- Table View
- List View
Potomac Fever
by William J. Middendorf IIAfter a highly successful career in investment banking with his own firm and a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, J. William Middendorf became restive and looked for new challenges. Having "learned how to make money," he writes in this memoir, he "wanted to learn how to make a difference." Thus he became actively involved in politics, first at the local level in Connecticut and then with the presidential campaign of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964 and as treasurer of the Republican National Committee. There followed a series of challenging public service appointments: ambassador to the Netherlands, Under Secretary and later Secretary of the Navy, ambassador to the Organization of American States, and ambassador to the European Community.Middendorf is a first-rate storyteller and has many tales to share--from his World War II Navy service, to his first job wearing a string of pearls in a bank vault, to a failed effort to bring a U.S.-style constitution to post-Soviet Russia. He recounts tales of villains and heroes, of narrow legislative victories on vital programs, of efforts to forestall war in the Falklands and to counter growing Communist control of the island of Grenada, as well as how the Navy won narrow but vital victories on such important programs as the Aegis missile system and the Trident submarine. Writing with the authority of someone who held a number of key government positions, his lively and revealing memoir is filled with many behind-the-scenes stories of critical events of the Cold War.
The Potosí Mita, 1573-1700: Compulsory Indian Labor in the Andes
by null Jeffrey A. ColePotosí, a mining center in what is now Bolivia, was the most productive source of silver in the Spanish American Empire between the mid-1500's and the late seventeenth century. Much of this success was attributable, at least initially, to the mita, a system of draft Indian labor instituted by Viceroy Francisco do Toledo in 1573 for the working of the silver mines and refineries. Bitter debate swirled around the mita during most of its 250-year history. It was assailed by its enemies as a form of servitude worse than slavery and accused of depopulating the provinces subject to it, yet it was supported by many, however reluctantly, who believed that the Spanish Empire depended on Potosí silver for its survival. The author traces the evolution of the mita from its inception to the end of the Hapsburg epoch in 1700. The primary focus is on the metamorphosis of the mita under the pressures of changing production realities at Potosí and demographic developments in the provinces from which the Indians were drafted. The author describes the role of native headmen (kurakas) in the system, the means used by Indians to evade service, and the efforts of the mining guild to tailor the mita to its needs. The secondary focus is on the Hapsburg government's administration of the mita, especially those factors that prevented the Crown or its viceroys from being fully effective.
Pottery, Livelihoods, and Landscapes
by Martha G. BellThis book describes the pottery trade activities of the residents of the community of San Bartolom#65533; de los Olleros in Piura, Peru. Based on extensive interviews with potters and traders, it explains why the barter of pots continues to be practiced, and explores how pottery production and exchange practices may now be changing. The book provides a unique and detailed analysis of the interconnections between handicraft production, rural trade networks, and agriculture in an Andean context. Pots are mainly bartered for food crops within a non-monetary peasant economy distinct from the "conventional" market. This practice is an important food source for pottery traders; thus trader livelihoods are placed at the center of this qualitative study of pottery distribution. Of primary importance are: 1) the decision-making processes surrounding exchange activities, 2) how exchange choices produce distinct spatial patterns, and 3) how the marketing of pots impacts livelihoods.
Povertà americana (Vivere in America #2)
by Laurel A. RockefellerIn questa provocatoria analisi storica ed economica, Laurel A. Rockefeller affronta il tema della povertà, spiegando cosa significhi essere poveri negli Stati Uniti e confrontando quest’esperienza con le modalità attraverso cui gli alleati economicamente più evoluti e più stretti dell’America (Canada, Germania, Francia e Regno Unito) si prendono cura dei loro poveri. Dalle condizioni degli alloggi popolari, alla fame ed alla psicologia dei poveri, la Rockefeller va dritta al nocciolo della questione e provvede efficaci soluzioni a tutti i suoi lettori, soluzioni che dovrebbero essere abbracciate da ogni fascia sociale per assicurare il futuro dell’America e garantire un’America sicura ai nostri posteri. Parte prima: saggi che esplorano cinque aspetti della povertà in America: mancanza d’empatia, condiscendenza verso la povertà, derisione dei poveri, alloggi popolari e cultura dello stupro. Parte seconda: analisi che fornisce soluzioni su come affrontare i precedenti aspetti della povertà, al di là dei limiti d'età. Parte terza: uno sguardo della situazione dei poveri e le politiche in atto per fronteggiare il problema in Germania, Francia, Canada e Regno Unito. Analisi comparativa con questi alleati degli USA e l’impatto della povertà sulle politiche estere e la sicurezza nazionale. Le fonti sono tratte da: American Express, Forbes, CNN Money, The New York Times, Feeding America, The Shriver Report, Herald Scotland, BBC News, The Joseph Roundtree Foundation, The Huffington Post, e The Toronto Star.
Poverty: Poor People Speak For Themselves (Key Concepts #6)
by Ruth ListerPoverty remains one of the most urgent issues of our time. In this fully updated edition of her important and widely acclaimed intervention on the topic, Ruth Lister introduces readers to the meaning and experience of poverty in the contemporary world. The book opens with a lucid discussion of current debates around the definition and measurement of poverty in industrialized societies, before embarking on a multifaceted exploration of its varied interpretations. Drawing on thinking in the field of international development and real-life accounts, the book emphasizes key aspects of poverty such as powerlessness, lack of voice, insecurity, loss of dignity and respect. Ruth Lister embraces the relational, cultural, symbolic as well as material dimensions of poverty, and makes important links between poverty and other concepts such as capabilities, agency, human rights and citizenship. She concludes by making the case for reframing the politics of poverty as a claim for redistribution and recognition. The result is a rich and insightful analysis, which deepens and broadens our understanding of poverty today. It will be essential reading for all students in the social sciences, as well as researchers, activists and policymakers.
Poverty Alleviation Case Analysis In China: Poverty Alleviation Best Practice via Practices and SDG Strategies (SpringerBriefs on Case Studies of Sustainable Development)
by Intl Poverty Reduction Center In ChinaThis book offers comprehensive analysis for individual cases of poverty alleviation to facilitate respective in-depth key learnings and an overview of poverty alleviation strategies carried out in China. Best practices were selected from representative cases in China to demonstrate the development of different approaches in the poverty alleviation journey with collective stakeholders’ efforts – Government, Industry, Academia, and Research, plus the local stakeholders engaged in the rural development activities. Overseas cases are referenced to show the outcome of similar strategies as comparison with the consideration of regional specific conditions. Through better understanding of the focal issues, areas and organizations – and their respective key challenges and solutions – there is the compilation for each case its analysis, comparative studies and SDG relevance. These aim at engaging the readers from institutes, governments, corporates, or social enterprises, to think about how to adopt the related SDG strategies. They also serve as the initiatives to facilitate potential cross-region and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The book acts as the guide on how: - Poverty Reduction is one of the key goals in SDGs – while solving this key challenge, multiple goals could be planned and tackled together to make an effective solution. - Multi-disciplinary strategies are put in place, demonstrated via success stories and best practices. Key driving factors are identified with the consideration of the driving organization nature. - A system could be developed to engage different stakeholders in the society for industry development – and to avoid returning to poverty in the long term. - Future international cooperation could be facilitated to create a poverty alleviation framework applicable across different regions.
Poverty Alleviation in China
by Kun YanThis study systematically investigates the development process, major characteristics and weak links of China's poverty alleviation experience and conducts a comparative analysis of poverty alleviation cases. It also accurately presents the internal logic and core elements of China's poverty alleviation theory and taking the Chinese experience of poverty alleviation refines the "Two Threads One Force" theoretical framework to make a basic judgment of the "China model" for poverty alleviation. It also presents the rationale and plans for responding to new challenges to achieve poverty alleviation goals, which will enhance the welfare of the people and promote social progress and national prosperity.
Poverty Alleviation Via Forest Carbon Sequestration: Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Policy Implications (International Research on Poverty Reduction)
by Weizhong Zeng Fan YangThis book focuses on two issues: the creation of benefits and opportunities for the poverty-stricken people and the trade-off between FCS and poverty alleviation. At the theoretical level, it explains the essential characteristics of PAFCS, analyses the impact mechanism of FCS projects in poverty alleviation, clarifies the stakeholders and their interests and demands, and delineates the dynamic mechanism of FCS projects and poverty alleviation. Based on this theoretical framework, the current situation and challenges for PAFCS in southwest China's ethnic areas are examined in depth. Project performance was quantitatively measured both for projects themselves and for community farmers. The research emphasises that FCS projects in poverty-stricken areas are not the same as PAFCS, highlights the combination of poverty alleviation theory and ecological compensation theory, and considers PAFCS as an intersection of poverty research and ecological compensation research. Additionally, theresearch suggested that FCS projects are not general poverty alleviation projects, highlights the need for full respect to be granted to the subjective will and value judgement of farmers, including poverty-stricken farmers, takes the lead in focusing on the win–win goal of combating climate change and reducing poverty, and makes a breakthrough in researching some key issues that need to be solved in the practice of PAFCS in the ethnic areas of Southwest China. This book is helpful for global scholars in the field of sustainable development, anti-poverty and forest carbon sequestration, government officials, and organisations in developing countries concerned with agricultural development, forestry economy, and sustainable development, as well as all the people around the world who want to find innovative solutions in the climate negotiations.
Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India
by Atul KohliIndia has one of the fastest growing economies on earth. Over the past three decades, socialism has been replaced by pro-business policies as the way forward. And yet, in this 'new' India, grinding poverty is still a feature of everyday life. Some 450 million people subsist on less than $1.25 per day and nearly half of India's children are malnourished. In his latest book, Atul Kohli, a seasoned scholar of Indian politics and economics, blames this discrepancy on the narrow nature of the ruling alliance in India that, in its new-found relationship with business, has prioritized economic growth above all other social and political considerations. This thoughtful and challenging book affords an alternative vision of India's rise in the world that its democratic rulers will be forced to come to grips with in the years ahead.
Poverty Amidst Plenty: World Political Economy And Distributive Justice
by Edward WeisbandEdward Weisband's pioneering text is destined to transform the current teaching of world political economy at both the introductory and the advanced level. Outlining the moral principles and ethical concepts fundamental to grasping the human significance of poverty, he clearly reveals what is often hinted at but rarely stated–that the political dimensions of poverty and distributive justice constitute the organizing framework of the study of world political economy. Against a backdrop of readings, Professor Weisband's insightful, interpretative essays generate an interdisciplinary discussion, a synthesis of theoretical perspectives and value orientations, providing students with a critical comprehension of the complex workings of the world economy. The essays link basic approaches to world politics and international relations, international law and organization, international sociology, development studies, and moral philosophy to give texture to such basic theories as modes of production, dependency, world systems, unequal exchange, the labor theory of value, free-trade liberalism, neomercantilism, Marxism, and neo-Marxism. Alternative value orientations are also explored, including realist and neo-realist, conservative and liberal, egalitarian and cosmopolitan, radical and materialist. Poverty Amidst Plenty combines theory and analysis with historical and normative perspectives to offer students a relevant, prescriptive, and most of all, human picture of the far-reaching system that governs much of our lives.
Poverty and Austerity amid Prosperity: A Comparative Introduction
by Gregg M. OlsenPoverty and Austerity amid Prosperity puts a sharp focus on rising levels of poverty and homelessness in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Highlighting the important differences between these countries, Gregg M. Olsen examines how poverty and homelessness have been conceptualized, defined, measured, and addressed in each country. Olsen critically contrasts the two main theoretical traditions – individual and societal – that have emerged to explain poverty and homelessness. Ultimately, he argues that societal approaches to the study of poverty are better equipped to explain the developments unfolding across these nations and that the eradication of poverty will only happen when the socioeconomic system has been seriously overhauled and founded upon economic democracy.
Poverty and Exclusion in the Western Balkans
by Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi Sara SavastanoThis book maps the latest developments in the policy relevant analysis on poverty, inclusion and the social agenda in the Western Balkans. It does so by presenting a selection of recent papers which explore from a methodological and analytical point of view how the inclusion agenda can be monitored and adapted to understand the challenges in the region. The volume includes an overview and four sections, covering respectively: (1) innovations in terms of measurement of poverty and inclusion in the region (the concept of inclusion as elaborated at the EU level, innovations in survey design to suit the measurement of inclusion, methodological insights from qualitative work); (2) innovative country level analysis (updating poverty mapping in inter-censual years, the analysis of material deprivation, the analysis of determinants of social inclusion, subjective wellbeing of public work programs participants); (3) examples of country level analysis of drivers of exclusion (barriers to formalization in the labour market, gender disparities in the labour market, disruption in social networks following urbanizations, attitudes towards multi-ethnic states); (4) building inclusive safety nets (an assessment of safety nets in the region, the political economy of welfare reform, micro-simulations of social assistance reform, the adoption of better tools to improve targeting performance). The chapters combine sophisticated techniques which are at the frontiers of poverty analysis (small area estimation, efficiency analysis applied to household welfare, micro-simulations) with less ground-breaking papers which take advantage of innovative datasets or perspectives deeply grounded in the policy dialogue in the countries of the region. By providing a wide spectrum of innovative and policy relevant analytical contributions this book will be of broader interest than for observers of the region.
Poverty and Governance in South Asia (Routledge Studies in South Asian Politics)
by Syeda Naushin ParniniAcross South Asia in the last two decades, there has been widespread emphasis on governance reforms aiming to reduce poverty through Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The recent development agenda has had great impact over the region , and this book finds that it largely widens the gap between the rich and poor, which combined with rising inflation, contributes to political instability. The book analyses the discourses of development agenda and governance crisis and provides a survey of the region by not only focusing on India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but also on the smaller countries in the region, such as Bhutan. Explaining three components of the development agenda as criteria for economic development – poverty reduction, governance reforms and civil society participation through liberal democracy – this book explores the consequences of the neo-liberal democracy and recent development agenda coupled with governance reforms. This work argues that the political economy of South Asia is largely derived from experiences of historical colonialism and recent changes driven by contemporary rise of India as a global power after the triumph of new-liberal democracy and market capitalism in the post-cold war era. It proposes a strengthening of the instruments of endogenous governance and people's participation in South Asian countries to reduce poverty through MDGs and other development goals in combination with top-down and bottom up approaches. Offering an understanding of governance and development in the context of the South Asia, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Political Economics, International Development Studies, Political Science, and Governance Studies, as well as policy makers.
Poverty and Quality of Life in the Digital Era: Interdisciplinary Discussions and Solutions (SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research)
by Nikolaos E. MyridisThis book proposes new solutions to the problem of poverty, and begins with providing analyses. It bases most of the analyses and solutions in the context of the digital era. The book also follows, in addition to a scientific distribution, a spatial-geographical one: analyses of countries of the European Union as well as South Africa, while it referring to two main variables, television and art, as agents of poverty alleviation. The book places particular focus on how poverty is understood in the framework of Industry 4.0. It introduces a new expanded Multidimensional Poverty Index with more than 20 dimensions; moreover, it provides a mathematically based solution for the disposal of perishable food. Finally, it does not disregard the crucial aspect of the issue of poverty: that of education planning. This book is of interest to specialists in poverty research, from students to professionals and from professors to activists, without excluding engineers.
Poverty and Schooling in the U.S.: Contexts and Consequences (Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education)
by Sue BooksPoverty is an educational issue because it affects children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Especially in current times, taken-for-granted ideas about poverty and poor children must be scrutinized and reconsidered. That is the goal of this book. Poverty and Schooling in the U.S.: Contexts and Consequences is in part a plea for educators and future educators to undertake the intellectual and emotional work of learning more about the social causes, as well as the sometimes life-altering consequences of poverty. Although such efforts will not eradicate poverty, they can help form more insightful educators, administrators, policymakers, and researchers. The book is also an effort to bring to the table a larger conversation about the educational significance of the social and legal policy contexts of poverty and about typical school experiences of poor children. Poverty and Schooling in the U.S.: Contexts and Consequences: *describes what teachers need to know or to understand about the contexts and consequences of poverty; *provides information and analysis of the social context of poverty; *examines the experience of many children and families living in poverty; *documents the demographics of poverty and offers a critique of the official U.S. poverty metric; *reports on continuing and significant disparities in school funding; *presents historical context through a broad-brush review of some of the landmark legal decisions in the struggle for educational opportunity; *looks at some typical school experiences of poor children; *considers the consequences of the federal No Child Left Behind Act; and *offers suggestions about the kind of educational reform that could make a difference in the lives of poor children.This book is fundamental for faculty, researchers, school practitioners, and students across the field of education. It is accessible to all readers. An extensive background in social theory, educational theory, or statistics is not required.
Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune (Poverty and Shared Prosperity)
by World BankThis edition of the biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity report brings sobering news. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its associated economic crisis, compounded by the effects of armed conflict and climate change, are reversing hard-won gains in poverty reduction and shared prosperity. The fight to end poverty has suffered its worst setback in decades after more than 20 years of progress. The goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, already at risk before the pandemic, is now beyond reach in the absence of swift, significant, and sustained action, and the objective of advancing shared prosperity—raising the incomes of the poorest 40 percent in each country—will be much more difficult. Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune presents new estimates of COVID-19's impacts on global poverty and shared prosperity. Harnessing fresh data from frontline surveys and economic simulations, it shows that pandemic-related job losses and deprivation worldwide are hitting already poor and vulnerable people hard, while also shifting the profile of global poverty to include millions of 'new poor.' Original analysis included in the report shows that the new poor are more urban, better educated, and less likely to work in agriculture than those living in extreme poverty before COVID-19. It also gives new estimates of the impact of conflict and climate change, and how they overlap. These results are important for targeting policies to safeguard lives and livelihoods. It shows how some countries are acting to reverse the crisis, protect those most vulnerable, and promote a resilient recovery. These findings call for urgent action. If the global response fails the world's poorest and most vulnerable people now, the losses they have experienced to date will be minimal compared with what lies ahead. Success over the long term will require much more than stopping COVID-19. As efforts to curb the disease and its economic fallout intensify, the interrupted development agenda in low- and middle-income countries must be put back on track. Recovering from today's reversals of fortune requires tackling the economic crisis unleashed by COVID-19 with a commitment proportional to the crisis itself. In doing so, countries can also plant the seeds for dealing with the long-term development challenges of promoting inclusive growth, capital accumulation, and risk prevention—particularly the risks of conflict and climate change.
Poverty and Social Exclusion: New Methods of Analysis (Routledge Advances in Social Economics #3)
by Gianni Betti Achille LemmiPoverty and inequality remain at the top of the global economic agenda, and the methodology of measuring poverty continues to be a key area of research. This new book, from a leading international group of scholars, offers an up to date and innovative survey of new methods for estimating poverty at the local level, as well as the most recent multidimensional methods of the dynamics of poverty. It is argued here that measures of poverty and inequality are most useful to policy-makers and researchers when they are finely disaggregated into small geographic units. Poverty and Social Exclusion: New Methods of Analysis is the first attempt to compile the most recent research results on local estimates of multidimensional deprivation. The methods offered here take both traditional and multidimensional approaches, with a focus on using the methodology for the construction of time-related measures of deprivation at the individual and aggregated levels. In analysis of persistence over time, the book also explores whether the level of deprivation is defined in terms of relative inequality in society, or in relation to some supposedly absolute standard. This book is of particular importance as the continuing international economic and financial crisis has led to the impoverishment of segments of population as a result of unemployment, bankruptcy, and difficulties in obtaining credit. The volume will therefore be of interest to all those working on economic, econometric and statistical methods and empirical analyses in the areas of poverty, social exclusion and income inequality.
Poverty and Social Impact Analysis by the IMF: Review of Methodology and Selected Evidence
by Robert GillinghamA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Poverty and the Critical Security Agenda (Critical Security Ser.)
by Pauline EadiePoverty and the Critical Security Agenda argues that poverty should be a central concern of security studies and critiques existing methodological approaches to poverty and 'well-being'. Using the Philippines as a case study, this book is critical of approaches to poverty that portray the poor as passive objects as opposed to dynamic actors. With this in mind, the relationship between poverty and democracy, as a means to facilitating human security, is central. Poverty acts as a major behavioural force in international relations, not least for the state, and therefore merits increased visibility within the research agenda. This text is highly relevant for courses on international relations methodology and critical theory, development studies, security studies and international political economy.
Poverty and the Poor
by Gerald LeinwandWhile it is difficult to generalize about the problems of poverty, a number of things are clear. For one thing, while poverty has long been the common experience of man, in a rich society poverty is the leading contradiction of our time. For another, far from being uplifting, as some have thought, poverty is degrading and is a harsh and cruel experience for those who are caught in its grip. It is also clear that we have within our society the means by which the side- effects of poverty may be at least partially reduced, even if poverty itself is not likely to be totally eliminated in the foreseeable future.
Poverty and the Underclass: Changing Perceptions of the Poor in America
by William A KelsoExplains the failure—on both sides of the aisle—of the War on PovertyThe much-heralded War on Poverty has failed. The number of children living in poverty is steadily on the rise and an increasingly destructive underclass brutalizes urban neighborhoods. America's patience with the poor seems to have run out: even cities that have traditionally been havens for the homeless are arresting, harassing, and expelling their street people.In this timely work, William Kelso analyzes how the persistence of poverty has resulted in a reversal of liberal and conservative positions during the last thirty years. While liberals in the 1960s hoped to eliminate the causes of poverty, today they increasingly seem resigned to merely treating its effects. The original liberal objective of giving the poor a helping hand by promoting equal opportunity has given way to a new agenda of entitlements and equal results. In contrast, conservatives who once suggested that trying to eliminate poverty was futile, now seek ways to eradicate the actual causes of poverty.Poverty and the Underclass suggests that the arguments of both the left and right are misguided and offers new explanations for the persistence of poverty. Looking beyond the codewords that have come to obscure the debate—underclass, family values, the culture of poverty,—Kelso emphasizes that poverty is not a monolithic condition, but a vast and multidimensional problem.During his Presidential campaign, Bill Clinton called for an overhaul of the welfare system and spoke of a new covenant to unite both the left and right in developing a common agenda for fighting poverty. In this urgent, landmark work, William Kelso merges conservative, radical, and liberal ideals to suggest how the intractable problem of poverty may be solved at long last by implementing the principles of this new covenant.
Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History (New German Historical Perspectives #7)
by Lutz RaphaelFor many, the history of German social policy is defined primarily by that nation’s postwar emergence as a model of the European welfare state. As this comprehensive volume demonstrates, however, the question of how to care for the poor has had significant implications for German history throughout the modern era. Here, eight leading historians provide essential case studies and syntheses of current research into German welfare, from the Holy Roman Empire to the present day. Along the way, they trace the parallel historical dynamics that have continued to shape German society, including religious diversity, political exclusion and inclusion, and concepts of race and gender.
Poverty and Well-Being in East Africa
by Almas HeshmatiThis volume is a collection of selected studies on poverty and well-being in East Africa. Using a multidimensional approach, the authors hope to provide a broad view of poverty and a thorough account of the variables that contribute to it. As opposed to traditional studies of poverty, which focus mainly on material well-being, this volume includes criteria such as material standard of living, health, education, housing, personal security, access to information, freedom, participation in organization, corruption, trust, and employment. The studies highlighted in this volume are grouped into the following four research areas: child poverty and malnutrition, dynamics and determinants of poverty, multidimensional measures of poverty, and energy-environment-poverty relationships. Together, these studies provide a comprehensive picture of the state of multidimensional poverty, its measurement, causal factors, and policies and practices in Burundi, Cameron, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania. The methodology utilized in the studies is diverse as well, ranging from econometric analysis to decision theory, to neoclassical growth models. This book is geared towards students and researchers interested in economic development, welfare, and poverty in Africa as well as policy makers and members of NGOs and international aid agencies.
Poverty, by America
by Matthew DesmondThe Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. <p><p> The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? <p><p>In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow. <p><p>Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
Poverty, Charity, and Motherhood: Maternal Societies in Nineteenth-Century France
by Christine AdamsThis far-reaching study of maternal societies in post-revolutionary France focuses on the philanthropic work of the Society for Maternal Charity, the most prominent organization of its kind. Administered by middle-class and elite women and financed by powerful families and the government, the Society offered support to poor mothers, helping them to nurse and encouraging them not to abandon their children. In Poverty, Charity, and Motherhood, Christine Adams traces the Society's key role in shaping notions of maternity and in shifting the care of poor families from the hands of charitable volunteers with religious-tinged social visions to paid welfare workers with secular goals such as population growth and patriotism. Adams plumbs the origin and ideology of the Society and its branches, showing how elite women in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rouen, Marseille, Dijon, and Limoges tried to influence the maternal behavior of women and families with lesser financial means and social status. A deft analysis of the philosophy and goals of the Society details the members' own notions of good mothering, family solidarity, and legitimate marriages that structured official, elite, and popular attitudes concerning gender and poverty in France. These personal attitudes, Adams argues, greatly influenced public policy and shaped the country's burgeoning social welfare system.