le croisement des pratiques. Quant le Quart Monde et les professionnels se forment ensemble (2002). Fourth World Editions, 240 pages, 11 €. In French Only.
• Artisans of Democracy (2000). University Press of America, 276 pages, 16 €.

‘Revue Quart Monde’

The Revue Quart Monde is the journal of the Research and Training Institute and is a member of the association of scientific and cultural publications. Based on bringing the life and thinking of the very poor to the fore, it presents articles on actions and studies which hope to shed some light on the path towards overcoming poverty and exclusion and building a more equitable society. Published quarterly, each edition focuses on a particular issue or theme with contributions from a wide range of authors. It is currently only available in French. For more information and for details of purchase and subscription, visit the website at: www.revuequartmonde.org , or alternatively you can contact: