The idea that Britain, the US and other western societies are witnessing the rise of an underclass of people at the bottom of the social heap, structurally and culturally distinct from traditional patterns of "decent" working-class life, has become increasingly popular in the 1990s. Anti-work, anti-social, and welfare dependent cultures are said to typify this new "dangerous class" and "dangerous youth" are taken as the prime subjects of underclass theories. Debates about the family and single-parenthood, about crime and about unemployment and welfare reforms have all become embroiled in underclass theories which, whilst highly controversial, have had remarkable influence on the politics and policies of governments in Britain and the US. This text addresses the underclass idea in relation to contemporary youth. It focuses upon unemployment, training, the labour market, crime, homelessness, and parenting. It should be of interest to students of social policy, sociology and criminology.

World Hunger explores the nature and extent of contemporary world hunger, explaining why hunger still persists while agricultural production increases and genetic engineering revolutionises food production and distribution. Numerous case studies, drawn from the North and South, illustrate the diversity of diets in the world and the connections between the global and local. Globalisation and access to food in the global supermarket is examined.
Explaining the essential political character of hunger, the author exposes popular myths and identifies positive changes where prevailing inequalities and ideologies are challenged and it becomes possible to envisage a world where hunger is history.

eBook available with sample pages: 020313687X

Calcutta is notorious for its pavement dwellers, street children, and scavengers that have become a portrait of the worst sort of human degradation. In this illuminating critique, Thomas investigates the standard solutions - improved housing, increased job creation, and intervention of social services agencies - only to come to the conclusion that such initiatives have little effect on the inherent nature of the problem of poverty. Based on historical and anthropological findings, and the author's visits to the slums of Calcutta, what becomes clear is that even in the midst of great poverty, there is a nobility of character, a vitality of ethnic and cultural ties, and an energy that bring out inventiveness and ingenuity in the lives of the poor. If Calcutta's poverty is not to be an intractable problem, these internal forces must be awakened to generate solutions. Illustrated with stunning photographs, Thomas's reflections provide new insight into an age-old problem.

Series Information:
Nissan Institute/RoutledgeCurzon Japanese Studies

After more than 20 years of mass unemployment in Britain and throughout much of Europe can the aspiration of "jobs for all" once again become a reality? This text considers the feasibility of full employment in a modern market economy. The book is written by aothors who were pivotal in pushing full employment up the political agenda in the mid 1990s. They identify the hard choices which policy makers must face and discuss why full employment has been so elusive for the past 20 years. The authors examine: the effects of new technology and increased trade; the increased participation of women in the labour market; the impact of labour market regulation on employment; worksharing; how welfare reform can help the long term unemployed into jobs; the role of industrial policy; and reform of pay bargaining.

________________ 'There's no understanding global inequality without understanding its history. In The Divide, Jason Hickel brilliantly lays it out, layer upon layer, until you are left reeling with the outrage of it all.' - Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics * The richest eight people control more wealth than the poorest half of the world combined. * Today, 60 per cent of the world's population lives on less than $5 a day. * Though global real GDP has nearly tripled since 1980, 1.1 billion more people are now living in poverty. For decades we have been told a story: that development is working, that poverty is a natural phenomenon and will be eradicated through aid by 2030. But just because it is a comforting tale doesn't make it true. Poor countries are poor because they are integrated into the global economic system on unequal terms, and aid only helps to hide this. Drawing on pioneering research and years of first-hand experience, The Divide tracks the evolution of global inequality - from the expeditions of Christopher Columbus to the present day - offering revelatory answers to some of humanity's greatest problems. It is a provocative, urgent and ultimately uplifting account of how the world works, and how it can change for the better.

Over the last decade, the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs has become increasingly popular. This volume examines the effectiveness of this theory when put into practice. The book presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries and produces some startling conclusions. This work should be essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance. Volume One provides a detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in the field.

Over the last decade, the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs has become increasingly popular. This volume examines the effectiveness of this theory when put into practice. The book presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries and produces some startling conclusions. This work should be essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance. Volume One provides a detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in the field.

"Hunger in History" represents the culmination of two years' work in human hunger by the members of the World Hunger Program at Brown University. In bringing together original and specially commissioned articles by some of the world's leading authorities on this topic, Amartya Sen, David Herlihy, Peter Garnsey, among others, the editors have succeeded in providing a strong cross-disciplinary base for the study of hunger. The volume, which includes 16 papers, looks at the problem of hunger from the beginnings of human society, defining and redefining the problem in ancient society and again in early modern and then contemporary society, and ends with an essay by the editors on solutions to the contemporary problem of hunger.

Working For Full Employment draws upon contributions from experienced labour market experts and public policy analysts. Together they provide a readable and stimulating perspective on new ways to combat mass joblessness. Topics covered include the effects of new technology and increased trade, the increased participation of women in the labour market, the impact of labour market regulation on employment, worksharing, how welfare reforms can help the long-term unemployed into jobs, the role of industrial policy, and reform of pay bargaining. The book's central arguments are also relevant to the concepts of 'social cohesion' and the 'stakeholder economy' which are set to become dominant political themes in the next few years. This accessible book will be a valuable guide to economists, policy-makers and everyone with an interest in employment changes.

"A provocative and powerful collection of eclectic writings on the central moral issue of our times". -- Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation

"Double Exposure delivers a double dose of smart writing, controlled anger, and devasting common sense". -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed

This book provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major topics surrounding our country s most troublesome and seemingly intractable social problem: the intersection of race and poverty.

The sixty-three contributions -- by some of the nation's leading thinkers and activists (Nathan Glazer, Roger Wilkins, Senator Bill Bradley, Brent Staples, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Manning Marable, Howard Winant, Benjamin DeMott, Max Frankel, Herbert Gans, Henry Hampton, Julian Bond, and many others), representing a variety of disciplines and backgrounds -- are organized under seven key topics: affirmative action; the "permanence of racism" thesis; the use and utility of racial and ethnic categories; multiculturalism; immigration; the "underclass" debate; and democracy/equality.

In two volumes these books review and expand the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs. Volume 1 provides detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in this field. Volume 2 presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries. The work assesses the success of this policy and provides some startling conclusions. This is essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415095441

This is the first full-length study of Irish Ribbonism. It traces the development of Ribbonism from its origins in the Defender movement of the 1790s until the latter part of the century when the remnants of the Ribbon tradition found solace in the quasi-constitutional affinities of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Placing Ribbonism firmly within Ireland's long tradition of collective action and protest, this book shows that, owing to its diversity and adaptability, it shared similarities, but also stood apart from, the many rural redresser groups of the period and showed remarkable longevity not matched by its contemporaries. The book describes the wider context of Catholic struggles for improved standing, explores traditions and networks for association, and it describes external impressions. Drawing on rich archives in the form of state surveillance records, 'show trial' proceedings and press reportage, the book shows that Ribbonism was a sophisticated and durable underground network drawing together various strands of the rural and urban Catholic populace in Ireland and Britain. Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Its Diaspora is a fascinating study that demonstrates Ribbonism operated more widely than previous studies have revealed.

This book describes and explains the extraordinary wave of popular protest that swept across the so-called Third World and the countries of the former socialist bloc during the period from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, in response to the mounting debt crisis and the austerity measures widely adopted as part of economic "reform" and "adjustment."

During the development decades of the 1960s and 1970s, governments around the world borrowed heavily to finance economic and social development, only to succumb to the global debt crisis and general recession of the 1980s. The last 15-20 years have witnessed the increasing adoption of neo-liberal austerity measures, led by the stabilization and structural adjustment programs of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have averted a crisis for international banks by shifting the burden to the urban poor in the less developed or 'emergent, ' developing nations.

"Free Markets and Food Riots" explores this general proposition in a cross-national study of the austerity protests, or the 'IMF Riots' that have affected so many debtor nations since the mid-1970s. The book argues that modern austerity protests, like the classical "bread riots" in eighteenth-century Europe are political acts aimed at injustice, but acts that are an integral part of the process of international economic and political restructuring. Modern food riots are most important for what they reveal about global economic transformation and its social, and political, consequences.

Successive chapters provide a general framework (drawing on comparative and historical material) and then trace the cycle of uneven development, debt, neo-liberal reform, andprotest in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Additional chapters focus on the role of women in structural adjustment and protest politics and the features of seemingly anomalous cases which qualify the general argument.

In this new edition of his acclaimed study of American poverty, Harrell Rodgers carefully analyzes the most recent data on the profile of poor families and the underlying causes of the dramatic increase in chronically poor, mother-only households. After evaluating the record of past anti-poverty efforts, Rodgers examines the many new and proposed approaches to welfare reform, their prospects of success, and the consequences of failure - both for the children of poverty and for a nation that leaves such a high proportion of its citizenry, its future, at risk.

This concise analysis of America's welfare crisis has been fully updated to evaluate the status of anti-poverty efforts on the eve of welfare reform.

"A very readable, well-organized overview of the factors which have created poverty among white, black, and hispanic female-headed families". -- Women & Politics (on a previous edition)

One of the main ideas behind this book was to trace continuities from the Soviet time to post-Soviet Russia. There are many similarities between Russia and Ukraine, indicating such a continuation. Russia and Ukraine had a lot in common in terms of culture, language and history, partly also because of their common origin. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, the two independent countries chose different routes of development. This makes it possible to distinguish between the effects of politics/reforms on the one hand, and the impacts from the Soviet system on the other. After some more or less chaotic development paths in the 1990s, showing clear differences between the two countries, and before the contemporary conflict broke out in Eastern Ukraine (2013), they had once again more similarities in terms of political leadership and policies in general. The chapters in this book focus on Ukraine and on two regions in Russia: Nizhny Novgorod and Archangelsk. Contributors look at attitudes towards poverty and poor people; strategies of the poor; and policies against poverty. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.

Cheal argues that the sociology of poverty has entered a new postmodern phase. The new poverty is about loss of faith-in relationships that were once believed to last a lifetime, and in government programs that we used to think would last for generations. The new poverty is about the economic fall of individuals and countries who used to be affluent and who once dreamed that their affluence would go on forever. It is about the experience of free-falling, without a parachute and without much of a safety net. The new poverty is about people who lose their jobs when their company downsizes. It is about people whose hours of employment are cut in half when the work runs out. And it is about couples who separate, thereby plunging one of them-and probably their children-into a low income level that they had never anticipated. What is new about the new poverty is the sense of surprise-that poverty can hit so suddenly, that people can fall so far before they are caught and lifted up, that the poverty of children still troubles us after a century of progress. The new poverty is about our loss of faith not only in relationships that were once thought to last a lifetime, but also in government programs that we believed would last for generations. Cheal translates the experience of the new poverty into sociological theory and into social statistics. His purpose is to provoke serious, critical reflection about families today and the risks of being poor. An important study for scholars and researchers involved with family issues and social policy.

A collection of papers that address unemployment as a social phenomenon. It suggests there are solutions if society is willing to take the steps necessary to find and implement them. Focus is on the persistent unemployment in the USA and the UK.

A collection of papers that address unemployment as a social phenomenon. It suggests there are solutions if society is willing to take the steps necessary to find and implement them. Focus is on the persistent unemployment in the USA and the UK.

A fresh look at the complex question of outdoor poor relief in the nineteenth century. The consequences of extreme poverty were a grim reality for all too many people in Victorian England. The various poor laws implemented to try to deal with it contained a number of controversial measures, one of the most radical and unpopular being the crusade against outdoor relief, during which central government sought to halt all welfare payments at home. Via a close case study of Brixworth union in Northamptonshire, which offers an unusually richcorpus of primary material and evidence, the author looks at what happened to those impoverished men and women who struggled to live independently in a world-without-welfare outside the workhouse. She retraces the experiences ofelderly paupers evicted from almshouses, of the children of the aged poor prosecuted for parental maintenance, of dying paupers who were refused medical care in their homes, and of women begging for funeral costs in an attempt toprevent the bodies of their loved ones being taken for dissection by anatomists. She then shows how increasing democratisation gave the labouring poor the means to win control of the poor law. ELIZABETH T. HURREN is a Reader in the Medical Humanities, University of Leicester.

This title was first published in 2000: Marking the centenary of Seebohm Rowntree's first study of poverty in York, this volume examines the modern impact of poverty on health, nutrition, crime, gender and ethnicity.

'With its breadth and depth, The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty certainly deserves a place on the bookshelves of university libraries and of every academic and development professional with a specific interest in gender and development.' Gender in Management: An International Journal 'I recommend this book to be a staple of reference libraries.' British Politics and Policy 'These diverse, thoughtful essays go far beyond a mere summary of international scholarship. They outline a fascinating and provocative agenda for future policy-relevant research. This book will help redefine and revitalise the field of gender and development.' - Professor Nancy Folbre, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst In the interests of contextualizing (and nuancing) the multiple interrelations between gender and poverty, Sylvia Chant has gathered writings on diverse aspects of the subject from a range of disciplinary and professional perspectives, achieving extensive thematic as well as geographical coverage. This benchmark volume presents women's and men's experiences of gendered poverty with respect to a vast spectrum of intersecting issues including local to global economic transformations, family, age, 'race', migration, assets, paid and unpaid work, health, sexuality, human rights, and conflict and violence. The handbook also provides up-to-the-minute reflections on how to theorize, measure and represent the connections between gender and poverty, and to contemplate how gendered poverty is affected - and potentially redressed - by policy and grassroots interventions. An unprecedented and ambitious blend of conceptual, methodological, empirical and practical offerings from a host of established as well as upcoming scholars and professionals from across the globe lends the volume a distinctive and critical edge. Notwithstanding the broad scope of The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty, one theme in common to most of its 100-plus chapters is the need to 'en-gender' analysis and initiatives to combat poverty and inequality at local, national and international levels. As such, the volume will inspire its readers not only to reflect deeply on poverty and gender injustice, but also to consider what to do about it. This book will be essential reading for all with academic, professional or personal interests in gender, poverty, inequality, development, and social, political and economic change in the contemporary world.

Unemployment is the most serious economic and social problem currently confronting the European Union. Although the extent varies from region to region, it is generally most extreme in large cities. Over recent years it has continued to increase, despite a plethora of active labour market policies to combat it. The author looks at unemployment in Europe, asks why it is so high and looks at the policies designed to curb it. The volume examines a number of issues including unemployment in Europe contrasted with other developing economies; the special factors at a local level that can affect the level of urban unemployment; European Union policy on unemployment and the allocation of funds; case studies of five major European cities currently experiencing high levels of unemployment; and an analysis of proposals for the future. This work should be a valuable guide for all those interested in the wider aspects of urban unemployment in Europe.

This new updated and expanded edition challenges many widely held views on the links between poverty and child health. It brings together new evidence, both historical and current, and considers the practical implications for health and social policy, outlining innovative approaches to future development. Poverty and Child Health is vital reading for paediatricians and child health workers, doctors and health service managers, social service professionals, social scientists and everyone with an interest in shaping health and social policy.