Suchergebnisse

A concluding chapter explores the expanded mission for ethnography suggested by the preceding essays. A look at the persistence of stereotypes of the poor considers the influence of these stereotypes on the ideological foundations of government that serve to legitimize certain forms of public dominion/control, justify inequality, & reinforce exploitation of those disadvantaged by race, gender, class, or citizenship. Public beliefs that underlie the "symbolic politics of poverty" are explored to show how public identification of characteristics of the poor produces moral judgments. It is contended that the ambivalence surrounding public assistance policies reflects personal insecurity generated by a dependence on employment. Ethnography undermines the foundations for stereotypes by revealing how they serve a variety of political purposes. Suggestions are made as to how interpretive research can address political, social, & psychological strategies that safeguard the interests of some groups in society at the expense of others in order to transform discussions of the lives of the poor & move toward the democratization of poverty. 64 References. J. Lindroth

The World Bank's concern for global poverty is described as "affected" & argued to be a response to two contradictory needs of global capitalism: (1) to represent the interests of a single class as those of society as a whole & (2) to operate as a single system across a "fragmented world of competing states with no overarching political authority." After reviewing Karl Marx's perspective on the relationship between poverty & capitalism, the mechanisms used by the World Bank in its attempt to eradicate poverty are analyzed. Focus is on the Comprehensive Development Framework & its Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, which, it is argued, are actually an attempt to make poverty "work" for capitalism. It is contended that, in concert with the International Monetary Fund & the World Trade Organization, the World Bank is promoting & enacting programs in both poor & middle-income countries that are, in reality, designed to "impose universally the conditions through which poverty is created & maintained," ie, proletarianization, exploitation, & market dependence. K. Hyatt Stewart

The World Bank's concern for global poverty is described as "affected" & argued to be a response to two contradictory needs of global capitalism: (1) to represent the interests of a single class as those of society as a whole & (2) to operate as a single system across a "fragmented world of competing states with no overarching political authority." After reviewing Karl Marx's perspective on the relationship between poverty & capitalism, the mechanisms used by the World Bank in its attempt to eradicate poverty are analyzed. Focus is on the Comprehensive Development Framework & its Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, which, it is argued, are actually an attempt to make poverty "work" for capitalism. It is contended that, in concert with the International Monetary Fund & the World Trade Organization, the World Bank is promoting & enacting programs in both poor & middle-income countries that are, in reality, designed to "impose universally the conditions through which poverty is created & maintained," ie, proletarianization, exploitation, & market dependence. K. Hyatt Stewart

Explores the international effects of capital accumulation & the restructuring of labor markets with emphasis of the loss of family ties & ethnic solidarity of Fuzhounese illegal immigrants smuggled into New York City. Families on the Chinese mainland have unrealistic beliefs regarding US prosperity that are kept alive by the "snakehead" smugglers who prey on their business. Therefore, an offspring is sent ahead only to face debt, harsh poverty, & exploitation. The snakeheads & sweatshop owners manipulate family ties & ethnic solidarity to force the undocumented immigrants into superexploitative work. Global economic forces, international smugglers, weak US labor enforcement, & a declining organized labor movement have overcome kinship ties & family strategies, resulting in poverty & desperation rather than the building of a bridge for family immigration to prosperous conditions in the US. L. A. Hoffman

Contrary to the naysayers contending that mass participatory democracy in the world is unrealistic & impractical, it is argued that with material (political & economic) equality & time to participate in governance processes, this type of democracy can be achieved. However, at this point, the many poor of the world are excluded from participation precisely because of lack of time & money. This is as true among the poor of the US as in the rest of the world. The differences between pluralism, representation, & direct democracy for the poor are discussed, citing ideas from Samuel Huntington (1996) & F. A. Hayek (1944 & 1948) on global capitalism & poverty. It is clear that for democracy to succeed, global poverty must be reduced if not eradicated in its extreme form. M. Pflum

Contrary to the naysayers contending that mass participatory democracy in the world is unrealistic & impractical, it is argued that with material (political & economic) equality & time to participate in governance processes, this type of democracy can be achieved. However, at this point, the many poor of the world are excluded from participation precisely because of lack of time & money. This is as true among the poor of the US as in the rest of the world. The differences between pluralism, representation, & direct democracy for the poor are discussed, citing ideas from Samuel Huntington (1996) & F. A. Hayek (1944 & 1948) on global capitalism & poverty. It is clear that for democracy to succeed, global poverty must be reduced if not eradicated in its extreme form. M. Pflum

Ruminates on poverty research, focusing on conceptual issues, politics, & race. The bias toward econometric analysis in poverty research is lamented for want of sufficient conceptual resources, advocating a cross-disciplinary approach to complement the heavily quantitative field. More attention needs to be paid to the allocation of business cycle risks among income classes in the US & to the construction of the very concept of "poverty." It is contended that researchers should not ignore the impact of prevailing political attitudes on policy making, particularly in terms of eschewing critical analysis of these public sentiments. A radically progressive sensibility in poverty research is called for. To address the blatant link between race & poverty, the notions of discrimination in contract & discrimination in contact are presented, arguing that mechanisms of status transmission & social mobility hinge on social interactions in both spheres. Further, cultural explanations to account for racial disparities are challenged for neglecting the fact that group identifications & racial self-understandings are endogenous; the question of how groups construct notions of what constitutes a behavioral norm is posed. J. Zendejas

Over the last 10 years at-risk-of-poverty rates across Europe have been rather stable or rising only slightly. However, certain demographic groups face comparatively high poverty risks. Lone mothers belong usually to the most affected groups by income poverty - but variations are striking. Though, still little research has been done for explaining this vast variation across Europe. It is argued that institutional arrangements in the labor market and the welfare state shaped by existing gender inequalities have an impact on lone mothers' poverty risks. For instance, in countries where women's access to (full time) paid work is low and/or the gender pay gap is high, lone mothers are particularly disadvantaged due to the absent (male) partner. Furthermore, the lack of public childcare and a gendered eligibility to social benefits aggravate lone mothers' poverty risk. I also hypothesize that gendered institutional arrangements mediate the effect of individual characteristics on lone mothers' poverty risks - namely the poverty-reducing effect of employment and the poverty-enhancing effect of children. To prove these hypotheses empirically, I compare 25 European countries running several multi-level models based on pooled EU-SILC data (2009-2012). Results show that existing gender inequalities - particularly the access to full time employment for women and gender-specific welfare eligibility - indeed account for country differences in the level of lone mothers' poverty risk. Furthermore, there is empirical evidence that gender inequalities in the labor market shape the poverty-reducing effect of full time employment. Other specific mechanisms modeled in form of cross-level interactions cannot be supported by the data.

Discusses four issues that poverty researchers need to address. Research on group differences in poverty should also include Hispanics & other ethnic & racial groups as well as immigrants. Research on interactions between poverty & other forms of disadvantage or risk factors should examine children in poor, segregated, or low-cohesion neighborhoods; immigrant children or children whose first language is not English; learning-disabled children or those at poor-quality schools; children with chronic health problems or limitations; & children who lack quality child care, experienced many child care changes, or had a working mother in early childhood. Research must also focus on cognitive, behavioral, & economic outcomes of children in poverty; four hypotheses in need of (in)validation are cited. Case studies from other countries can provide insights into antipoverty policy making; GB's New Labour strategy is taken as an example. J. Zendejas

Explores why the US poverty rate & inequality are higher than that of 10 OECD countries via analysis of one absolute & two relative sets of poverty rates. Following a review of international concepts & measures of poverty, poverty among children & elderly are estimated & relative poverty trends for the other 10 nations tabulated. Findings indicate that the substantially higher US child poverty rate (14.7% vs 8% or less) is partially due to the relatively small allotment of national income to social transfers for families with a nonaged head as well as the wage distribution. The link between cross-national policy differentials & poverty is briefly addressed. It is concluded that while low US unemployment can reduce poverty by raising wages for low-skilled workers, the fact that not all poor will "earn" their way out of poverty & the possibility of recession limit this effect. An income package mixing work & benefits as well as other income transfers are proposed to ameliorate this particular brand of US poverty. 4 Tables, 3 Figures, 1 Appendix. J. Zendejas

The neoliberal development model used in the urban economic revitalization of downtown Philadelphia, PA, illustrates the commodification of urban space by the removal of the poor from the public sphere & the suburbanization of the American consciousness. Contemporary research on urban poverty is explored to determine neoliberal practices that shift resources to suburbanization & away from the promotion of social equality. Postwar policies for suburbanization started the capital strategies that fostered uneven development, economic polarization, & a stratified geographical & symbolic landscape. Unfortunately, the same rhetoric of the corporate elites is reflected in urban studies. The class-based rhetoric of a multiracial welfare rights organization in Philadelphia serves as an example of contemporary research that acknowledges political economy & respects the position of the urban poor. L. A. Hoffman

The neoliberal development model used in the urban economic revitalization of downtown Philadelphia, PA, illustrates the commodification of urban space by the removal of the poor from the public sphere & the suburbanization of the American consciousness. Contemporary research on urban poverty is explored to determine neoliberal practices that shift resources to suburbanization & away from the promotion of social equality. Postwar policies for suburbanization started the capital strategies that fostered uneven development, economic polarization, & a stratified geographical & symbolic landscape. Unfortunately, the same rhetoric of the corporate elites is reflected in urban studies. The class-based rhetoric of a multiracial welfare rights organization in Philadelphia serves as an example of contemporary research that acknowledges political economy & respects the position of the urban poor. L. A. Hoffman

"This work investigates the links between poverty patterns and welfare reforms in Eastern Europe by focusing an antipoverty policy change in Estonia, Poland and Hungary during the last two decades. It aims at examining how transformation processes have so far re-shaped institutional mechanisms of social redistribution and understanding the implications of recent policy change for most vulnerable groups. The paper analyzes unemployment, family and social assistance reforms through the concept of multidimensional 'recalibration' and suggests that social inequalities and the impoverishment of specific social groups is deeply bound to normative ideas, distributive scope and functional change characterizing each system of social redistribution." (author's abstract)