1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States

    634 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    634 Pages
    by Routledge

    In the United States, the causes and even the meanings of poverty are disconnected from the causes and meanings of global poverty. The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States provides an authoritative overview of the relationship of poverty with the rise of neoliberal capitalism in the context of globalization.

    Reorienting its national economy towards a global logic, US domestic policies have promoted a market-based strategy of economic development and growth as the obvious solution to alleviating poverty, affecting approaches to the problem discursively, politically, economically, culturally and experientially. However, the handbook explores how rather than alleviating poverty, it has instead exacerbated poverty and pre-existing inequalities – privatizing the services of social welfare and educational institutions, transforming the state from a benevolent to a punitive state, and criminalizing poor women, racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrants.

    Key issues examined by the international selection of leading scholars in this volume include: income distribution, employment, health, hunger, housing and urbanization. With parts focusing on the lived experience of the poor, social justice and human rights frameworks – as opposed to welfare rights models – and the role of helping professions such as social work, health and education, this comprehensive handbook is a vital reference for anyone working with those in poverty, whether directly or at a macro level.

    General Introduction. Stephen Natham Haymes, Maria Vidal de Haymes and Reuben Jonathan Miller  Section I. From the Production of Inequality to the Production of Destitution: The U.S. Political Economy of Poverty in the Era of Globalization  Section I Introduction.  Maria Vidal de Haymes, Stephen Haymes, and Michael Lloyd  Chapter 1. Beyond Coincidence: How Neo-Liberal Policy Initiatives in the IMF and World Bank Affected US Poverty Levels  Pamela Blackmon  Chapter 2. The Discursive Axis of Neoliberalism: Debt, Deficits, and Austerity  Shawn Cassiman  Chapter 3. Deindustrialized Small Cities and Poverty: The View From Camden  Andrew Seligsohn and Joan Maya Mazelis  Chapter 4. Transnational Factors Driving US Inequality and Poverty  Rubin Patterson and Giselle Thompson  Chapter 5. Globalization and the Trends in Inequality of Poverty in the US in the Last Decade  Ashish Singh  Chapter 6. The House Always Wins: How State Lotteries Displace American Tax Burdens by Class and Race  Kasey Henricks and Victoria Brockett  Chapter 7. Predatory Financial Services: The High Cost of Being Poor in America  Howard Karger  Chapter 8. Consumer Credits as a Quasi Welfare System for Failed Neoliberals’ Trickle-Down Policies Between the 1980s and 2000s  Intae Yoon Section II. Discourses of Poverty: From the 'Culture of Poverty' to 'Surplus Population'  Section II Introduction.  Stephen Nathan Haymes and Eduardo Vargas  Chapter 9. The Problematic Conceptualizations and Constructions of Poverty: Select Global Analysis  Ali Abdi  Chapter 10. Neoliberal Economics and Undergraduate Poverty Education  Kevin Blair and Gabriel Santos  Chapter 11. The Importance of Context to the Social Processes Around Material Hardship  Colleen Heflin  Chapter 12. Welfare Dependency and Poverty: Neoliberal Rhetoric or Evidence-Informed Choice?  Phillip Hong and Brenda Crawley  Chapter 13. Babies as Barriers: Welfare Policy Discourse in an Era of Neoliberalism  Linda Houser, Sanford F. Schram, Joe Soss and Richard Fording  Chapter 14. We are the 99 Percent: The Rise of Poverty and Decline of Poverty Stigma  Joan Maya Mazelis and Brendan M. Gaughan  Section III. From the Welfare State To The Neoliberal State: From Regulating to Imprisoning the Poor  Part I. Transformation of the Welfare State: Education  Section III Part I Introduction.  Stephen Nathan Haymes and Emily Shayman  Chapter 15. Neoliberalism and African Americans in Higher Education  Kimya Barden  Chapter 16. How Neoliberalism Subverts Equality and Perpetuates Poverty in our Nation’s Schools  Jameson T. Brewer and Paul S. Myers  Chapter 17. Invisible Students and the Issues of Online Education  An Chih Cheng  Chapter 18. Poverty Reduction Through Education: An Analytical Framework for Cash Transfers for Education  Elena Delavega and Monit Cheung  Chapter 19. Students that Lag or a System that Fails?: A Contemporary Look at the Academic Trajectory of Latino Students  Jessica Martone  Chapter 20. The New Two Tiered Education System in the United States: Expanding and Commodifying Poverty and Inequality  Kenneth J. Saltman  Part II. Transformation of the Welfare State: Cash Transfer, Housing, Nutrition, and Health  Section III Part II Introduction.  Maria Vidal de Haymes and Erin Malcolm  Chapter 21. Neoliberal Globalization: Social Welfare Policy and Institutions  Michael J. Holosko and John R. Barner  Chapter 22. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)  Richard K. Caputo  Chapter 23. Anti-Poverty Policies and the Structure of Inequality  Eiko Strader and Joya Misra  Chapter 24. Mixed-Income Communities and Poverty Amelioration  James C. Fraser and Deirdre Oakley  Chapter 25. Countering Urban Poverty Concentration in the United States: The People versus Place Debate in Housing Policy  Anupama Jacob  Chapter 26. Privatizing the Housing Safety Net: Hope VI and the Transformation of Public Housing in the U.S.  Kimberley Skobba, Deirdre Oakley and Dwanda Farmer  Chapter 27. Poverty De-Concentration Priorities in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Allocation Policy: A Content Analysis of Qualified Allocation Plans  Monique S. Johnson  Chapter 28. Neo-Liberalism and Private Emergency Food Networks  Deborah A. Harris and Jamilatu Zakari  Chapter 29. Examining Food Insecurity Among Children in the SNAP Households: Implications for Human Rights  Margaret Lombe, Von Nebbit, Mansoo Yu, Andrew Reynolds and Aakanksha Sinha  Chapter 30. The Influence of a Neoliberal World View on Health Care Policy  John Orwat, Michael Dentato and Michael Lloyd  Part III. Transformation of the Welfare State: Criminalizing the Poor  Section III Part III Introduction.  Reuben Jonathan Miller and Emily Shayman  Chapter 31. Managing the Neoliberal City: ‘Quality of Life’ Policing in the 21st Century  Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert  Chapter 32. The Rise of Incarceration Among the Poor with Mental Illnesses: How Neoliberal Policies Contribute  Jessica K. Camp and Eileen Trzcinski  Chapter 33. Class, Crime and Social Control in the Contemporary United States  Spencer Headworth  Chapter 34. A People’s History of Legal Aid: A Brief Sketch  Shaun Ossei-Owusu  Chapter 35. Surviving Gender-Based Violence in the Neoliberal Era: The Role of the State in Transforming Poor Women from Victims to Survivors  Cesraéa Rumpf  Chapter 36. Systematic and Symbolic Violence as Virtue: The Carceral Punishment of African American Girls  Enora R. Brown  Chapter 37. The Paradox of Entrepreneurship as a Policy Tool for Economic Inclusion in Neoliberal Policy Environments  Colleen Casey  Section IV: Global Poverty and the Lived Experiences of Poor Communities in the United States  Section IV Introduction.  Reuben Jonathan Miller and Alexis Silvers  Chapter 38. Social Ties Among the Poor in a Neoliberal Capitalist Society  Joan Maya Mazelis  Chapter 39. Paths into Homelessness: An Examination of Structural Factors  Susan Grossman, Michael Sosin, Judith Wittner and Christine George  Chapter 40. Examining Racial-Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Poverty Among the Elderly  Jin Kim  Chapter 41. Ableism, Poverty and the Under-Celebrated Resistance  Sara Lichtenwalter and Christopher Magno  Chapter 42. Breaking the Silence: Homelessness and Race  David Wagner and Pete White  Chapter 43. The Effects of Neoliberal Capitalism on Immigration and Poverty Among Mexican Immigrants in the U.S.  David Becerra  Chapter 44. The Neoliberal Diet: Fattening Profits and People  Gerardo Otero, Gabriela Pechlaner and Efe Can Gürcan  Chapter 45. Grounding Grandma: A Qualitative Discussion of Home Maintenance Policies for Aging in Community  Lawren E. Bercaw  Chapter 46. Poverty, Health and Asian Non-Linearity  Shweta Singh, Shveta Kumaria and Kathryn Berg  Section V: Organizing to Resist Neoliberal Policies and Poverty: Activism and Advocacy  Section V Introduction.  Reuben Jonathan Miller and Jennifer Miller  Chapter 47. The Poverty of ‘Poverty’: Re-Mapping Conceptual Terrain in Education and Counseling Beyond a Focus on Economic Output  Joby Gardner, Darrick Tovar-Murray and Stanley Wilkerson  Chapter 48. Legitimizing and Resisting Neoliberalism in US Community Development: The Influential Role of Community Development Intermediaries  Leigh Graham  Chapter 49. Too Legit to Quit: Gaining Legitimacy Through Human Rights Organizing  Jennifer R. Jewell  Chapter 50. Neoliberalism, State Projects, and Migrant Organizing  Jacob Lesniewski and Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro  Chapter 51. From the Self to the Social: Engaging Urban Youth in Strategies for Change  Amira Proweller and Karen Monkman  Chapter 52. Migrant Civil Society: Shaping Community and Citizenship in a Time of Neoliberal Reforms  Pascale Joassart-Marcelli and Nina Martin  Section VI: Reframing Poverty in the Era of Globalization: Alternatives to a Neoliberal Economic Order  Section VI Introduction.  Stephen Nathan Haymes and Maria Vidal de Haymes  Chapter 53. Creating a Sustainable Society: Human Rights in the US Welfare State  Phyllis Jeroslow  Chapter 54. Returning to the Collective: New Approaches to Alleviating Poverty  Susan Roll and Sue Steiner  Chapter 55. Why We Cannot All be Middle Class in America  Lakshman Yapa

    Biography

    Stephen Nathan Haymes, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the College of Education and an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies and the Department of International Studies at DePaul University, Chicago. Professor Haymes’ areas of research interest are Africana Philosophy, postcolonial theory, forced migration, and education, conflict and development. Currently, he is working on a project related to place-based education and eco-justice with displaced Afrodescendent communities and a Colombian Human Rights NGO. He serves as the co-editor of The Journal of Poverty: Innovations on Social, Political and Economic Inequalities, a quarterly peer review publication of the Taylor and Francis Group.

    María Vidal de Haymes, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Social Work and Director of the Institute for Migration and International Social Work at Loyola University Chicago. She is co-editor of the The Journal of Poverty: Innovations on Social, Political and Economic Inequalities. She teaches courses in areas of social welfare policy and migration studies and her research addresses the economic and political incorporation of Latino immigrants in the United States; the impact of migration on family relationships, roles, and functioning; forced migration; the role of faith-based organizations in the pastoral and social accompaniment of migrants; child welfare; and social work education.

    Reuben Jonathan Miller, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan. His research, writing, and advocacy work focus on the well-being of former prisoners living in large urban settings and the ways in which criminal justice and social welfare policy are daily experienced by urban poor populations.

    "This Handbook is a treasure trove. Yes, it marshals the data on U.S. poverty, providing an indispensable reference guide. Even more valuably, it theorizes U.S. poverty anew, demonstrating how U.S. destitution and its "surplus populations" are shaped by neoliberalism’s global projects and logics, its economic mandates and powers of enforcement. The Handbook is thus also a compendium of knowledge for all who fight to end poverty. This is the book I want my students to have as they work in impoverished communities. It is also the book that all scholars of poverty and globalization will need to keep ready to hand." - Mark Lewis Taylor, Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary

    "I've always maintained that the most effective way to transform our urban schools is to fight to eliminate poverty. Unless we challenge the exploitation of humanity by capitalism we will lose the battle to save our schools. This outstanding volume presents the necessary evidence to make this case. Any program of education that ignores this landmark text does so at its own peril." - Peter McLaren, Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, College of Education, Chapman University and Co-Director of the Paulo Freire Democratic Project

    "This important book reframes the causes and consequences of poverty, and efforts to address them, in its ideological and global context. The editors and authors have extensive experience and expertise, and add mightily to our understanding of poverty as a field of practice and subject of study." - Barry Checkoway, Professor of Social Work and Urban Planning, University of Michigan