This essay introduces this special edition on Gender and Poverty Reduction by offering a brief perspective on the meanings of poverty in its relational sense. The essay frames the emerging studies featured in the issue that build on current work across an interdisciplinary field, highlighting conceptualisations of poverty, and raising questions and concerns for future work. As a set, the various contributions integrate both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis to revisit and offer new perspectives on some of the debates on gender and poverty reduction. In addition to introducing the special issue, the essay maps some of the key issues and debates explored in the contributions and their implications for advancing the work on poverty reduction in South Africa.
