Drawing on longitudinal interviews, government records, and personal narratives, feminist sociologist Lisa Brush examines the intersection of work, welfare, and battering. Brush contrasts conventional wisdom with illuminating analyses of social change and social structures, highlighting how race and class shape women's experiences with poverty and abuse and how "domestic" violence moves out of the home and follows women to work.
Brush's unique interview data on work-related control, abuse, and sabotage, together with administrative data on earnings, welfare, and restraining orders, offer new empirical insights on the impact of work requirements and other post-welfare rescission changes on the lives of low-income and battered mothers. Personal narratives provide first-hand accounts of women's perceptions of the broad forces that shape the circumstances of their everyday lives, their health, their prospects, their ambitions, and their diagnoses of their world. Deftly integrating the political and the personal, the administrative and the narrative, the economic and the emotional, Brush underscores the vital need to reexamine ideas, policies, and practices meant to keep women safe and economically productive that instead trap women in poverty and abuse.
With her fresh approach to problems people often see as intractable, Brush offers a new way of calculating the costs of battering for the policy makers and practitioners concerned with the well being of poor, battered women and their families and communities.

Rapid economic changes throughout the world economy offer new possibilities for economic development. Yet the multitude of people in an impoverished underclass often find the burst of economic development in their country continues to exclude them. As technologies and demographics reshape economies, the underclass finds its skills increasingly peripheral to the urban economy into which it is drawn. The daunting task before Mexico in raising the living standards of its people is carefully analyzed with the help of economic theory. The current focus on Mexico and Latin America since the passage of NAFTA makes this a particularly relevant book for economists and readers interested in labor, international topics, and in Mexico.

Written with great empathy and Rauf's trademark humour, The Great (Food) Bank Heist is a moving story that gives a child's-eye view of the increasing problem of food poverty. On Thursdays, Nelson, Ashley and Mum head out to the bank. But not just any old bank - the food bank. With its shining tins and packets of food stacked from floor to ceiling, Nelson thinks it's the best kind of bank there is. But there's a thief in town, and the shelves of the food bank are getting emptier each day, leaving people hungrier than ever. For the sake of his family and everyone else's, Nelson needs to make them stop. But can he and his friends really be the ones to catch the bank robber?

Do accelerating trade and foreign direct investment - experimented by most developing countries in the 1990s - imply a positive, negative, or neutral impact in terms of employment, income inequality and poverty alleviation? This book provides some empirically-tested answers to this question using an open-minded, unconventional economic approach and deriving original policy implications. ELI BERMAN Boston University, USA LUIGI CAMPIGLIO Catholic University of Milano, Italy GIOVANNI ANDREA CORNIA Firenze University, Italy PAOLO FIGINI Bologna University, Italy AUGUSTIN FOSU African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi JEAN BAPTISTE GROS International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland SANJAYA LALL Oxford University, UK JOHN LANGMORE International Labour Office, New York, USA STEPHEN MACHIN University College, London, UK GIORGIO BARBA NAVARETTI Milano University, Italy MARIACRISTINA PIVA Catholic University of Piacenza, Italy SANJAY REDDY Columbia University, New York, USA ENRICO SANTARELLI Bologna University, Italy VINCENZO SPIEZIA Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, France LANCE TAYLOR New School University, New York, USA RAYMOND TORRES Organizatio

In this book on urban poverty in the Caribbean, Michel S. Laguerre presents a detailed analysis of the phenomenon in urban Martinique. He argues that the national structure of inequality finds its myriad expressions in the urban environment. Not only does the city provide the ideological back-up - and the locus where elite ideologies are produced and reproduced - but also the men and women who occupy the positions that sustain the inequality structure. The city serves then as an arena where inequality and poverty are daily manufactured.

Tropman examines American values and the two groups that threaten those values. One might wonder why, in the world's wealthiest society, do the poor seem so stigmatized. Tropman's answer is that they represent potential and actual fates that create anxiety within the dominant culture and within the actual poor themselves. The response in society is hatred of the poor, he contends, and among the poor themselves, self-hatred. Two groups of poor are analyzed. The status poor--those at the bottom of America's money, deference, power, education, or occupation (and combinations of those). The status poor embody the truth that, in the land of opportunity, not all succeed. The elderly are the life cycle poor. They are deficient of future, and in the land of opportunity, to have one's own life trajectory circumscribe hope is a condition that must be denied. Poorhate is a classic example of "blame the victim." Tropman explores the process of poorhate through data from the 1960s and 1970s, and he uses the past to illuminate the probelms of the present, and, hopefully, to assist in crafting a better future. A provocative work for students and scholars of social welfare policy and policymakers themselves.

Poverty comparisons - such as whether poverty has increased, or where it is greatest, are typically clouded in conceptual and methodological uncertainties. How should individual well-being be assessed in deciding who is poor? Is a household survey a reliable guide? Where should the poverty line be drawn, and does the choice matter? This monograph surveys the issues that need to be considered in answering these questions, providing an accessible introduction to the most recent literature. The strengths and weaknesses of past methods are discussed, and a summary of methodological recommendations is given. A number of new analytical tools are described which can greatly facilitate poverty comparisons, recognising the uncertainties involved.

Rejecting those who urge a bootstrap approach to people living in extreme poverty on the edge of society, sociologist Barbara Arrighi makes an eloquent, compassionate plea for empathy and collective responsibility toward those for whom either the boots or the straps are missing. This book further offers solutions in consciousness raising, community collaboration, and informed, responsible public policy. The book is a critique of a system that purports to serve yet sometimes impedes the welfare of those who are in need of the basic elements for survival, including affordable shelter. It analyzes the structural factors of poverty and the social psychological costs of being poor and lacking a home. Utilizing interview findings from families who have lived in a shelter in northern Kentucky and from staff members, the book examines the degrading effects of shelter life on women's self-respect and children's development. Rather than an examination of individual pathologies leading to lack of shelter, it centers on women and children living in shelters and offers a sociological study of poverty and the family.

This volume is a call to re-examine assumptions about what care is and how it be practised. Rather than another demand for radical reform, it makes the case for thinking clearly and critically. It urges people living with HIV to become full partners in designing and implementing their own care and for caregivers to accept them in this role.

Social problems are endemic to all societies. The UK is no exception and is grappling with a plethora of issues including poverty, family breakdown, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, youth offending, alcohol and drug misuse, mental health issues, homelessness, and ethnic and religious discrimination. These problems have huge implications for the individual, the family unit and society at large and take their toll on health, wellbeing, and community resources. They place an enormous amount of strain on government finances and the welfare state, and add to the burden on social institutions, such as the National Health Service and the social work and criminal justice systems. Contemporary Social Problems in the UK explores a wide range of social problems in the UK. Each social problem has been explored using a range of psychosocial theories to generate an understanding of various causal factors and to examine the linkages between different social problems. Government policy and legislation, remedial measures, preventive approaches, and strategies of intervention are also considered for each social problem that has been dealt with. Each chapter deals with a particular social problem and has been penned by an expert in that topic. The endeavour has been to provide a multi-dimensional overview of the social problem in a manner that is engaging and easy to read. The end-of-chapter content includes supplementary reading, useful topic related websites besides a quiz and individual / group activities to generate discussion and stimulate learning. This informative yet accessible textbook will be an invaluable resource for instructors and students in the social sciences as well as professionals who work with people who experience some of these problems.

First published in 1984, Toynbee Hall, The First Hundred Years is not just a centenary study, but a personal contribution to the continuing history of Toynbee Hall, which is the Universities' settlement in East London, and an institution that has inspired respect and affection. Its pioneering role as a residential community living and working in the heart of one of London's most deprived areas has been maintained. Called a 'social workshop' by its late chairman John Profumo, Toynbee Hall promotes ventures such as Free Legal Advice, the Workers Educational Association, and the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The book looks at the social changes that have taken place over the 100 years since Toynbee Hall was founded in 1884, but also notes curious parallels, with persistent patterns of poverty, deprivation, squalor and racial separation which characterise the area. Questions about the facts and perceptions of poverty, the nature of community, the visual as well as the social environment, and the roles of voluntary, local and national statutory policy still require answers.

Knut Wicksell is arguably the greatest Swedish social scientist of all time, and poverty was a theme that occupied him all his life. Indeed, it was probably Wicksell's interest in poverty that was the critical factor in drawing him away from his purely mathematical background towards a greater understanding of the social sciences as a whole. In this outstanding volume, Mats Lundahl, one of the world's leading development economists, examines Wicksell's thinking in the area of poverty, and shows the importance of his contributions to this field.

Offers the latest research on poverty in the Graeco-Roman world, and unique insights suitable for social scientists as well as those studying ancient history and classical literature.

There is a mutual dependence between poverty and academic achievement, creative pedagogies for low-income pupils, school models that 'beat the odds', and the resiliency of low-income families dedicated to the academic success of their children. This book examines the connection between poverty and literacy, looking at the potential roles and responsibilities of teachers, school administrators, researchers, and policymakers in closing the achievement gap and in reducing the effects of poverty on the literacy skill development of low-income children. There are numerous suggestions about how to improve schools so that they respond to the needs of low-income children; some argue for school reform, while others advocate social reform, and yet others suggest combining both educational reform and social reform. Without a strong foundation in literacy, children are all too often denied access to a rich and diverse curriculum. Reading and writing are passports to achievement in many other curricular areas, and literacy education plays an important role in moving people out of poverty toward greater self-sufficiency post-graduation. Schools and home environments share responsibility for literacy skill development; in school, literacy equals the acquisition of reading and writing skills, but it is also a social practice key to social mobility. The achievement gap between low-income, middle-class, and upper middle-class students illustrates the power of socioeconomic factors outside school. This book was originally published as two special issues of Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties.

This book examines the effects of high and volatile food prices during 2007-08 on low-income farmers and consumers in developing, transition, and industrialized countries. Previous studies of this crisis have mostly used models to estimate the likely impacts. This volume includes actual evidence from the field as to how higher prices affected access to food and farm income among poor people. In addition to country and regional case studies, the book presents discussions of cross-cutting themes, including gender, risk management, violence, the importance of subsistence farming as a coping strategy, and the role of governments and markets in addressing higher prices.

With 2011 witnessing an unprecedentedly high level of food prices, the findings and policy recommendations presented here should prove useful to both scholars and policy makers in understanding the causes and consequences, as well as the policies needed to ensure food security in light of the skyrocketing cost of food.

This book was published as a special double issue of Development in Practice.

First published in 1984, Toynbee Hall, The First Hundred Years is not just a centenary study, but a personal contribution to the continuing history of Toynbee Hall, which is the Universities' settlement in East London, and an institution that has inspired respect and affection. Its pioneering role as a residential community living and working in the heart of one of London's most deprived areas has been maintained. Called a 'social workshop' by its late chairman John Profumo, Toynbee Hall promotes ventures such as Free Legal Advice, the Workers Educational Association, and the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The book looks at the social changes that have taken place over the 100 years since Toynbee Hall was founded in 1884, but also notes curious parallels, with persistent patterns of poverty, deprivation, squalor and racial separation which characterise the area. Questions about the facts and perceptions of poverty, the nature of community, the visual as well as the social environment, and the roles of voluntary, local and national statutory policy still require answers.

Putco Mafani, from humble beginnings in Bhofolo in the Eastern Cape, has become household name in South Africa. From Radio Ciskei, he went to Umhlobo Wenene FM where he anchored the biggest breakfast show in the country. The former Kaizer Chiefs PRO and sought­after marketing consultant will soon be launching his own radio station.

Things have not always been smooth sailing for Putco. In this memoir, he writes about the hurdles he has had to overcome. He has been detained in solitary confinement, endured a traumatic divorce and found himself unemployed at one stage. He openly talks about some of the mistakes he made as a young person, and also shares his successes and moments of fame and what these taught him.

With contributions from a wide range of people who know and admire Putco, as well as take­home lessons called Putco's Padkos, this book tells an inspirational, authentically South African story.

In Western Europe, the notion of social exclusion is rapidly diffusing in recent years. This book investigates the notion of social exclusion as a new way to approach social issues such as the 'new poverty' long-term-unemployment, precariousness, social polarization and disintegration. Particular attention is paid to both the global relevance of an approach in terms of social exclusion and its value compared to more conventional approaches in terms of poverty of deprivation. It is shown that social exclusion goes beyond these by explicitly embracing the relational as well as the distributional aspects of poverty and emphasizing processes. In this book, the authors explore the specific forms of social exclusion in the ongoing processes of globalization, deregulation, crisis of the welfare state, and rise of individualism.

As in many developing countries, the prospects for land reform in Iran seemed promising. It was expected to improve rural poverty and stimulate agricultural development by replacing the traditional landlord-peasant system with more peasant-biased, modern farming. This book assesses the economic consequences of land reform, focusing particularly on its effect on the living standards of the rural poor. Amid describes a ?biomodal? system of large and small farms that emerged after the reform. Large farms, with government support, modernized and grew more profitable cash crops, whereas small farms found difficulty in obtaining credit and continued to rely on traditional techniques and staple food crops. Land reform was not, the author argues a success for the majority of the Iranian rural population who experienced virtually no improvement in living standards and a growth of rural inequality as a result.

Indigenous people constitute a large portion of Latin America's population and suffer from widespread poverty. This book provides the first rigorous assessment of changes in socio-economic conditions among the region's indigenous people, tracking progress in these indicators during the first international decade of indigenous peoples (1994-2004). Set within the context of existing literature and political changes over the course of the decade, this volume provides a rigorous statistical analysis of indigenous populations in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, examining their poverty rates, education levels, income determinants, labour force participation and other social indicators. The results show that while improvements have been achieved according to some social indicators, little progress has been made with respect to poverty.

Set against the backdrop of deteriorating living conditions for hundreds of millions of people in developing and debtor countries, this volume concentrates on the structural adjustment policies designed to facilitate debt repayment and to stabilize indebted economies and the effects these policies have on the human rights of affected peoples. Conducted by contributors from various disciplines, this analysis provides distinctive insights into the relationship between international economic decisions and human welfare. The volume begins with general chapters on the issue of world debt; the various perceptions of debtors and creditors and the general consequences of the crisis. The specifics of the right to development are presented along with an explanation of and a rationale for this particular project on debt and human rights. The social, political, and economic consequences of the debt crisis and of the adjustment policies designed to alleviate it are presented by academic analysts as well as economists involved in dealing with poverty and equity issues at the international financial agencies. The book concludes with contributions from NGO representatives. These chapters discuss policy change and popular participation. The complex issues of debt and international economics are examined from a variety of perspectives. World Debt and the Human Condition's unifying element is a shared concern for the advancement of human dignity and the protection of the basic human rights of all those affected by the current international debt crisis and by current international economic policies and development strategies.

This study analyses the problems and prospects of the Third World. It formulates a general economic and political theory the author calls the "global strategic transition" (GST) model. The central feature of this model is the global strategic demand response mechanism involving an interaction between the world's expanding strategic core and its fringe, which is facilitated through strategic inflation. This model also provides the basis for a new policy approach to economic development.