What life is like for single mothers and their children living in
poverty in America today - and why it need not be that way. Polakow
(Educational Psychology/Eastern Michigan University) brings
historical perspective to society's often hostile attitudes toward
the poor, especially those on welfare. Interviews with six black
teenage mothers and five somewhat older white mothers reveal their
precarious existence and their struggles to cope in the face of
woefully inadequate social-support systems. The author also looks
closely at the early classroom experiences of selected poor
children, concluding that discriminatory assumptions and
expectations of educators often fail to enrich such childhoods and,
instead, promote discouragement and failure. Noting that the US
falls far short of the level of social services offered in other
Western industrialized countries, Polakow argues for universal
health care, a national child-care system, affordable housing,
child allowances, parental leave, and educational reform.
Acknowledging that legislative and public support for such measures
is lacking, she urges a fundamental change in the way the "haves"
view (i.e., blame) the "have-nots." The individual stories here
refute the popular image of welfare mothers as moral degenerates
breeding children solely for the meal tickets they represent.
Polakow's subjects care for their children and strive to improve
their lot but are hampered by social policies that thwart rather
than aid their efforts. Their individual stories, told mostly in
their own words, are often moving, but Polakow's academese
("deconstructing the myth of childhood"; "pedagogy of equity";
"concrete praxis") can make for slow going. A serious effort that
commands attention when the poor speak for themselves but that
loses its power when the professor lectures. (Kirkus Reviews)
Lives on the Edge offers a penetrating, deeply disturbing look into
the other America inhabited by single mothers and their children.
Its powerful and moving portraits force us to confront the poverty,
destitution, and struggle for survival that await single mothers in
one of the richest nations in the world. One in five children and
one in two single mothers live in destitution today. The
feminization and "infantilization" of poverty have made the United
States one of the most dangerous democracies for poor mothers and
their children to inhabit. Why then, Valerie Polakow asks, is
poverty seen as a private affair - "their problem, not ours" - and
how can public policy fail to take responsibility for the
consequences of our politics of distribution? Searching for an
answer, Polakow considers the historical and ideological sources
for society's attitudes toward single mothers and their children,
and shows how our dominant images of "normal" families and
motherhood have shaped our perceptions, practices, and public
policies. Polakow's account traces the historical legacy of
discrimination against the "dangerous classes" and the "undeserving
poor" - a legacy that culminates in the current public hostility
towards welfare recipients. Polakow moves beyond the cold voice of
statistics to take us into the daily lives of single mothers and
their children. The stories of young black teenage mothers, of
white single mothers, of homeless mothers are presented with
clarity and quiet power. In a detailed look inside the classroom
worlds of their children, Polakow explores what life is like if one
is very young and poor, and consigned to otherness in the landscape
of school. School is a place thatmatters - it is also a place where
children are defined as "at risk" or "at promise". Polakow's astute
analysis of poor children's pedagogy provides a critical challenge
to educators. Written by an educator and committed child advocate,
Lives on the Edge draws on social, historical, feminist, and public
policy perspectives to develop an informed, wide-ranging critique
of American educational and social policy. Polakow's
recommendations in the areas of social policy and education point
to useful cross-cultural models as well as successful small-scale
programs in place in the United States. Yet Polakow constantly
reminds us that "small facts speak to large issues". By providing
us with a living sense of the other America, she helps us to
realize that "their" America is no "other" than ours. Stark,
penetrating, and unflinching, this work challenges our cherished
myths of justice and democracy.
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