Matthew Desmond

Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem.

Poverty and Profit in the American City

Evicted

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

Poverty, by America

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Oprah Daily, Time, The Star Tribune, Vulture, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Public Library, Esquire, She Reads, Library Journal “Urgent and accessible . . . Its moral force is a gut punch.”—The New Yorker Longlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award • Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow. Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

Mustafa Emirbayer

Race in America

In this rugged account of a rugged profession, Matthew Desmond explores the heart and soul of the wildland firefighter. Having joined a firecrew in Northern Arizona as a young man, Desmond relates his experiences with intimate knowledge and native ease, adroitly balancing emotion with analysis and action with insight. On the Fireline shows that these firefighters aren’t the adrenaline junkies or romantic heroes as they’re so often portrayed. An immersion into a dangerous world, On the Fireline is also a sophisticated analysis of a high-risk profession—and a captivating read. “Gripping . . . a masterful account of how young men are able to face down wildfire, and why they volunteer for such an enterprise in the first place.”—David Grazian, Sociological Forum “Along with the risks and sorrow, Desmond also presents the humor and comaraderie of ordinary men performing extraordinary tasks. . . . A good complement to Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. Recommended.”—Library Journal

Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters

On the Fireline

Pulitzer-Preisträger für das beste Sachbuch 2017 – eine erzählerische Studie des modernen urbanen Amerika, anhand des Themas Wohnen wird ein neues Bild von Armut und Ungleichheit gezeichnet. Matthew Desmond nimmt den Leser mit in die ärmsten Viertel von Milwaukee, einer mittelgroßen, normalen amerikanischen Großstadt. Er erzählt die Geschichte von acht Familien am Rande der Gesellschaft. Die meisten armen Mieter stecken heute über die Hälfte ihres Einkommens in die Miete, so dass Zwangsräumungen zu einem alltäglichen Phänomen geworden sind - vor allem für alleinerziehende Mütter. Matthew Desmond zeigt in seinem scharf beobachteten und erzählerischen Meisterwerk die unfassbare Ungleichheit in Amerika. Das Buch verändert unseren Blick auf Armut und wirtschaftliche Ausbeutung und erinnert mit seinen unvergesslichen Szenen von Hoffnung und Verlust daran, wie wichtig es ist, ein Zuhause zu haben. "Wer Zwangsgeräumt liest, versteht, dass man kein ernsthaftes Gespräch über Armut führen kann, ohne über Wohnraum zu sprechen. Außerdem möchte man es dringend jedem Politiker in die Hand drücken." The New York Times

Armut und Profit in der Stadt

Zwangsgeräumt

Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America looks at race in a clear and accessible way, allowing students to understand how racial domination and progress work in all aspects of society. Examining how race is not a matter of separate entities but of systems of social relations, this text unpacks how race works in the political, economic, residential, legal, educational, aesthetic, associational, and intimate fields of social life. Racial Domination, Racial Progress is a work of uncompromising intersectionality, which refuses to artificially separate race and ethnicity from class and gender, while, at the same time, never losing sight of race as its primary focus. The authors seek to connect with their readers in a way that combines disciplined reasoning with a sense of engagement and passion, conveying sophisticated ideas in a clear and compelling fashion.

Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America

Proceeding from the bold and provocative claim that there never has been a comprehensive and systematic theory of race, Mustafa Emirbayer and Matthew Desmond set out to reformulate how we think about this most difficult of topics in American life. In The Racial Order, they draw on Bourdieu, Durkheim, and Dewey to present a new theoretical framework for race scholarship. Animated by a deep and reflexive intelligence, the book engages the large and important issues of social theory today and, along the way, offers piercing insights into how race actually works in America. Emirbayer and Desmond set out to examine how the racial order is structured, how it is reproduced and sometimes transformed, and how it penetrates into the innermost reaches of our racialized selves. They also consider how—and toward what end—the racial order might be reconstructed. In the end, this project is not merely about race; it is a theoretical reconsideration of the fundamental problems of order, agency, power, and social justice. The Racial Order is a challenging work of social theory, institutional and cultural analysis, and normative inquiry.

The Racial Order

'Essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging' Ann Patchett 'Desmond is utterly convincing: we must all become poverty abolitionists' Emily Kenway *A searing study of American poverty from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted* The United States is the richest country on earth, yet has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line which hasn't 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.

"Every chapter of Race in America examines how racism intersects with other forms of social division-those based on gender, class, sexuality, ability, religion, and nationhood-as well as how whiteness surrounds us in unnamed ways that produce and reproduce a multitude of privileges for white people. In the revised second edition, students will find relevant examples drawn from the headlines and from their own experiences. Each chapter is updated to include references to recent social movements and popular culture, making the book a more helpful tool for navigating society's critical conversations about race, racism, ethnicity, and white privilege. And throughout the book, students will find updated scholarship and data figures, reflecting the most cutting-edge sociological research"--

Plongée dans le quotidien disloqué de huit foyers des quartiers pauvres de Milwaukee, au Wisconsin, où chaque jour, des dizaines de ménages sont expulsés de leurs maisons. Arleen élève ses garçons avec les 20 dollars qui lui restent pour tout le mois, après avoir payé le loyer. Lamar, amputé des jambes, s’occupe des gamins du quartier en plus d’éduquer ses deux fils. Scott, infirmier devenu toxicomane après une hernie discale, vit dans un mobile home insalubre. Tous sont pris dans l’engrenage de l’endettement et leur sort est entre les mains de leurs propriétaires, que l’on suit aussi au fil du récit. Fruit de longues années de terrain, ce livre montre comment la dégradation des politiques du logement et la déréglementation du marché de l’immobilier fabriquent et entretiennent l’endettement chronique et la pauvreté, une violente épidémie qui s’avère très rentable pour certains et qui frappe surtout les plus vulnérables, en l’occurrence les femmes noires. Ouvrage magistral et captivant qui offre un regard précis et juste sur la pauvreté et un implacable plaidoyer pour le droit à un habitat digne pour tous

Enquête sur l’exploitation de la pauvreté urbaine

Avis d'expulsion

Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty

With a groundbreaking intersectional approach framed around social spheres, Race in America gives students the tools to think critically about race, racism, and white privilege. In this thoroughly updated Second Edition, students will find relevant examples drawn from the headlines and their own experiences. New features in the text and online help students see the "big picture"--and how they can participate in the fight for racial equality.

Matthew Desmond

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