The Injustice of Place

By Kathryn J. Edin, H. Luke Shaefer, Timothy J. Nelson

Book cover of The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America

Book description

A sweeping and surprising new understanding of extreme poverty in America from the authors of the acclaimed $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. 

“This book forces you to see American poverty in a whole new light.” (Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty, by America and Evicted)

 Three of…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Injustice of Place as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

We often think of poverty and inequality as specific to people. This book flips that notion on its head. Poverty comes from locations that repeatedly suffer from disadvantage. it traces this history through narratives of people who live and have lived in these locations. It is a great read for people seeking to understand why poverty and inequality are such difficult problems to overcome.

People often think of poverty as an urban phenomenon, but many of the most impoverished locations in the US are distinctly rural–and many of the families living in these places have faced poverty for decades.

This book took me on a tour through several of these towns in the hills of Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, and other small towns dotted throughout the country. Along the way, I saw how perpetual poverty is derived from the deep and long-lasting history of slavery, Jim Crow, and the firm exploitation of the less fortunate. Each of these, and more, bring poverty to the…

From Troy's list on connecting poor health and poverty.

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