List of pre-approved ebooks available through the library:
$2. 00 a Day: Living On Almost Nothing In America by
After two decades of brilliant research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn’t seen before—households surviving on virtually no cash income. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on calculating incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, was one and a half million households, including about three million children. Where do these families live? How did they get so desperately poor?
Through this book’s eye-opening analysis and many compelling profiles, moving and startling answers emerge. $2.00 a Day delivers provocative ideas to our national debate on income inequality.
Aspen and the American Dream: How One Town Deals with Inequality in the Era of Supergentrification by
How is it possible for a town to exist where the median household income is about $73,000, but the median home price is about $4,000,000? Boring into the 'impossible' math of Aspen, Colorado, Stuber explores how the middle-class have found a way to live in this super-gentrified town. Interviewing a range of residents, policymakers and officials, Stuber shows that what resolves the impossible math equation between incomes and home values in Aspen, Colorado--the "X-factor" that makes middle-class life possible--is the careful orchestration of diverse class interests within local politics and the community. She explores how this is achieved through a highly regulatory and extractive land use code that provides symbolic and material value to highly affluent investors and part-year residents, as well as less-affluent locals, many of whom benefit from an array of subsidies--including an extensive affordable housing program--that redistribute economic resources in ways that make it possible for middle-class residents there. Stuber further examines how Latinos, who provide much of the service work in Aspen and who tend to live outside the town, fit into the social geography of one of the most unequal places in the country. Overall, Stuber argues that the Aspen's ability to balance the interests of its diverse class constituencies is not a foregone conclusion; rather, it is the result of efforts by local stakeholders--citizens, government, developers, and vacationers--to preserve the town's unique feel and value, and "keep Aspen, Aspen" in all its complex dynamics"
Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning by
The food system is broken, but there is a revolution underway to fix it. Bite Back presents an urgent call and vision for disrupting corporate power in the food system, a vision shared with countless organizers and advocates worldwide. In this provocative and inspiring new book, editors Saru Jayaraman and Kathryn De Master bring together leading experts and activists who are challenging corporate power by addressing injustices in our food system, from wage inequality to environmental destruction to corporate bullying. Each topical section presents an overview of a problem related to corporate control of the food system and then offers the story of a successful organizing campaign that tackled the problem. This unique solutions-oriented book allows readers to explore the core contemporary challenges embedded in our food system and learn how people and communities can push back against corporate greed to benefit workers and consumers everywhere. It is essential reading for anyone interested in food today.
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by
The inspiring story of a woman who left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and find powerful new ways of tackling it. It all started back home in Virginia, with the blue sweater, a gift that quickly became her prized possession—until the day she outgrew it and gave it away to Goodwill. Eleven years later in Africa, she spotted a young boy wearing that very sweater, with her name still on the tag inside. That the sweater had made its trek all the way to Rwanda was ample evidence, she thought, of how we are all connected, how our actions—and inaction—touch people every day across the globe, people we may never know or meet.From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters—women dancing in a Nairobi slum, unwed mothers starting a bakery, courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds. She shows, in ways both hilarious and heartbreaking, how traditional charity often fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called'patient capital'can help make people self-sufficient and can change millions of lives. More than just an autobiography or a how-to guide to addressing poverty, The Blue Sweater is a call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world.
Born a Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood by
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
City of Omens: A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands by
For decades, American hungers sustained Tijuana. In this scientific detective story, a public health expert reveals what happens when a border city's lifeline is brutally severed.Despite its reputation as a carnival of vice, Tijuana was, until recently, no more or less violent than neighboring San Diego, its sister city across the border wall. But then something changed. Over the past ten years, Mexico's third-largest city became one of the world's most dangerous. Tijuana's murder rate skyrocketed and produced a staggering number of female victims. Hundreds of women are now found dead in the city each year, or bound and mutilated along the highway that lines the Baja coast.When Dan Werb began to study these murders in 2013, rather than viewing them in isolation, he discovered that they could only be understood as one symptom among many. Environmental toxins, drug overdoses, HIV transmission: all were killing women at overwhelming rates. As an epidemiologist, trained to track epidemics by mining data, Werb sensed the presence of a deeper contagion targeting Tijuana's women. Not a virus, but some awful wrong buried in the city's social order, cutting down its most vulnerable inhabitants from multiple directions.Werb's search for the ultimate causes of Tijuana's femicide casts new light on immigration, human trafficking, addiction, and the true cost of American empire-building. It leads Werb all the way from factory slums to drug dens to the corridors of police corruption, as he follows a thread that ultimately leads to a surprising turn back over the border, looking northward.
City on the Edge: Hard Choices in the American Rust Belt by
Why do people stay in a struggling city? City on the Edge explores this question through the lives of five people in Syracuse, New York, a quintessential rust-belt metropolis. Once a booming industrial center with a dynamic civic life and prominence on the world stage, Syracuse has endured decades of crime, drugs, economic depression, absent-minded political leadership, and population decline. Michael Streissguth spent more than three years interviewing a young survivor of the streets, a refugee from Cuba, an urban farmer, a community activist, and a city elder, who shared their stories as they found ways to make life work against sometimes formidable odds. He also contextualizes their extended commentary and storytelling with secondary characters and various episodes, such as a tragic Father's Day riot and the trial that followed. The result is an eye-opening look at life in America in the twenty-first century, where people strive to turn their ideas, frustrations, and disadvantages into new hope for themselves and the city where they live.
The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide by
For every dollar owned by the average white family in the United States, the average family of color has less than a dime. Why do people of color have so little wealth? The Color of Wealth lays bare a dirty secret: for centuries, people of color have been barred by laws and by discrimination from participating in government wealth-building programs that benefit white Americans.
Coming Out to the Streets: LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness by
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth are disproportionately represented in the U.S. youth homelessness population. In Coming Out to the Streets, Brandon Andrew Robinson examines their lives. Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in central Texas, Coming Out to the Streets maps the LGBTQ youth's lives prior to experiencing homelessness-within their families, schools, and other institutions-and while they live on the streets, deal with police, and navigate shelters and services for people experiencing homelessness. Through this documentation, Robinson shows how poverty and racial inequality shape how LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness negotiate their gender and sexuality. Robinson contends that solutions to addressing LGBTQ youth homelessness need to move beyond blaming families for rejecting their child. By highlighting youth's voices, Robinson calls for queer and trans liberation through systemic change.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by
In this groundbreaking book, Harvard sociologist and 2015 MacArthur “Genius” Award winner Matthew Desmond takes readers into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee, where families spend most of their income on housing and where eviction has become routine—a vicious cycle that deepens our country's vast inequality.
Experiences of Hunger and Food Insecurity in College by
-A poignant portrayal of what it means to be a college student today, this thoughtful and timely book illuminates the lived experiences of students who are struggling to get enough to eat and how they cope with this reality. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand today's college students and how we can better support them in their educational goals." -Katharine M. Broton, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies, University of Iowa, USA, and co-editor (with Clare L. Cady) of Food Insecurity on Campus: Action and Intervention (2020) This volume explores the experience of hunger and food insecurity among college students at a large, public university in north Texas. Ninety-two clients of the campus food pantry volunteered to share their experiences through qualitative interviews, allowing the author to develop seven profiles of food insecurity, while at once exploring the impact of childhood food insecurity and various coping strategies. Students highlighted the issues of stigma and shame; the unwillingness to discuss food insecurity with their peers; the physical consequences of hunger and poor nutrition; the associations between mental health and nutrition; the academic sacrifices and motivations to finish their degree in the light of food insecurity; and the potential for raising awareness on campus through university engagement. Henry concludes the book with a discussion of solutions-existing solutions to alleviate food insecurity, student-led suggestions for additional resources, solutions in place at other universities that serve as potential models for similar campuses-and efforts to change federal policy.
Food Insecurity on Campus: Action and Intervention by
The hidden problem of student hunger on college campuses is real. Here's how colleges and universities are addressing it.As the price of college continues to rise and the incomes of most Americans stagnate, too many college students are going hungry. According to researchers, approximately half of all undergraduates are food insecure. Food Insecurity on Campus—the first book to describe the problem—meets higher education's growing demand to tackle the pressing question'How can we end student hunger?'Essays by a diverse set of authors, each working to address food insecurity in higher education, describe unique approaches to the topic. They also offer insights into the most promising strategies to combat student hunger, including• utilizing research to raise awareness and enact change; • creating campus pantries, emergency aid programs, and meal voucher initiatives to meet immediate needs;• leveraging public benefits and nonprofit partnerships to provide additional resources;• changing higher education systems and college cultures to better serve students; and• drawing on student activism and administrative clout to influence federal, state, and local policies.Arguing that practice and policy are improved when informed by research, Food Insecurity on Campus combines the power of data with detailed storytelling to illustrate current conditions. A foreword by Sara Goldrick-Rab further contextualizes the problem. Offering concrete guidance to anyone seeking to understand and support college students experiencing food insecurity, the book encourages readers to draw from the lessons learned to create a comprehensive strategy to fight student hunger.
Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by
Freedom Farmers expands the historical narrative of the black freedom struggle to embrace the work, roles, and contributions of southern Black farmers and the organizations they formed. Whereas existing scholarship generally views agriculture as a site of oppression and exploitation of black people, this book reveals agriculture as a site of resistance and provides a historical foundation that adds meaning and context to current conversations around the resurgence of food justice/sovereignty movements in urban spaces like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, and New Orleans.
Front of the House, Back of the House: Race and Inequality in the Lives of Restaurant Workers by
How workers navigate race, gender, and class in the food service industry. Two unequal worlds of work exist within the upscale restaurant scene of Los Angeles. White, college-educated servers operate in the front of the house - also known as the public areas of the restaurant - while Latino immigrants toil in the back of the house and out of customer view.
In Front of the House, Back of the House, Eli Revelle Yano Wilson shows us what keeps these workers apart, exploring race, class, and gender inequalities in the food service industry. Drawing on research at three different high-end restaurants in Los Angeles, Wilson highlights why these inequalities persist in the twenty-first century, pointing to discriminatory hiring and supervisory practices that ultimately grant educated whites access to the most desirable positions. Additionally, he shows us how workers navigate these inequalities under the same roof, making sense of their jobs, their identities, and each other in a world that reinforces their separateness.
Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New America? by
A call for action on one of the most talked about issues of our time: how skyrocketing rents and home values are pricing out the working and middle-class from urban America. Telling the stories of tenants, developers, politicians, homeowner groups, and housing activists from over a dozen cities impacted by the national housing crisis, Generation Priced Out criticizes cities for advancing policies that increase economic and racial inequality. Shaw also exposes how boomer homeowners restrict millennials' access to housing in big cities, a generational divide that increasingly dominates city politics. Defying conventional wisdom, Shaw demonstrates that rising urban unaffordability and neighborhood gentrification are not inevitable. He offers proven measures for cities to preserve and expand their working- and middle-class populations and achieve more equitable and inclusive outcomes. Generation Priced Out is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of urban America.
The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality by
Who is the richest person in the world, ever? Does where you were born affect how much money you'll earn over a lifetime? How would we know? Why--beyond the idle curiosity--do these questions even matter? In" The Haves and the Have-Nots," Branko Milanovic, one of the world's leading experts on wealth, poverty, and the gap that separates them, explains these and other mysteries of how wealth is unevenly spread throughout our world, now and through time. Milanovic uses history, literature and stories straight out of today's newspapers, to discuss one of the major divisions in our social lives: between the haves and the have-nots. He reveals just how rich Elizabeth Bennet's suitor Mr. Darcy really was; how much Anna Karenina gained by falling in love; how wealthy ancient Romans compare to today's super-rich; where in Kenyan income distribution was Obama's grandfather; how we should think about Marxism in a modern world; and how location where one is born determines his wealth. He goes beyond mere entertainment to explain why inequality matters, how it damages our economics prospects, and how it can threaten the foundations of the social order that we take for granted. Bold, engaging, and illuminating, "The Haves and the Have-Nots" teaches us not only how to think about inequality, but why we should.
It's a Setup: Fathering from the Social and Economic Margins by
The norms and expectations of father involvement have changed rapidly within one to two generations. Socially and economically marginalized fathers are being exposed to these messages through popular culture and the media; in state welfare, child protection, and probation offices; in jails, prisons, and post-release programs; and in child support and family courts. Moreover, they are being told that it is up to them to make better choices, to get themselves together, and to be involved fathers. Based on life history interviews with 138 low-income fathers, Black and Keyes show that fathers have internalized these messages and sound determined. After all, there is social worth in fatherhood, hope for creating meaningful lives or new beginnings, the fantasy of leaving something of value behind in the world, and a stake in resisting stigmatizing labels like the deadbeat dad. Most will, however, fall short for several reasons: first, while the expectations for father involvement were increasing, state and economic support for low-income families was decreasing; second, vulnerable fathers often lack viable models to guide them; third, living in dangerous neighborhoods compromises fatherhood and leaves fathers at odds with dominant institutional narratives about being nurturing fathers; and fourth, the dark side of poverty, inscribed on bodies and minds, leaves some struggling with childhood traumas and unhealthy routines to mitigate or numb these painful developmental disruptions. Consequently, the authors assert that without transformative economic, political, and social change that would facilitate and support engaged and nurturing fatherhood, these fathers are being “set up.”
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.
The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail by
Anthropologist Jason De León sheds light on one of the most pressing political issues of our time--the human consequences of US immigration policy. The Land of Open Graves reveals the suffering and death that take place daily in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona as thousands of undocumented migrants attempt to cross from Mexico into the United States. Drawing on the four major fields of anthropology, De León uses an innovative combination of ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, and forensic science to produce a scathing critique of 'Prevention through Deterrence,' the federal border enforcement policy that encourages migrants to cross in areas characterized by extreme environmental conditions and high risk of death. For two decades, this policy has failed to deter border crossers while successfully turning the rugged terrain of southern Arizona into a killing field.
A People's History of Detroit by
Provides a sweeping, Marxist account of Detroit's development and dispossession over the past century. Throughout the book, Mark Jay and Philip Conklin show how the revitalization as well as demise of Detroit are part and parcel of the logic of capitalism. Building on other recent works that show how precarity, uneven development, and colossal waste are constitutive parts of capital's relentless pursuit of surplus value, the book offers a powerful antidote to recurrent narratives of market triumphalism. Chapter 1 analyzes contemporary Detroit, arguing that increasing investment downtown and the dispossession of neighborhoods are not separate entities, but a result of the same process of unequal development. The second chapter looks back at Detroit's birth as a global industrial center and how increased demands for labor led to ethnic divisions among workers and, later, heightened racial violence. Chapters 3 and 4 explore the radical movements and politicized organizations that came out of the 1960s. The Black Panther Party is one of these groups, which called for a restructuring of the political economy but were met with severe repression. The final chapter further discusses the "dialectic of repression and integration" these groups faced as well as the victories of state forces allied with corporations. Among the issues that emerged at this time were the growing unemployment rates and the lack of willingness on behalf of the state to accept crime as a result of social dislocation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in sociology, urban studies, and African American studies.
Poor Queer Studies: Confronting Elitism in the University by
In Poor Queer Studies Matt Brim shifts queer studies away from its familiar sites of elite education toward poor and working-class people, places, and pedagogies. Brim shows how queer studies also takes place beyond the halls of flagship institutions: in night school; after a three-hour commute; in overflowing classrooms at no-name colleges; with no research budget; without access to decent food; with kids in tow; in a state of homelessness. Drawing on the everyday experiences of teaching and learning queer studies at the College of Staten Island, Brim outlines the ways the field has been driven by the material and intellectual resources of those institutions that neglect and rarely serve poor and minority students. By exploring poor and working-class queer ideas and laying bare the structural and disciplinary mechanisms of inequality that suppress them, Brim jumpstarts a queer-class knowledge project committed to anti-elitist and anti-racist education. Poor Queer Studies is essential for all of those who care about the state of higher education and building a more equitable academy.
Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries: New Tools To End Hunger by
In the US, there is a wide-ranging network of at least 370 food banks, and more than 60,000 hunger-relief organizations such as food pantries and meal programs. These groups provide billions of meals a year to people in need. And yet hunger still affects one in nine Americans. What are we doing wrong? In Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries, Katie Martin argues that if handing out more and more food was the answer, we would have solved the problem of hunger decades ago. Martin instead presents a new model for charitable food, one where success is measured not by pounds of food distributed but by lives changed. The key is to focus on the root causes of hunger. When we shift our attention to strategies that build empathy, equity, and political will, we can implement real solutions. Martin shares those solutions in a warm, engaging style, with simple steps that anyone working or volunteering at a food bank or pantry can take today. Some are short-term strategies to create a more dignified experience for food pantry clients: providing client choice, where individuals select their own food, or redesigning a waiting room with better seating and a designated greeter. Some are longer-term: increasing the supply of healthy food, offering job training programs, or connecting clients to other social services. And some are big picture: joining the fight for living wages and a stronger social safety net. These strategies are illustrated through inspiring success stories and backed up by scientific research. Throughout, readers will find a wealth of proven ideas to make their charitable food organizations more empathetic and more effective. As Martin writes, it takes more than food to end hunger. Picking up this insightful, lively book is a great first step.
The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative by
What does it mean to be poor in Britain and America? For decades the primary narrative about poverty in both countries is that it has been caused by personal flaws or ‘bad life decisions’ rather than policy choices or economic inequality. This misleading account has become deeply embedded in the public consciousness with serious ramifications for how financially vulnerable people are seen, spoken about and treated. Drawing on a two-year multi-platform initiative, this book by award-winning journalist and author Mary O’Hara, asks how we can overturn this portrayal once and for all. Crucially, she turns to the real experts to try to find answers – the people who live it.
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by
The renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country--a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets--among them a Tea Party activist whose town has been swallowed by a sinkhole caused by a drilling accident--people whose concerns are actually ones that all Americans share: the desire for community, the embrace of family, and hopes for their children. Strangers in Their Own Land goes beyond the commonplace liberal idea that these are people who have been duped into voting against their own interests. Instead, Hochschild finds lives ripped apart by stagnant wages, a loss of home, an elusive American dream--and political choices and views that make sense in the context of their lives. Hochschild draws on her expert knowledge of the sociology of emotion to help us understand what it feels like to live in "red" America. Along the way she finds answers to one of the crucial questions of contemporary American politics: why do the people who would seem to benefit most from "liberal" government intervention abhor the very idea?
Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by
Uncovers the systemic problems that expose poor communities to environmental hazards. From St. Louis to New Orleans, from Baltimore to Oklahoma City, there are poor and minority neighborhoods so beset by pollution that just living in them can be hazardous to your health. Due to entrenched segregation, zoning ordinances that privilege wealthier communities, or because businesses have found the ‘paths of least resistance,’ there are many hazardous waste and toxic facilities in these communities, leading residents to experience health and wellness problems on top of the race and class discrimination most already experience. Taking stock of the recent environmental justice scholarship, Toxic Communities examines the connections among residential segregation, zoning, and exposure to environmental hazards. Renowned environmental sociologist Dorceta Taylor focuses on the locations of hazardous facilities in low-income and minority communities and shows how they have been dumped on, contaminated and exposed.
Waiting on Retirement: Aging and Economic Insecurity in Low-Wage Work by
America is witnessing a retirement crisis. As the labor market shifts to the gig economy and new strains restrict social security, the American Dream of secure retirement becomes further out of reach for up to half of the population. In Waiting on Retirement, Mary Gatta takes the case of restaurant workers to examine the experiences of low-wage workers who are middle-aged, aging, and past retirement age. She deftly explores the many factors shaping what it means to grow old in economic insecurity as her subjects face race- and gender-based inequities, health hazards associated with their work, and the bitter reality that the older they get the fewer professional opportunities are available to them. More importantly, Gatta demonstrates that these problems are pervasive, as more industries adopt the worst workplace practices of service work. In light of these trends, we must consider the devastating effects on already vulnerable Americans because, as Gatta contends, this crisis does not need to be inevitable. Taking as a model the small percentage of "good" restaurant jobs that exist, she ultimately offers incisive commentary on what can be done to stave off this bleak future.
What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by
Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice.
