Poverty, by America

In his book "Poverty," Matthew Desmond argues that poverty in the United States is not due to a lack of resources or good policy ideas, but rather to a lack of caring. He suggests that it is time for better-paid citizens to put themselves back in the narrative and recognize that the depth and expanse of poverty in any nation reflects our failure to look out for one another.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 21 March 2023
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The New York Times bestseller, one of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2023, is a must-read for everyone. Ann Patchett describes it as "essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging." Desmond is utterly convincing: we must all become poverty abolitionists.

Emily Kenway, in her review for The Guardian, writes, "A searing study of American poverty from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted." The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line that has not shifted over the last fifty years, despite the efforts of successive governments and extensive relief programs.

Why is there so much scarcity in this land of dollars? In Poverty, by America, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond examines the nature of American poverty today and the stories we tell ourselves about it. Spanning racism, social isolation, mass incarceration, the housing crisis, domestic violence, crack and opioid epidemics, welfare cuts, and more, Desmond argues that poverty does not result from a lack of resources or good policy ideas. We already know how to eliminate it. The hard part is getting more of us to care.

To do so, we need a new story. As things stand, liberals explain poverty through insurmountable structural issues, whereas conservatives highlight personal failings and poor life choices. Both analyses abdicate responsibility, and ignore the reality that the advantages of the rich only come at the expense of the poor. It is time better-paid citizens put themselves back in the narrative, recognizing that the depth and expanse of poverty in any nation reflects our failure to look out for one another. Poverty must ultimately be met by community: all this suffering and want is our doing, and we can undo it.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241543221