The War Against The Poor: The Underclass And Antipoverty Policy

by Herbert J. Gans

In his withering dissection of the origins and misuse of the term “underclass” to stereotype and stigmatize the poor, Herbert J. Gans shows how this ubiquitous label has relegated a wide variety of people—welfare recipients, the working poor, teenage mothers, drug addicts, the homeless, and others—to a single condemned class, feared and despised by the rest of society. Probing the deep psychological, social, and political reasons why Americans seek to indict millions of poor citizens as “undeserving,” Gans calls for a cease-fire in the undeclared war against the poor. He concludes with a set of innovative, job-centered policy proposals and a multifaceted educational plan to stop the endless flow of new recruits into America’s untouchable caste.

Genres: Poverty, Sociology, Nonfiction, Class, Urban Planning, Urbanism, Politics

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 1995

About the author

Herbert Julius Gans was a German-born American sociologist who taught at Columbia University from 1971 to 2007.
One of the most prolific and influential sociologists of his generation, Gans came to America in 1940 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and sometimes described his scholarly work as an immigrant's attempt to understand America. He trained in sociology at the University of Chicago, where he studied with David Riesman and Everett Hughes, among others, and in social planning at the University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation was supervised by Martin Meyerson.
Herbert J. Gans served as the 79th President of the American Sociological Association.

Reviews

[Public Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough read, dispiriting read. Gans has many insightful things to say about the treatment of the poor in the United States. The creation of the term "underclass" has deep implications about how the poor are perceived and treated by the American polity. I found this book depressing and illuminating.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting argument on the power of labels of words such as "underclass." Gans dissects the implications, both good and bad, about terms about poor people. He argues for increased awareness and responsibility about generating such terms (i.e. by social scientists and journalists) but also makes a persuasive argument for new policies, albeit radical and highly theoretical, that could lessen inequality.

Short read. Sometimes difficult to get through, but worth it.

[Len Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

good at charting the development of the pejorative ways in which we refer to the poor. Heavy on the structural explanations and the purpose of stigmatisation seemed a little over elaborate to me.

[Audrey Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little outdated but still a good read

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good review of the development on labels of the poor. The explanations Gans provides on how labeling has hurt the poor is very interesting. Policy suggestions are provided at the end of the book, which are mostly way out of the realm of possibility given our value system and current financial crisis. Interesting read though, I recommend it.