Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on the results of a multi-disciplinary, community based research project intended to map the potential effects of a living wage initiative in Revelstoke BC, analyzing the importance of the anthropological lens for supporting the on-going dialogue of local stakeholders.

Paper long abstract:

Regardless of the roots of poverty, dealing with its consequences is a concern for governments at all levels. The manifestations of poverty are intensely local, and civic action, in the form of campaigns to increase minimum wages and/or institute a living wage, have sprung up in cities and towns across the developed world. Living wage initiatives have emerged across Canada; intended to reduce poverty among the local working poor, they have also sparked tensions with local business communities. In this paper we reflect on the consequences of multi-disciplinary research in a specific context: a community based economic impact research project intended to map the potential effects of a living wage proposed as a poverty reduction strategy for the city of Revelstoke BC. The project partnered anthropologists and economists with local stakeholders to examine the community's concerns about the initiative, and in particular its impact on local small businesses. Many of the benefits of a living wage campaign are extraordinarily difficult to measure, while the likely range of impacts on labour costs and consequences are easier to trace. The project resulted in an interactive tool that can provide a business based context against which the wider social benefits of poverty reduction can be judged. This paper analyzes the importance of the anthropological lens to what might have been a conventional economic modelling exercise: instead of providing a "bottom line" the tools developed evolved together with the community debate, making the process visible to local stakeholders and supporting their on-going dialogue.