The Ethics of Poverty Shaming and Social Stigma: A Philosophical Analysis in Rivers State Communities

This study examines the ethics of poverty shaming and social stigma, applying philosophical frameworks to the experiences of economically marginalised communities in Rivers State, located in Nigeria's South South geopolitical zone. Poverty shaming involves the attribution of moral blame and social disgrace to individuals and communities on the basis of their economic deprivation, and its philosophical analysis requires examination of the moral justifications offered for such attributions. Using a descriptive philosophical design, the study engages with the philosophical ethics of social stigma through the work of Erving Goffman's social philosophy, Martha Nussbaum on shame and disgust, and African communitarian perspectives on solidarity, supplemented by secondary literature published between 2020 and 2024. Structured interviews with 25 community members from low-income settlements in Port Harcourt and Yenagoa inform the primary data. Findings reveal that poverty shaming in Rivers State communities rests on philosophically indefensible moral premises, particularly the assumption that poverty is primarily the result of individual moral failure rather than structural injustice, and that it violates the principle of human dignity by treating the poor as morally lesser persons. The study argues that Ubuntu ethics provides a particularly powerful counter-philosophical framework, grounding solidarity obligations toward the poor in the relational nature of personhood. Keywords: poverty shaming, social stigma, ethics, human dignity, Rivers State.