Poverty and precarity Books

Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be poor in America at the dawn of the 21st century? For that matter, what does it mean to be rich? And how are the two related to each other? These apparently simple questions present enormous theoretical and empirical challenges to any student or social scientist. Wealth and Poverty in America is a collection of over 20 important essays on the complex relationship between the rich and poor in the United States. The authors include classical and contemporary thinkers on a wide variety of topics such as economic systems, the lifestyles of the rich and poor, and public policy. An editorial introduction and suggestions for further reading make this a useful and valuable source of information and analysis on the realities of the American rich and American poor. Collects 23 of the most important essays by classic and contemporary thinkers on wealth and poverty in America. Covers economic systeTrade Review"All too many collections of social science writings are almost literally slapped together, devoid of purpose and focus. This useful volume, however, is a striking exception. It is a 'reader' with a clear focus that consists of 23 well-chosen selctions and a helpful appendix that lists additional readings." Tom Pettigrew, University of California Santa Cruz, Journal of Ethinic and Migration Studies, Vol 32 No 7 "This book is a wonderful resource for teaching. Dalton Conley has accumulated a set of important readings on both spectrums of the social stratification ladder." Martin Sanchez-Janowski, University of California at Berkeley Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction: Wealth and Poverty in the Affluent Society 1 Part I: On the Origins and Causes of Wealth and Poverty: Systemic Explanations 11 1. Of the Division of Labor 13Adam Smith 2. Absolute and Relative Surplus Value 21Karl Marx 3. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 29Max Weber 4. Some Principles of Stratification 43Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore 5. Winner-Take-All Markets 53Robert H. Frank and Philip J. Cook Part II: Who's Rich, Who's Poor: How Resources Affect Life Chances 67 6. Inequality 69Christopher Jencks 7. What Money Can't Buy: Family Income and Children's Life Chances 76Susan Mayer 8. Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth and Social Policy in America 83Dalton Conley 9. Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class 96Mary Patillo-McCoy 10. Ain't No Making It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood 115Jay MacLeod Part III: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous 127 11. From Democracy in America 129Alexis de Tocqueville 12. The Miser and the Spendthrift 135Georg Simmel 13. The Very Rich 140C. Wright Mills 14. Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How they Got There 161David Brooks 15. The Case of Pullman, Illinois 172Michael Walzer Part IV: Lifestyles of the Poor and Anonymous 179 16. Swapping 181Carol Stack 17. The Code of the Streets 190Elijah Anderson 18. Sidewalk Sleeping and Crack Bingeing 201Mitchell Duneier 19. Whores, Slaves, and Stallions: Languages of Exploitation and Accommodation Among Prizefighters 211Loic Wacquant Part V: What is to Be Done? Wealth, Poverty, and Public Policy 223 20. In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America 225Michael Katz 21. The Hidden Agenda 254William Julius Wilson 22. The Stakeholder Society 267Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott 23. Black Economic Progress in the Era of Mass Imprisonment 278Bruce Western, Becky Pettit, Josh Guetzkow Additional Readings 291 Index 293

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn "The Caged Phoenix: Can India Fly?", Dipankar Gupta questions India's development despite economic growth, highlighting the coexistence of deprivation and prosperity. He challenges assumptions and explores why India remains trapped in backwardness despite promises of progress and liberalization.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVenkatesh takes us into Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside, to explore the desperate and remarkable ways in which a community survives. The result is a dramatic narrative of individuals at work, a rich portrait of a community, and a devastating critique of the entrenched poverty that we so often ignore in America.Trade ReviewNo scholar in America understands the underground economy like Sudhir Venkatesh. The book is both beautifully written and incredibly insightful. I can't remember the last time I learned so much from reading a book. -- Steven D. Levitt, co-author of FreakonomicsSudhir Venkatesh has uncovered a social world that will surprise even the most sophisticated observers of human behavior. This extraordinary study could become a classic urban ethnography, and will certainly change the way we think about life and work in the underground. -- William Julius Wilson, author of When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban PoorOff the Books is an outstanding contribution to our understanding urban economic, social and political processes. This engrossing ethnography has led me to change how I theoretically think about fundamental concepts such as social capital, social isolation, and the state of civil society in the US. -- Michael C. Dawson, author of Black VisionsAn original portrait of the blurred boundaries between so-called legitimate and illegitimate economic relations in the U.S. ghetto …A most comprehensive look at the informal economic life of the urban poor. -- Mitchell Duneier, author of SidewalkAn unsentimental but powerfully human analysis of the webs of underground activity that sustain poor neighborhoods and their residents. Venkatesh gives the lie to the denigrating tropes of shiftlessness, mental dullness, government dependence, and disorganization that have been used to indict families in poverty. -- Mary Pattillo, author of Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the CityIn this revealing study of a Southside Chicago neighborhood, sociologist Venkatesh opens a window on how the poor live...Venkatesh keeps his work vital and poignant by using the words of his subjects. * Publishers Weekly *[Venkatesh] spent years in a 10-square-block neighborhood on Chicago's South Side observing the clandestine work of gangbangers and mechanics, prostitutes and pastors. The result, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, suggests that in some American neighborhoods, the underground economy is a source not just of sustenance but of order, and that while shady transactions may be illegal, they adhere to a distinctive and sophisticated set of laws. -- Patrick Radden Keefe * Slate.com *Remember the Chicago grad student in Freakonomics who figured out why drug dealers live with their mothers? His name is Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, and his new book, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, is the riveting drug-dealer back story--and a lot more. Venkatesh, who is now a professor of sociology and African-American studies at Columbia, spent 1995 to 2003 following the money in 10 square blocks of the Chicago ghetto. He finds an intricate underground web. In it are dealers and prostitutes--and also pastors who take their money, nannies who don't report income, unlicensed cab drivers, off-the-books car mechanics, purveyors of home-cooked soul food, and homeless men paid to sleep outside stores. Venkatesh's insight is that the neighborhood doesn't divide between 'decent' and 'street'--almost everyone has a foot in both worlds. 'Don't matter in some ways if it's the gang or the church,' says one woman as she describes the network that gives her some sense of security. The Wire meets academia, Off the Books is a great and an instructive read. -- Emily Bazelon * Slate.com *[Venkatesh] examines the underground economy of a poor Chicago neighborhood and discovers a thriving system of licit and illicit exchange. Although the resourcefulness of certain drug dealers, back-alley mechanics, and fly-by-night day-care providers is remarkable, Venkatesh argues that under-the-table transactions work to further separate their participants from the economic mainstream. -- Benjamin Healy * The Atlantic *In Off the Books, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh defines the underground economy as 'a web in which many different people, from the criminal to the pious, from the down-and-out to the bourgeois, are inextricably intertwined'...The story Venkatesh tells in Off the Books is specific to Maquis Park, but the underground economy he found there almost certainly has its counterpart in the black ghettos of large cities. Indeed, its reach extends beyond the ghetto to the kitchens of restaurants, the homes of the well-off and the myriad service jobs that employ workers off the books. Yet it remains in the shadows, barely touched by researchers, a vast world usually ignored, misunderstood, or dismissed with stereotypes. Venkatesh's riveting account describes the underground economy through vividly realized characters...[His] dissection of Maquis Park's underground economy overturns one stereotype and common assumption about the urban poor after another...Venkatesh finds the underground economy's origins in the racism, economic devastation, and political abandonment that have decimated many big American cities...What can be done? Venkatesh offers no concrete remedies. But that is not his point. Off the Books is not about policy. Wonderfully written, brilliantly researched, it illuminates, as no other book has done, the ubiquitous world of shady activities that structure everyday life for the residents of the nation's Maquis Parks in ways few Americans observe or understand. -- Michael B. Katz * Chicago Tribune *Venkatesh paints a detailed picture that reflects his close acquaintance with the neighborhood, moving from businesses that are legal but off the books to those that are entirely outside the law and talking to home-based food preparers and preachers, street hustlers and gang members...This is a Chicago you don't know, told in readable prose that puts most other sociologists to shame. -- Harold Henderson * Chicago Reader *In Sudhir Venkatesh's newly published Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, readers are introduced to a cast-royale of rogues, some loveable, others little short of detestable, who inhabit a super-isolated ghetto neighborhood in Southside Chicago...For four hundred pages, Venkatesh describes in intimate detail the often bizarre world of economic relationships in this urban edge zone, largely outside the web of economic, political, legal, and law-enforcement structures that dominate mainstream American life. The result is a compelling, deeply disturbing ground-level view of today's underclass...His approach--offering a pastiche of images of the ghetto economy rather than bombarding readers with statistics on income levels, life expectancy, and so forth--firmly situates Venkatesh in a long tradition of writers preoccupied with anecdotally chronicling America's underside and crafting verbal portraits of the colorful, often entertaining misfits on the margins...Overall, this is a fascinating look at a place and community that would otherwise remain entirely under the radar. If our economy and society throws up such spectacular inequalities, at the very least we owe it to the poorest of the poor to try to understand their lives, their struggles, their pain. Venkatesh takes us into this world; it's an often-ugly place, but, as Off the Books shows, it is also one that is strangely compelling. -- Sasha Abramsky * American Prospect Online *[A] remarkable book. -- Paul Seabright * Times Literary Supplement *[Venkatesh] immersed himself in Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside…He discovered and analyzed the diverse forms of unregulated, unreported, and untaxed work of small business owners. This “off the books” world thrives due to residents’ lack of human capital, high entry costs, poverty, and social isolation. Venkatesh’s analysis weaves hair salons, auto repairs, pimps, drug dealers, block club leaders, ministers, and gang leaders into an intricate web of exchange networks. Varied individuals are also called upon to mediate conflicts in the neighborhood. Venkatesh concludes that without significant changes in inner cities, the underground will flourish. Reminiscent of works by Elijah Anderson. -- J A. Fiola * Choice *Table of Contents* Prologue *1. Living Underground *2. Home at Work *3. The Entrepreneur *4. The Street Hustler *5. The Preacher *6. Our Gang *7. As the Shady World Turns * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisRenaissance debates about politics and gender led to pioneering forms of poor relief, devised to help women get a start in life. These included orphanages for illegitimate children and forced labor in workhouses, but also women’s shelters and early forms of maternity benefits, unemployment insurance, food stamps, and credit union savings plans.Trade ReviewThis sweeping exploration of early modern poor relief shows how Bologna became a model for other cities in meeting the challenge of female poverty across the life cycle. By putting gender squarely at the center of analysis, Terpstra brilliantly illuminates how widespread concerns for poor women and girls sparked innovative networks of care aimed at both charity and discipline. -- Sharon Strocchia, Emory UniversityTerpstra's intimate and human study of Bologna's attempts to deal with the life cycle of poverty—especially that of women—provides a virtual comparative history of the troubled relationship between rich and poor in early modern Europe. This is the new social and cultural history at its best—rich with significant findings, livened with everyday human details, and sensitively evoked by a master historian. -- Guido Ruggiero, University of Miami

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis powerful book takes us behind the stereotypes, the inflamed rhetoric, and the flip media sound bites to show us the complex reality and troubling truths of teenage mothers in America today.Trade ReviewA very important work...Luker makes a compelling case that the familiar portrait [of teen-age mothers] we have been shown so often is the reflection of a public mood rather than a demographic reality...It has always been the case that our national problem is not teen-age childbirth or single-parent families but poverty itself...To continue to insist otherwise after publication of this wise, thoughtful book is to be either obdurately ill informed or ruthlessly ideological in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary. -- Kai Erikson * New York Times Book Review *This is a book of immense scholarship which is also a compelling and accessible read. Luker examines the current social policy obsession with the "problem" of teenage pregnancy within the U.S....Introducing the stories of many young women who have been...demonized, Luker sensitively and sympathetically explores the realities of their lives. She shows that welfare reform and family policy should take account of the realities of life for women on the margins, and not seek to blame and punish them for society's ills. * Race Relations Abstracts *[An] insightful, scholarly, and wonderfully readable analysis of Americans' misconceptions about teenage pregnancy and the impact of these beliefs on public policy...[Luker's] fresh perspective on the issue of teenage pregnancy is an important contribution to the current debate over welfare reform. Commonsensical, timely, and very persuasive. * Kirkus Reviews *Dubious Conceptions is an extremely readable, interesting treatise on the history of adolescent sexuality in the United States and the genesis of the politicization of teenage pregnancy. -- Elizabeth M. Alderman, M.D. * Journal of the American Medical Association *[A] provocative critique of public thinking on early pregnancy and childbearing...Drawing on historical and social scientific evidence, [Luker] shows how both economic and cultural forces have contributed to the problems associated with early childbearing. -- Barbara Dafoe Whitehead * Commonweal *In the country I'd like to live in, the publication of Dubious Conceptions would be a transformative event. The book would dissolve prejudices and stimulate informed, positive public policies improving the lives--and lowering the birth rates--of thousands of poor, young, unmarried girls and women. In Dubious Conceptions, Kristin Luker's treatment of the subject of youthful single pregnancy is lucid, orderly, and heartfelt...[It] makes a strong presentation for several reasons, including, first of all, that it addresses and thoroughly undermines the most popular, seductive, and intractable myths associated with teen pregnancy: that "teen mothers" and "welfare mothers" are congruent categories, and that teenage pregnancy causes and perpetuates poverty in the United States. -- Rickie Solinger * Contemporary Sociology *Kristin Luker's new book offers a clearly written, much-needed survey of the recent academic literature on teenage motherhood, as well as an insightful overview of historical attitudes toward early childbearing and single mothers. -- Kim Phillips * In These Times *This thoughtful and well-written book reveals more clearly than any previous publication the extent of our misunderstanding of the problem of teen pregnancy. Dubious Conceptions provides the basis for a new and constructive national dialogue on the subject. It is by far the best social-policy book ever written on teenage childbearing in the United States. -- William Julius Wilson, Harvard University[A] stunning new account of how both liberals and conservatives "constructed" an epidemic of teenage pregnancy. Luker's meticulous research challenges the myth of an epidemic and concludes that it is poverty that causes teenage pregnancy and not the reverse. -- Ruth Rosen * Los Angeles Times *Table of Contents1. The Problem and Its Human Face 2. Bastardy, Fitness, and the Invention of Adolescence 3. Poverty, Fertility, and the State 4. Constructing an Epidemic 5. Choice and Consequence 6. Why Do They Do It? 7. Teenage Parents and the Future Appendix Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the 1960s Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood was labeled America’s largest ghetto. But its brownstones housed a coterie of black professionals intent on bringing order and hope to the community. In telling their story Michael Woodsworth reinterprets the War on Poverty by revealing its roots in local activism and policy experiments.Trade ReviewIn this engaging and powerful book, Michael Woodsworth recasts the War on Poverty as the fruit of a long community-based struggle against urban disinvestment and racism. By showing just how much of 1960s urban reform percolated up from the grassroots, Battle for Bed-Stuy offers fresh insight into the relationship between activism and policy and the promises and perils of place-based politics. -- Mason B. Williams, author of City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New YorkThis original and well-written account of postwar community activism makes an excellent and provocative case that Bed-Stuy, long overshadowed by Harlem, is a key site for understanding postwar African American history. -- Karen Ferguson, author of Top Down: The Ford Foundation, Black Power, and the Reinvention of Racial LiberalismAn impressive work that shows how local bureaucracies and energized political activists—in this case innovative African American residents and property owners—made the War on Poverty do what it was intended to do: reflect the interests of local people who knew Bed-Stuy was a community, not a so-called slum. -- Kent B. Germany, University of South Carolina[This book] will especially interest readers who want to understand the political economy of the war on poverty. Moreover, though Woodsworth’s book focuses on a single American neighborhood, it gives readers a look at the forces that led to failures, and successes, in combating poverty in many American cities during the post-war period. The book is very well written…Battle for Bed-Stuy is an excellent introduction to how the war on poverty played out in the largest ghetto in American's largest city. -- F. H. Smith * Choice *

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents the original report on poverty in America that led President Kennedy to initiate the federal poverty program.Trade Review“An excellent book—and a most important one.” –The New Yorker“Mike Harrington has made more Americans more uncomfortable for more good reasons than any other person I know. For most people, that would be achievement enough. But for Mike it was only the beginning—because the more he saw that was wrong with America, the harder he fought to make it right.” –Senator Edward KennedyThe Other America is a “scream of rage, a call to conscience.” –The New York Times Book Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany ideas about poverty and discrimination are nothing more than politically driven assertions unsupported by evidence. And even politically neutral studies that do try to assess evidence are often simply unreliable. In Poverty and Discrimination, economist Kevin Lang cuts through the vast literature on poverty and discrimination to determine what we actually know and how we know it. Using rigorous statistical analysis and economic thinking to judge what the best research is and which theories match the evidence, this book clears the ground for students, social scientists, and policymakers who want to understand--and help reduce--poverty and discrimination. It evaluates how well antipoverty and antidiscrimination policies and programs have worked--and whether they have sometimes actually made the problems worse. And it provides new insights about the causes of, and possible solutions to, poverty and discrimination. The book begins by asking, Who is poTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2007 Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Sociology and Social Work, Association of American Publishers "This volume could be usefully employed as a textbook in upper-level undergraduate and more advanced courses in poverty and discrimination, as well as a reference work for specialists... Highly recommended."--Choice "Poverty and Discrimination is social science at its best. The issues are interesting, the analysis is first rate, the organization is excellent, and ... [the] data is exemplary."--Arnold Kling, EconLog "Kevin Lang has written a significant book that assesses recent developments in the study of poverty and discrimination, reviews the formal theories, and provides insight into their validity through statistical analysis; in essence, a book that addresses the basic issues of poverty and discrimination. It is an excellent text for economists, social scientists, and public policy makers."--Kathryn Goering Reid, Journal of Children and Poverty "Readers of the book will become better critics of statistical evidence used in policy debate sand more skeptical of strong claims about a policy's success (or failure). They also will more fully understand the difficulty of conducting highly credible policy research and crafting effective policies."--Rohert D. Plotnick, Industrial and Labor Relations Review "Lang has written an excellent book that can serve as a useful tool for researchers, students, and policymakers. The author clearly is an expert in the field who has thoroughly researched his topic."--Casey P. Homan, Monthly Labor ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1. The Content of This Book 2 2. Recent Developments in the Study of Poverty and Discrimination 4 3. The Object of This Book 8 4. Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Limits of Statistical Arguments 10 5. Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Role of Values 12 6. A Case Study: Retention in Grade 13 7. Concluding Remarks 17 8. Further Reading 18 9. Questions for Discussion 18 10. Appendix: A Quick Guide to Statistics 19 Part 1: POVERTY Chapter 2: Who Is Poor? 31 1. Evidence on the Importance of Relative Income 36 2. How the Government Measures Poverty 37 3. Valuing Nonmonetary Income 39 4. Over What Time Period Should We Measure Poverty? 40 5. Other Problems with the Official Measure 41 6. The National Academy of Sciences Report 42 7. Gathering the Data 42 8. Who Is Poor (By the Official Measure)? 43 9. Extreme Poverty 45 10. Homelessness 45 11. Hunger and Food Insecurity 48 12. Alternative Measures of Poverty 51 13. The Dynamics of Poverty 53 14. Why Does Poverty Last So Long for Some People? 56 15. Concluding Remarks 58 16. Further Reading 58 17. Questions for Discussion 59 18. Appendix: A Brief Note on Data 61 Chapter 3: The Evolution of Poverty Policy 63 1. Federal Poverty Programs, 1970-2000 63 2. Incentives under AFDC 66 3. The Earned Income Tax Credit 69 4. Cash or In-Kind Transfer: Which Is Better? 78 5. Concluding Remarks 81 6. Further Reading 81 7. Questions for Discussion 82 Chapter 4: Trends in Poverty 83 1. Trends Using the Official Measure 83 2. Trends in Poverty under Alternate Measures 86 3. Accounting for Trends 87 4. Concluding Remarks 102 5. Further Reading 103 6. Questions for Discussion 104 7. Appendix: Multivariate Analysis 104 Chapter 5: Labor Market Policies 108 1. Understanding Wage Inequality 108 2. Minimum Wage Laws 115 3. Living Wage Laws 120 4. Job Training Programs 121 5. Can Job Training Programs Reduce Poverty? 123 6. Evaluating the JTPA 125 7. Evaluating the Job Corps and Other Youth Programs 129 8. Training Programs and Tagging 133 9. Welfare to Work: Work First 134 10. Employer-Based Subsidies 136 11. Concluding Remarks 140 12. Further Reading 140 13. Questions for Discussion 140 14. Appendix: Adjusting for Program Nonparticipation 141 Chapter 6: Family Composition 143 1. Births to Single Mothers 144 2. Declining Marriage 146 3. Changing Social Attitudes 150 4. The Role of Welfare 156 5. Features of Welfare 158 6. Teenage Childbearing 161 7. Effects of Growing Up with a Single Parent 168 8. Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty 172 9. Policies Aimed at Infants and Toddlers 174 10. Preschool Programs 177 11. Programs for School-Age Children 182 12. Medicaid and SCHIP 190 13. Concluding Remarks 192 14. Further Reading 194 15. Questions for Discussion 196 Chapter 7: Concentrated Poverty 197 1. Life in High-Poverty Neighborhoods 198 2. Do Neighborhoods Matter? 198 3. The Gautreaux Program 201 4. Moving to Opportunity 202 5. Public Housing 203 6. Gangs 205 7. Community Development 206 8. Concluding Remarks 208 9. Further Reading 209 10. Questions for Discussion 210 Chapter 8: Education and Education Reform 211 1. Education and Earnings 212 2. Testing 213 3. Decentralization and School Quality 221 4. Using Tests to Increase School and District Accountability 236 5. Concluding Remarks 239 6. Further Reading 240 7. Questions for Discussion 241 Chapter 9: Welfare Reform 243 1. The Case for Reform 243 2. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 245 3. Assessing the Effects of Welfare Reform 251 4. Effect on Welfare Receipt 252 5. Welfare Reform and Well-Being 254 6. Living Arrangements 258 7. Effects on Children and Adolescents 259 8. Concluding Thoughts 259 9. Further Reading 260 10. Questions for Discussion 261 Part 2: DISCRIMINATION Chapter 10: Discrimination: Theory 265 1. What Is Discrimination? 265 2. Theories of Discrimination: Prejudice 269 3. Prejudice in Imperfect Labor Markets 272 4. Transaction Costs Models 273 5. Statistical Discrimination 274 6. Self-Confirming Expectations 277 7. Concluding Remarks 280 8. Further Reading 281 9. Questions for Discussion 282 Chapter 11: Race Discrimination in the Labor Market 283 1. Trends in Black-White Earnings Differentials 283 2. Explaining the Decline in the Wage Gap 287 3. Evidence on Current Discrimination 293 4. Testing for Discrimination: Legal Perspectives 307 5. Affirmative Action in Employment 311 6. Affirmative Action in Public Employment 313 7. Concluding Remarks 314 8. Further Reading 315 9. Questions for Discussion 316 Chapter 12: Race Discrimination and Education 317 1. The Black-White Test Score Gap 317 2. Discrimination in Education 325 3. Affirmative Action in Education 330 4. Concluding Remarks 332 5. Further Reading 333 6. Questions for Discussion 333 Chapter 13: Race Discrimination in Customer Markets and the Judicial System 334 1. Housing 335 2. Discrimination in Other Markets 345 3. Discrimination in the Justice System 349 4. Concluding Remarks 351 5. Further Reading 352 6. Questions for Discussion 352 Chapter 14: Sex Discrimination 354 1. Theory 354 2. Is There Discrimination against Women in the Labor Market? 360 3. Discrimination, Marriage, and Children 364 4. Sexual Orientation 366 5. Trends in the Female/Male Wage Ratio 368 6. Comparable Worth 373 7. Concluding Remarks 375 8. Further Reading 377 9. Questions for Discussion 378 Chapter 15: Conclusion: An Agenda to Decrease Poverty and Discrimination? 379 1. The Value and Limits of Research 379 2. The Value and Limits of a Strong Labor Market 381 3. Family and Early Childhood Programs 383 4. Education 385 5. Addressing the Needs of High-Poverty Neighborhoods 385 6. Race Discrimination and Inequality 386 7. Addressing Inequality 387 8. Health Care 388 9. Concluding Remarks 388 Author Index 391 Subject Index 395

Read more less

Book SynopsisWorld leaders have given the reduction of global poverty top priority. And yet, it persists. This book argues that the solution lies in the creation of a new institution, the World Development Corporation (WDC), a partnership of multinational corporations (MNCs), international development agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).Trade Review"A Corporate Solution to Global Poverty provides a valuable--and exceedingly readable--primer on corporate social responsibility as well as a compelling approach to the use of corporate wealth to benefit the world's poorest."--Joshua Rosenthal, International Law and PoliticsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xi Prologue 1 PART I: The Legitimacy Gap Chapter 1: Introduction 9 Chapter 2: The Legitimacy of Business 21 PART II: Reactions, Responses, and Responsibilities Chapter 3: NGOs and the Attack: Critics, Watchdogs, and Collaborators 45 Chapter 4: The Corporate Response 71 Chapter 5: International Development Architecture 90 Chapter 6: The Emerging International Consensus 117 PART III: Global Poverty Reduction and the Role of Big Business Chapter 7: The Options for Business Contributions 137 Chapter 8: A World Development Corporation 155 Notes 165 Bibliography 177 Index 185

Read more less

Book SynopsisArgues that poverty has been denied its due as a critical and ideological framework in its own right, despite interest in representations of the lower classes and the marginalized.Trade Review"Jones persuasively argues that the time has come for literary theory to address the issue of poverty ... in US literature. Rather than focusing on the cultural identities of the underprivileged, the author calls for a 'theory of poverty' that will highlight and address the political and social injustices associated with the economically disadvantaged... Jones posits that the work of Herman Melville, Theodore Dreiser, Edith Wharton, James Agee, and Richard White most accurately portrays and foregrounds poverty... His readings show how these writers succeeded in 'opening up the complexities and contradictions' of poverty, which contemporary literary theory fails to do. In short, Jones calls for a synthesis between discussion of race/gender/class and discussion of poverty, which often shapes identities within race, gender, and class categories."--B. M. McNeal, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, for CHOICE "Gavin Jones's American Hungers tackles a one-hundred-year period, treating a vast range of texts with great theoretical sophistication. This ambitious book aims to make poverty as powerful an analytical tool as race and gender have proven in recent critical history."--Michael Robertson, American Literature "Jones's readings are detailed and richly informed, and his discussions of the social-scientific background--the shift from moral to biological to psychological explanations of poverty--provide a valuable history, one that should interest critics regardless of their stance toward identity politics."--Twentieth Century Literature "The main and considerable strength of Jones's book is its theoretical contribution, which is located in the introduction. The body of the volume also makes intriguing, if not always completely persuasive, arguments."--Michael Tavel Clarke, American Quarterly "Gavin Jones's American Hungers is a major contribution to the critical debate about literary constructions of poverty in America across epochs; or rather, the book redefines the terms for this debate in such a way that establishes poverty as a valid subject of discussion in its own right, no longer a mere addition to class, race or gender criticism. Even though Jones writes only about five major texts of American literature, the scope of his presentation is impressive, with insights into cultural, economic, ideological, psychological, and ethical complexities... If poverty ever becomes a category capable of creating a distinct tradition of critical analysis, American Hungers will undeniably be one of the fundamental works of this tradition."--Marek Paryz, European Journal of American Studies "[A] commendable, daring attempt at providing an adequate theoretical framework for a cultural-sociological discourse on pauperism... Jones offers an insightful vision... [T]he book undoubtedly challenges our received views and notions... Engaging and polemical, its topicality cannot be overstated in the context of the current economic scene of a global market marred by recession."--Adriana Neagu, ABC Journal "American Hungers is a valuable, important, paradigm shifting book that should be read by everyone with an interest in American literature of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially by anyone claiming a critical interest in relations of class and power in American culture."--Carol Loranger, Studies in American Naturalism "Jones literary 'theory of poverty' must be considered one of the most groundbreaking and at the same time nuanced interventions into theories of class. His theory of poverty as a state of being dialectically shaped by economic, structural and non-material, individual conditions challenges us to recognize representations of poverty in their entire complexity. Implicitly only, he also challenges us to interrogate the complexities of poverty in the real world--and possibly act upon our insights."--Birte Christ, Journal of Literary Theory "Gavin Jones's provocative two-pronged thesis in American Hungers stands up admirably in both historical and contemporary contexts."--Robert M. Dowling, Modern PhilologyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii INTRODUCTION: The Problem of Poverty in Literary Criticism 1 CHAPTER ONE: Beggaring Description: Herman Melville and Antebellum Poverty Discourse 21 Paradigms of Poverty and Pauperism 23 Literary Uses and Abuses of Poverty 28 The Ambivalence of Thoreau and Davis 32 Redburn and Israel Potter: Transatlantic Counterparts 38 Melville's Sketches of the Mid-1850s 46 Poor Pierre 52 Problems of Need in The Confidence-Man 59 CHAPTER TWO: Being Poor in the Progressive Era: Dreiser and Wharton on the Pauper Problem 62 Writing Poverty 65 The Persistence of Pauperism 72 What's the Matter with Hurstwood? 76 The Class That Drifts 80 Fear of Falling 85 The Feminization of Poverty 88 Poor Lily 92 Class and Gender 100 CHAPTER THREE: The Depression in Black and White: Agee, Wright, and the Aesthetics of Damage 106 Understanding the Depression 110 Agee's Uncertainty 116 Damage and Disadvantage 120 The Beauty and Erotics of Poverty 124 Race, Class, and Poor Richard 129 American Hunger 139 Delinquent Identity 144 CONCLUSION 148 Notes 155 Works Cited 201 Index 219

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the early twentieth century poverty became the focus of an anguished national conversation about the future of China. Investigating the lives of the urban poor in China during this critical era, this book examines the solutions implemented by a nation attempting to deal with "society's most fundamental problem."Trade Review"The book does a marvelous job of analyzing the discourse surrounding poverty in China. [I]t certainly belongs on the short list of pioneering studies ... that offer sophisticated analyses of the lives of illiterate, unprivileged men and women in Chinese cities in the decades before establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949."--Kristin Stapleton, American Historical Review "This book makes an important contribution to the field of modern Chinese history... Janet Y. Chen provides new insight into how the notion of poverty was redefined during this tumultuous and complicated period. Although the ideas and arguments are complex and sophisticated, this is a clearly argued and crisply written book, one that could be easily used in part or in whole in an upper division undergraduate course."--Hong-Ming Liang, Historian "This book is a veritable model of a social history monograph--one that aspiring PhD students would do well to emulate... It is unusual for a monograph so firmly placed within social history to be as attentive to the unenviable positions in which both weak governments and weak citizens found themselves, but in this Chen's work more than succeeds."--Julia C. Strauss, China JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii A Note on Conventions ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Between Charity and Punishment 13 Chapter 2: "Parasites upon Society" 46 Chapter 3: "Living Ghosts" during the Nanjing Decade 86 Chapter 4: Beggars or Refugees? 128 Chapter 5: Keeping Company with Ghosts 173 Epilogue 213 Notes 233 Glossary 279 Bibliography 283 Index 303

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnder the New Jersey State Constitution as interpreted by the State Supreme Court in 1975 and 1983, municipalities are required to use their zoning authority to create realistic opportunities for a fair share of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. Mount Laurel was the town at the center of the court decisions. As a result, MTrade ReviewCo-winners of the 2014 Robert E. Park Award, Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association Winner of the 2013 Paul Davidoff Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning "Upscale Mount Laurel loomed large in the New Jersey State Supreme Court's key fair housing decisions in 1975 and 1983. But the housing itself wasn't built until all of 2001. For years, locals protested hard that home values would fall and crime rates would rise. Douglas S. Massey and four other authors ... meticulously document how this wasn't the case at all."--Katharine Whittemore, Boston Globe "Sociologist Massey and his coauthors tell a remarkable story about the Ethel Lawrence Homes (ELH) project, an affordable housing project for low- and moderate-income minority residents in an affluent white suburb in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey... They argue that the development of affordable housing projects for low-income minorities in affluent suburbs is an effective means to reduce race and class segregation, increase social mobility, reduce dependency, create better human capital, and achieve family well-being. A significant contribution to urban community studies and the literature on social policy related to housing in the metropolitan U.S."--Choice "Climbing Mount Laurel should be on every planner's bookshelf for two key reasons. First, the book will likely serve as a fine, detailed study of a successful affordable housing project. Second, Climbing Mount Laurel can serve as a source of inspiration that economic and racial integration is possible in suburbia, but only when planners and developers pay attention to the big and little details."--Stuart Meck, Journal of American Planning Association "Massey and his coauthors provide a concise, effective overview of exclusionary practices and their effects on residential segregation."--John R. Logan, American Journal of Sociology "Climbing Mount Laurel is a welcome addition to the literature on housing mobility programs and neighborhood effects. Its methodological rigor and ability to avoid the pitfalls of spatial determinism are some of its key strengths, and the book should be of interest to scholars and practitioners of affordable housing, planning law, and program evaluation."--Aretousa Bloom, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare "Impeccable... Climbing Mount Laurel exemplifies social science at its finest--conclusively demonstrating through precise, thorough, thoughtful, and thought-provoking analysis how, for tens of millions of Americans, the path to the American Dream begins and ends at home."--Mark Rubinfeld, Journal of American CultureTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix List of Tables xi Preface xiii Chapter 1. Location Cubed: The Importance of Neighborhoods 1 Chapter 2. Suburban Showdown: The Mount Laurel Controversy 32 Chapter 3. Field of Dreams: Ethel Lawrence Homes Come to Mount Laurel 51 Chapter 4. Rhetoric and Reality: Monitoring Mount Laurel 64 Chapter 5. Neighborly Concerns: Effects on Surrounding Communities 80 Chapter 6. All Things Considered: Neighbors' Perceptions a Decade Later 100 Chapter 7. Greener Pastures: Moving to Tranquility 121 Chapter 8. Tenant Transitions: From Geographic to Social Mobility 147 Chapter 9. Affordable Housing: Suburban Solutions to Urban Problems 184 Appendices 197 References 245 Index 261

Read more less

Book SynopsisArquitecto Tucci, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, is a place where crushing poverty and violent crime are everyday realities. Homicides--often involving young people--continue to skyrocket, and in the emergency room there, victims of shootings or knifings are an all-too-common sight. In Harm's Way takes a harrowing look at daily life in ArquitectoTrade ReviewWinners of the 2016 Robert E. Park Award, Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association "An important ethnography that, with a focus on social relations and not on individuals, meaningfully advances our understandings of violence and the lives of impoverished dwellers. As with good books, this one also inspires reflection and questions, perhaps for future research."--Cecilia Menjivar, American Journal of SociologyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations xi Preface xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 El Barrio and La Feria: Daily Life at the Urban Margins 30 Chapter 2 Born amid Bullets: Concatenated Violence(s) 66 Chapter 3 The State at the Margins 108 Chapter 4 Ethics and Politics amid Violence 135 Conclusion: Toward a Political Sociology of Urban Marginality 161 Acknowledgments 181 Methodological Appendix 185 Notes 197 Bibliography 207 Index 239

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The collection is a thought-provoking book that provides a comprehensive examination of persistent poverty in both the United States and developing counties... Poverty Traps should be read by any economist, social scientist, policymaker, or anyone else interested in the study of persistent poverty."--William Levernier, Journal of Regional ScienceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction by Samuel Bowles, Steven N. Durlauf, and Karla Hoff 1 Part One: Threshold Effects 15 Chapter 1: The Theory of Poverty Traps What Have We Learned? by Costas Azariadis 17 Part Two: by Institutions 41 Chapter 2: The Persistence of Poverty in the Americas The Role of Institutions by Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff 43 Chapter 3: Parasites by Halvor Mehlum, Karl Moene, and Ragnar Torvik 79 Chapter 4: The Kin System as a Poverty Trap? byKarla Hoff and Arijit Sen 95 Chapter 5: Institutional Poverty Traps by Samuel Bowles 116 Part Three: Neighborhood Effects 139 Chapter 6: Groups, Social Influences, and Inequality by Steven N. Durlauf 141 Chapter 7: Durable Inequality Spatial Dynamics, Social Processes, and the Persistence of Poverty in Chicago Neighborhoods by Robert J. Sampson and Jeffrey D. Morenoff 176 Chapter 8: Spatial Concentration and Social Stratification Does the Clustering of Disadvantage "Beget " Bad Outcomes?? by Michael E. Sobel 204 Contributors 231 Index 233

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of the 2009 Best Book Award in Political Sociology, American Sociological Association Co-Winner of the 2009 Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book, Section on Sociology of Culture, American Sociological Association "[T]his monograph ... represents a substantial achievement and a major addition to the literature on America's welfare state."--Edward D. Berkowitz, Journal of American History "The Failed Welfare Revolution is a well-researched book that fills a significant gap in the literature on U.S. social policy. The theoretical perspective is innovative, and Steensland makes a strong case for the study of the role of ideas and culture in policymaking."--Daniel Beland, Political Science Quarterly "Brian Steensland's highly detailed account and analysis of guaranteed annual income (GAl) proposals during the Nixon and Carter administrations provides an important contribution to the research on social welfare policy in the United States, addressing a significant lacuna in this literature."--Kenneth Hudson, American Journal of Sociology "This scholarly book will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in current debates about the merits of a guaranteed income policy. It is richly documented, draws effectively on theoretical ideas and transcends the limitations of many historical accounts by linking developments in the 1970s to current social welfare debates. An added bonus is the discussion of proposals by the Carter administration later in the decade to reformulate these ideas. The author's reflection on the role of cultural factors in social welfare thinking also makes a significant contribution and will hopefully facilitate future analyses that will explore the importance of culture in social policy."--James Midgley, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare "The Failed Welfare Revolution is an interesting retelling and synthesis of what happened some 40 years ago, and anybody interested in the subject will find this work to be of value."--Ralf Hertwig, Monthly Labor Review "Steensland's precision in analyzing the guaranteed income debates throughout the book is impressive, as is his use of extensive original research from presidential archives. He has done a great service in so thoroughly deconstructing for the first time a neglected episode in the history of us (and Canadian) social policy."--Richard Pereira, Labour-Le Travail "[A] theoretically rich and historically detailed account of domestic policy centered on the 1970s."--Richard K. Caputo, Eastern Economic JournalTable of ContentsPreface ix Abbreviations xiii INTRODUCTION: Understanding the Failed Welfare Revolution 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Rise of Guaranteed Annual Income 28 CHAPTER TWO: Guaranteed Annual Income Goes Public 52 CHAPTER THREE: The Origins and Transformation of the Nixon Plan 79 CHAPTER FOUR: Nixon's Family Assistance Plan Stalls 120 CHAPTER FIVE: Defeat and Its Policy Legacy 157 CHAPTER SIX: Carter and the Program for Better Jobs and Income 182 CHAPTER SEVEN: Lost Opportunities, Consequences, and Lessons 219 CHAPTER EIGHT: Culture and Welfare Policy Development 232 Notes 247 References 283 Index 297

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Exploring the impact of an affordable housing development in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, this book provides new and innovative methodologies for examining key theoretical and public policy issues that have been the subject of intensive debate."--Gregory Squires, George Washington University.sity.Trade Review"Winner of the 2013 Paul Davidoff Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning""Co-winners of the 2014 Robert E. Park Award, Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association""Upscale Mount Laurel loomed large in the New Jersey State Supreme Court's key fair housing decisions in 1975 and 1983. But the housing itself wasn't built until all of 2001. For years, locals protested hard that home values would fall and crime rates would rise. Douglas S. Massey and four other authors . . . meticulously document how this wasn't the case at all."---Katharine Whittemore, Boston Globe"Sociologist Massey and his coauthors tell a remarkable story about the Ethel Lawrence Homes (ELH) project, an affordable housing project for low- and moderate-income minority residents in an affluent white suburb in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey. . . . They argue that the development of affordable housing projects for low-income minorities in affluent suburbs is an effective means to reduce race and class segregation, increase social mobility, reduce dependency, create better human capital, and achieve family well-being. A significant contribution to urban community studies and the literature on social policy related to housing in the metropolitan U.S." * Choice *"Climbing Mount Laurel should be on every planner's bookshelf for two key reasons. First, the book will likely serve as a fine, detailed study of a successful affordable housing project. Second, Climbing Mount Laurel can serve as a source of inspiration that economic and racial integration is possible in suburbia, but only when planners and developers pay attention to the big and little details."---Stuart Meck, Journal of American Planning Association"Massey and his coauthors provide a concise, effective overview of exclusionary practices and their effects on residential segregation."---John R. Logan, American Journal of Sociology"Climbing Mount Laurel is a welcome addition to the literature on housing mobility programs and neighborhood effects. Its methodological rigor and ability to avoid the pitfalls of spatial determinism are some of its key strengths, and the book should be of interest to scholars and practitioners of affordable housing, planning law, and program evaluation."---Aretousa Bloom, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare"Impeccable. . . . Climbing Mount Laurel exemplifies social science at its finest—conclusively demonstrating through precise, thorough, thoughtful, and thought-provoking analysis how, for tens of millions of Americans, the path to the American Dream begins and ends at home."---Mark Rubinfeld, Journal of American Culture

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Cortina has written a significant work of social philosophy that deserves close attention in the Anglophone world. Aporophobia is a provocative book that will stimulate discussion, argument and investigation."---Nick Haslam, The Conversation

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFROM THE WINNERS OF THE 2019 NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS'Refreshingly original, wonderfully insightful . . . an entirely new perspective' Guardian Why would a man in Morocco who doesn't have enough to eat buy a television?Why do the poorest people in India spend 7 percent of their food budget on sugar?Does having lots of children actually make you poorer? This eye-opening book overturns the myths about what it is like to live on very little, revealing the unexpected decisions that millions of people make every day. Looking at some of the most paradoxical aspects of life below the poverty line - why the poor need to borrow in order to save, why incentives that seem effective to us may not be for them, and why, despite being more risk-taking than high financiers, they start businesses but rarely grow them - Banerjee and Duflo offer a new understanding of the surprising way the world really works. Winner of the FT Goldman SachTrade ReviewPoor Economics is making waves . . . refreshingly original, wonderfully insightful . . . an entirely new perspective * Guardian *A marvellously insightful book by two outstanding researchers on the real nature of poverty -- Amartya SenIt has been years since I read a book that taught me so much -- Steven D. LevittA page-turner about the micro-economics of aid policy might not sound too probable, but that's what [Banerjee and Duflo] have written, and it is a truly remarkable book . . . unmistakably contemporary, written beautifully * Guardian *A compelling and important read * Forbes *An engrossing new book * Economist *Marvellous . . . they deserve to be congratulated, and to be read * Wall Street Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis comparative study of urban poverty is the first to chart the irregular pulse of poverty''s encounters with officialdom. It exploits an unusual methodology to secure new perspectives from familiar sources. The highly localised characteristics of the welfare economy generated a peculiarly urban environment for the poor. Separate chapters examine the parameters of workhouse life when the preconceptions of contemporaries have been stripped away; the reach of institutional charities such as almshouses, schools and infirmaries; and the surprisingly broad clientele of urban pawnbrokers. Detailed analysis of the poor is achieved via meticulous matching of individuals who fell within the purview of two or more authorities. The result is a unique insight into the survival economics of urban poverty, arising not from a tidy network of welfare but from a loose assembly of options, where the impoverished positioned themselves repeatedly to fit official, philanthropic, or casual Trade ReviewTomkins presents the conditions under which the poor lived, drawing on life in the workhouse, traditional poor relief such as lodging in poorhouses, health care, and schools for the poor. The section on credit and pawn broking among those in distress is especially significant because this is a field that has hardly been researched so far, and it demonstrates the flexibility of the poor in their struggle against want. -- .Table of ContentsList of tables, figures and appendicesAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1. Introduction2. Life in Urban Workhouses3. Traditional Forms of Voluntary Charity4. ‘Medical’ Welfare and Provincial Infirmaries5. Charity Schools and the Treatment of Poor Children6. Pawnbroking and the use of credit7. ConclusionAppendicesBibliography

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn original street-corner ethnography drawing on the themes of urban regeneration, lost space and the 24-hour cityTrade Review'A rare glimpse into the physical world and urban spaces of rough sleepers who live in the city though often unacknowledged. A sensitive and evocative account' -- Professor Setha Low, City University of New York'A brilliant, insightful and at times very funny portrait of hidden lives and those who care for them. This is a beautifully written and erudite book about city life that exudes a deep but irreverent sense of humanity' -- Les Back, Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London'Combines extensive ethnographic research and scholarship, poetic writing and remarkable empathy to illuminate the lives of those who survive and sleep on city streets and to show brilliantly the mobile, skilful, humane ways in which care and outreach workers seek relate to and help them' -- Professor Harry Ferguson, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of NottinghamTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface 1. Sleepwalking City 2. Lost and Found 3. First Aid 4. Round About 5. The Line Inside 6. Leftovers 7. Coming Across 8. Learning to See 9. Change Blind Epilogue Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisLooks at the failure of conventional economic theories based on capitalist growth, and explores alternative models being developed around the world.Trade Review'An important read not only for the young social activist or those interested in capitalism, but for anyone who has a general interest in politics looking to understand the true costs of global capitalism' -- Sarah Morley, LSE Review of Books'Chronicling the state of development in the wake of the global economic crisis, The Poverty of Capitalism stands as a powerful rejoinder' -- Dinah Rajak, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Development, University of Sussex'Comprehensive in its coverage of changes in the global economy, insightful in assessing the key dynamics and agents in current struggles, this book goes beyond traditional investigations of similar themes' -- Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy, University of Nottingham'In this powerful, timely book, John Hilary contends that capitalism is not only in crisis - it is the crisis!' -- Aziz Choudry, Assistant Professor, Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University'I’ve been waiting for this book all century - a subtle, thorough analysis of global capitalism' -- Raj Patel, author of 'Stuffed and Starved'Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Crisis, Continuity and Change 3. Corporate Power in Practice 4. The Corporate Social Responsibility Delusion 5. Extractives: Dispossession Through Devastation 6. Garments: Capitalism’s False Promise 7. Food: the Final Frontier 8. Beyond Capitalism Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn analysis of how poverty is misrepresented in mainstream media, and a look at what really lies behind these narratives.Trade Review'Provides the clearest of reasons for setting aside the traditional rules of journalism' -- Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1% and All That Is Solid'The book should be read by everyone interested in way the media deal with issues of economic inequality and injustice' -- Democratic CommuniquéTable of ContentsList of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The Subjectivity of Poverty 2. The Poverty of Ideas in the Newsroom - with Steven Harkins 3. What Lies Beneath? 4. Africa, that Scar on Our Face - with Patrick O. Malaolu 5. Visual Journalism and Global Poverty - with Scott Eldridge II 6. Spinning Poverty! 7. The Emergence of Alternative Voices Conclusion: Beyond the Unsustainable News Agenda Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA radical geography of the representation of impoverished communities in BritainTrade Review'Poverty is such a strong word and is not used as much as it needs to be. I am very grateful that this book does not shy away from those difficult words and also those difficult conversations about poverty in Britain today' -- Lisa Mckenzie, author of Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain'Forensically maps the 'Othering' of poor people, charting the stigmatisation, exoticisation, spatial marginalisation and even aestheticisation of their neighbourhoods' -- Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group'Stephen Crossley has become one of the leading critical voices in the debate on poverty and inequality in the UK, and this remarkable and elegant book is a superb illustration of why his voice is so important' -- Tom Slater, Reader in Urban Geography, University of EdinburghTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Series Preface 1. Introduction: The Spaces of Others 2. Swamps and Slums: Exoticising the Poor 3. Tales of Two Cities 4. Neighbourhood Effects or Westminster Effects? 5. Streetwise? 6. The Heroic Simplification of the Household 7. Piles of Pringles and Crack: Behind Closed Doors 8. Less Public, More Private: The Shifting Spaces of the State 9. Studying Up Notes Index

Read more less