A People’s History of Poverty in America

By Stephen Pimpare

Deal Ends: Mon 8th December

In this award-winning history, "the voices of the poor give valuable insights into the experience of poverty" (Choice).Winner of the American Political Science Association's Michael Harrington AwardIn this compulsively readable social history, political scientist Stephen Pimpare vividly describes poverty from the perspective of poor and welfare-reliant Americans from the big city to the rural countryside. He focuses on how the poor have created community, secured shelter, and found food and illuminates their battles for dignity and respect.Through prodigious archival research and lucid analysis, Pimpare details the ways in which charity and aid for the poor have been inseparable, more often than not, from the scorn and disapproval of those who would help them. In the rich and often surprising historical testimonies he has collected from the poor in America, Pimpare overturns any simple conclusions about how the poor see themselves or what it feels like to be poor—and he shows clearly that the poor are all too often aware that charity comes with a price. It is that price that Pimpare eloquently questions in this book, reminding us through powerful anecdotes, some heart-wrenching and some surprisingly humorous, that poverty is not simply a moral failure."Reveals not only the terrible want but the sharply punishing indignity of being poor in a culture that celebrates affluence." —Frances Fox Piven, author of Poor People's Movements"This book is long overdue. Stephen Pimpare reveals how long-standing American societal prejudices have led to poverty policy that regulates, exploits, and dehumanizes the poor rather than addressing the root causes." —Sondra Youndelman, Community Voices Heard