Trapped in america's safety net sparknotes

POVERTY& POWER THE PROBLEM OF STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY

EDWARD ROYCE

POVERTY & POW ER

R OYCE

ROW M

AN & LITTLEFIELD

ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6443-5 ISBN-10: 0-7425-6443-6

9 780742 564435

9 0 0 0 0

SOCIOLOGY • AMERICAN STUDIES

“Poverty and Power is the single most comprehensive exploration of structural

inequality I have ever read. Brilliantly conceived, clearly written, and exhaus-

tively documented, the book systematically excoriates our prevailing belief that

poverty and inequality result from individuals’ bad decisions or bad personal

attributes. Poverty and Power will quickly become the ‘go-to book’ in under-

graduate classes, graduate seminars, and (hopefully) policy debates. The man-

uscript is spectacular. Can’t wait to use the book in class”

—Rick Eckstein, Villanova University

“Edward Royce’s Poverty and Power provides a comprehensive look at the rea-

sons why poverty persists in the United States and why it is taken for granted

by many Americans. Royce’s compelling argument identifi es the cause of pov-

erty as rooted in inequalities in power and politics and shows the inadequacies

of individualistic, cultural, and human capital theories of poverty.”

—Ellen Reese, University of California, Riverside

Poverty and Power suggests that today’s poverty results from deep-rooted dis-

parities in income, wealth, and power. The rate and severity of poverty remain

high, because millions of Americans are trapped in low-wage jobs, inadequately

served by government policy, excluded from mainstream policy debates, and

victimized by discrimination and social exclusion.

EDWARD ROYCE is associate professor of sociology at Rollins College.

For orders and information please contact the publisher Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 www.rowmanlittlefi eld.com

PovPowerMECH.indd 1PovPowerMECH.indd 1 9/25/08 10:11:37 AM9/25/08 10:11:37 AM

Poverty and Power

Poverty and Power A Structural Perspective on American Inequality

Edward Royce

R O W M A N & L I T T L E F I E L D P U B L I S H E R S , I N C . Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.

Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2009 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re- trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the pub- lisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Royce, Edward Cary.

Poverty and power : a structural perspective on American inequality / Edward Royce.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6443-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7425-6443-6 (cloth : alk. paper) eISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5679-1 eISBN-10: 0-7425-6579-3

1. Poverty—United States. 2. Equality—United States. I. Title. HC110.P6R696 2009 339.4’60973—dc22

2008023463

Printed in the United States of America

�™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To my parents, Dick Royce and Phyllis Royce

Acknowledgments xi

1 Poverty as a Social Problem 1 The Problem of Poverty 2 The Individualistic Perspective and the Structural Perspective 13 Organization of the Book 15 Appendix 24

Part I: Individualistic Theories of Poverty and Inequality 27

2 The Biogenetic Theory of Poverty and Inequality 29 Our Fate Is in Our Genes 29 Genes, IQ, and Intelligence 31 Is It Better to Be Born Smart or Born Rich? 33 Genes, IQ, and Poverty 35 Conclusion 40

3 The Cultural Theory of Poverty and Inequality 47 Poverty as Deviance 47 The Origins and Development of the Cultural Theory 48 The Culture of the Poor 49 The Sources of the Cultural Deviance of the Poor 51 The Cultural Solution to the Problem of Poverty 53 Is the Cultural Theory Plausible? 55 How Well Does the Cultural Theory Know the Poor? 57 Do the Poor Differ from the Nonpoor, and If So How

and Why? 58 Conclusion 63

vii

Contents

4 The Human Capital Theory of Poverty and Inequality 71 Education Is the Key to Success 71 Acquiring Human Capital 73 Converting Human Capital 75 What You Know or Who You Are? 76 What You Know or Who You Know? 79 What You Know or Where You Work? 81 Skills Deficit or Jobs Deficit? 82 Conclusion 84

Part II: A Structural Perspective on Poverty—Four Systems 89

5 The Economic System and Poverty 91 The Economics of Poverty 91 Poverty and Economic Growth 93 Skill-Biased Technological Change 94 A Shift in the Balance of Economic Power 97 Deindustrialization 100 Globalization 103 Corporate Restructuring 107 A Shortage of Jobs 110 Conclusion 112

6 The Political System and Poverty 123 The Politics of Poverty 123 We’re Number One: The United States in Comparative

Perspective 124 The Structure of the American Political System 127 The Political Mobilization of Business 131 The Political Marginalization of the Working Class and

the Poor 132 The Synergy of Money and Power 136 Policy Consequences of the Power Shift: Robin Hood

in Reverse 139 Conclusion 146

7 The Cultural System and Poverty 157 Hearts and Minds 157 The American Dream and the Ideology of Individualism 159 Beliefs about Poverty and the Poor 161 Strong Individualism, Weak Structuralism 162 The News Media 165 The Right-Wing Ideology Machine 172 The Rightward Turn in Poverty Discourse 175 Conclusion 178

viii Contents

8 The Social System and Poverty 187 We Are Not Alone 187 Group Memberships 189 Neighborhood Effects 192 Social Networks and Social Capital 196 Conclusion 204

Part III: A Structural Perspective on Poverty—Ten Obstacles 215

9 Structural Obstacles and the Persistence of Poverty (I) 217 Racial and Ethnic Discrimination 218 Residential Segregation 222 Housing 226 Education 230 Transportation 234

10 Structural Obstacles and the Persistence of Poverty (II) 249 Sex Discrimination 249 Child Care 253 Health and Health Care 256 Retirement Insecurity 260 Legal Deprivation 264 Conclusion 268

11 Conclusion 283 Poverty and Power 283 Programs and Power 285 Movements and Power 289

Selected Bibliography 295

Index 317

About the Author 327

Contents ix

I could not have completed this book without the help I received from Doug Amy, Fran Deutsch, Eric Schutz, and Larry Van Sickle. These four friends kept me going, reading chapters as I wrote them and providing in- valuable feedback and encouragement all along the way. I am extremely grateful for all the time and effort they devoted to this project. Several other people commented on parts of the manuscript, advised me on the book proposal, and let me bounce ideas off them. For their generosity, support, and criticism, I would like to thank Wendy Brandon, Dan Czitrom, Rick Eckstein, Michele Ethier, Meryl Fingrutd, Susan Libby, Shannon Mariotti, Ellen Pader, Lisa Tillmann, Dave Walsh, and Tom Wartenberg. I would also like to thank Alan McClare and all the folks at Rowman & Littlefield.

xi

Acknowledgments

The most telling fact about poverty in the United States is how thoroughly it is ignored. The problem of poverty is rarely depicted on television shows or in the movies, receives only passing coverage from the news media, and is largely absent from the political agenda. Poverty has not always been so invisible. In the early 1960s, in the wake of the civil rights movement, politicians and the press discovered the poor, and in 1964, President Lyn- don Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty.”1 Martin Luther King Jr., along with other political and civil rights activists, kept the issue of poverty alive throughout most of the 1960s. Frustrated by the timidity and inadequate funding of Johnson’s antipoverty program, King put forward a more radical vision. He called upon the country to live up to its democratic ideals and moral principles: “The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”2