%0 Journal Article %T Pobreza, "quest£żo social" e seu enfrentamento %A Monta£żo %A Carlos %J Servi£żo Social & Sociedade %D 2012 %I Cortez Editora Ltda %R 10.1590/S0101-66282012000200004 %X we aim at questioning the various concepts of poverty and "social issue" in the liberal tradition, and their typical ways of confrontation, in the context of the classical liberalism in the -nineteenth century, of the keynesianism, in the twentieth century and of the neo-liberalism from the current crisis of the capital. doing so, we offer a reflection concerning aspects related to a historical and critical characterization of poverty and "social issue". finally, we question the ways of reducing social inequality, through compensatory policy in the current context. %K poverty %K social issue %K inequality. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0101-66282012000200004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en