Poverty and Power: The Problem Structural Inequality

by Royce, Edward

• ISBN13: 9780742564442
• ISBN10: 0742564444
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-30
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc
• More Book Details
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Summary

Most Americans persist in believing that poverty results primarily from individual deficiencies: people are poor because they lack intelligence, determination, and skills. In opposition to this dominant, individualistic view, Poverty and Power proposes that American poverty is a structural problem, resulting from the failings of the political economy, not the failings of the poor. In Poverty and Power Edward Royce argues that the current poverty problem originates from changes in the larger economic, political and cultural landscape and from a corresponding shift in the balance of power that has worked to the advantage of business over labor.

Author Biography

Edward Royce is associate professor of sociology at Rollins College

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Poverty as a Social Problem	p. 1
The Problem of Poverty	p. 2
The Individualistic Perspective and the Structural Perspective	p. 13
Organization of the Book	p. 15
Appendix	p. 24
Individualistic Theories of Poverty and Inequality	p. 27
The Biogenetic Theory of Poverty and Inequality	p. 29
Our Fate Is in Our Genes	p. 29
Genes, IQ, and Intelligence	p. 31
Is It Better to Be Born Smart or Born Rich?	p. 33
Genes, IQ, and Poverty	p. 35
Conclusion	p. 40
The Cultural Theory of Poverty and Inequality	p. 47
Poverty as Deviance	p. 47
The Origins and Development of the Cultural Theory	p. 48
The Culture of the Poor	p. 49
The Sources of the Cultural Deviance of the Poor	p. 51
The Cultural Solution to the Problem of Poverty	p. 53
Is the Cultural Theory Plausible?	p. 55
How Well Does the Cultural Theory Know the Poor?	p. 57
Do the Poor Differ from the Nonpoor, and If So How and Why?	p. 58
Conclusion	p. 63
The Human Capital Theory of Poverty and Inequality	p. 71
Education Is the Key to Success	p. 71
Acquiring Human Capital	p. 73
Converting Human Capital	p. 75
What You Know or Who You Are?	p. 76
What You Know or Who You Know?	p. 79
What You Know or Where You Work?	p. 81
Skills Deficit or Jobs Deficit?	p. 82
Conclusion	p. 84
A Structural Perspective on Poverty-Four Systems	p. 89
The Economic System and Poverty	p. 91
The Economics of Poverty	p. 91
Poverty and Economic Growth	p. 93
Skill-Biased Technological Change	p. 94
A Shift in the Balance of Economic Power	p. 97
Deindustrialization	p. 100
Globalization	p. 103
Corporate Restructuring	p. 107
A Shortage of Jobs	p. 110
Conclusion	p. 112
The Political System and Poverty	p. 123
The Politics of Poverty	p. 123
We're Number One: The United States in Comparative Perspective	p. 124
The Structure of the American Political System	p. 127
The Political Mobilization of Business	p. 131
The Political Marginalization of the Working Class and the Poor	p. 132
The Synergy of Money and Power	p. 136
Policy Consequences of the Power Shift: Robin Hood in Reverse	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 146
The Cultural System and Poverty	p. 157
Hearts and Minds	p. 157
The American Dream and the Ideology of Individualism	p. 159
Beliefs about Poverty and the Poor	p. 161
Strong Individualism, Weak Structuralism	p. 162
The News Media	p. 165
The Right-Wing Ideology Machine	p. 172
The Rightward Turn in Poverty Discourse	p. 175
Conclusion	p. 178
The Social System and Poverty	p. 187
We Are Not Alone	p. 187
Group Memberships	p. 189
Neighborhood Effects	p. 192
Social Networks and Social Capital	p. 196
Conclusion	p. 204
A Structural Perspective on Poverty-Ten Obstacles	p. 215
Structural Obstacles and the Persistence of Poverty (I)	p. 217
Racial and Ethnic Discrimination	p. 218
Residential Segregation	p. 222
Housing	p. 226
Education	p. 230
Transportation	p. 234
Structural Obstacles and the Persistence of Poverty (II)	p. 249
Sex Discrimination	p. 249
Child Care	p. 253
Health and Health Care	p. 256
Retirement Insecurity	p. 260
Legal Deprivation	p. 264
Conclusion	p. 268
Conclusion	p. 283
Poverty and Power	p. 283
Programs and Power	p. 285
Movements and Power	p. 289
Selected Bibliography	p. 295
Index	p. 317
About the Author	p. 327
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