Welcome to our resources on art, performance and cultural projects engaging with issues of economic justice and poverty across the world.

You can download our working bibliography of academic publications exploring theatre and poverty here – Working Bibliography. The  bibliography is in two parts, ‘Histories of Theatre and the Poor’ (p. 1 – 5) and ‘Theatre, poverty and economic justice’ (p. 6 – 15).

We’ve added some sources of information on economic inequality and poverty that we find useful, however, please note that their inclusion here does not indicate agreement with their content or ethos.

Poverty, inequality, economic justice – arts organisations

• ACPCultures+ (pan Africa)
• Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable (Canada)
• The Agency (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• The Agency (Contact Theatre, Manchester)
• The Agency (BAC, London)
• Albany Park Theater Project (US)
• Alternate ROOTS (US)
• Amani People’s Theatre (Kenya)
• AnNua Productions (N Ireland)
• Art Against Poverty (Kenya and Tanzania)
• Arts Emergency (UK)
• Arts Factory (Wales)
• Arts and Global Health Center (Malawi)
• Atelier-Theatre Burkinabe (Burkina Faso)
• Artists Strive To End Poverty (ASTEP) (US)
• Barkly Regional Arts  (Australia)
• Basurama (Spain)
• Big hART (Australia)
• Bond Street Theatre (US)
• Brighton People’s Theatre (UK)
• Budhan Theatre (India)
• Cambalache Colectivo (Spain)
• Cardboard Citizens (UK)
• Common Wealth Theatre (UK)
• Colectivo Sustento (Chile)
• Collective Encounters (UK)
• Cornerstone Theater Company (US)
• Creative People and Places (UK)
• Creative Time (US)
• Creative Time Reports (US)
• Circo Crescer e Viver (Brazil)
• Curious Monkey (UK)
• The Edge (UK)
• El Teatro Campesino (US)
• Enjoy Poverty (DR Congo, Netherlands)
• Feral Arts (Australia)
• Formaat: Workplace for participatory drama (Netherlands)
• Fugitive Images (UK)
• Fun Palaces (UK)
• The Future is Unwritten (UK)
• Glasgow CAN (Scotland)
• Go Down Arts Centre (Kenya)
• Grupo de Teatro Catalinas Sur (Argentina)
• HowlRound (US)
• Ice and Fire’s London Poverty Project (UK)
• International Theatre of the Oppressed Organisation (International)
• Los Angeles Poverty Department (US)
• Lost Arts (UK)
• Mad Ave (New Zealand)
• Maisha Yangu (Kenya)
• Men’s Room (UK)
• Milk Crate Theatre (Australia)
• Myths and Mirrors (Canada)
• Ninasam (India)
• My Theatre Matters (UK)
• Nos do Morro (Brazil)
• Octagon Theatre/Bolton at Home partnership (UK)
• Pandies Theatre (India)
• Paying Artists (UK)
• Peoples Palace Projects (UK, Brazil)
• Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) (Philippines)
• Precarious Workers Brigade (UK)
• Project Humanity (Canada)
• Project Limelight (Canada)
• Project Row Houses (US)
• Pombas de Cada Dia (Brazil)
• Poor magazine (US)
• Poverty and the Arts (US)
• Ragpickers (UK)
• Robin Hood Minor Asset Management Cooperative (international)
• Rooftop Promotions (Zimbabwe)
• San Francisco Mime Troupe (US)
• Sistema (UK, international)
• small world theatre/theatr byd bychan (Wales, international)
• Socially Engaged and Participatory Arts Network (UK)
• Social Housing Arts Network (UK)
• Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company (Australia)
• The Song Room (Australia)
• Spectacle Theatre (Wales)
• Streetwise Opera (UK, international)
• Stut Theater (Holland)
• Teatr Grodski (Poland)
• Teatro Valle (Italy)
• Theatre Embros (Greece)
• Theatre for a Change (Malawi)
• Theatre of Panikos (Greece)
• Triangle Theatre (UK)
• True Quest (Australia)
• Urban Theatre Projects (Australia)
• Vancouver Moving Theatre (Canada)
• Vichama Teatro (Peru)
• We are Walukuba (Uganda)

Poverty, inequality and culture – policy-related research

• CultureCase (International research resource, hosted in UK – current)
• Stratification and Culture Research Network (UK, current)
• Culture and Poverty report (Wales, 2014)
• Curating Community? The Relational and Agonistic Value of Participatory Arts in Superdiverse Localities (UK, 2014)
• The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion (Ireland, 2007)
• The role of culture in preventing and reducing poverty (EU, 2005)
• Poverty: Access and participation in the arts (UK, 1997)

Addressing poverty – useful links

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
• Academics Stand Against Poverty
• ATD Fourth World (International)
• ATD Fourth World (UK)
• Brooks World Poverty Institute
• Centre for Social Justice
• Chronic Poverty Research Centre
• The Equality Trust
• European Anti-Poverty Network
• Global Justice Now
• The Global Poverty Project
• The Guardian global development pages
• The Guardian poverty pages
• Inequality Briefing
• International Association for the Study of the Commons
• Journal of Children and Poverty
• Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Living Wage Foundation
• Megacities Project
• On the Commons
• Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign
• Poverty and social exclusion
• The Ragged University
• Resolution Foundation
• Robin Hood Foundation
• Robin Hood Tax
• Social Action and Research Foundation
• Strike Debt
• SumOfUs
• TED talks ‘Rethinking poverty’
• Trust for London
• The Rules
• Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research
• UK Uncut
• UN Millennium Goals
• University of the poor – resource library
• Welfare Rights Net
• World Social Forum