The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative

by Mary O'Hara

What does it mean to be poor? For decades the dominant narrative in the United States and United Kingdom has been that it is caused by personal flaws, or bad life decisions. People living in poverty have been depicted as lazy, dependent, and irresponsible so regularly and for so long that it has powerfully affected how people see, think about, and treat their fellow citizens who are financially vulnerable. Drawing on a two-year storytelling project and her own experience of childhood poverty, this book by journalist and author Mary O’Hara argues for a radical overhaul of this fundamentally pernicious portrayal. We can’t begin to address poverty until we actually see it clearly. To start the process of doing that, O’Hara turns not to pundits or social scientists, but to the real experts on poverty: the people who live it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, Social Science

366 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2020

About the author

Mary O'Hara is an Irish soprano and harpist from County Sligo.

Reviews

[Sarah Naimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening!

With the overwhelming emphasis on self-help and its rapid spread through social media, books, etc, it is really easy to believe that people who “don’t make it” are lazy and unmotivated. Growing up in Algeria, I knew it is not always true and most of the time it’s about access to opportunities. However, I was a bit skeptical about the book’s premise that changing the narrative of poverty will make things better.

This book really opened my eyes on many levels. It is very well researched with the merit of being accessible and hopeful with tangible solutions. The main message is that the current narrative about poverty is a disaster for what is left of social safety nets, especially in the UK and the US (the richest countries on Earth). It is very easy to blame straggling individuals for their conditions rather than pointing out the structural problems of the economic system that is based on growth and profit above all.

This books also made me realize my own privileges. Even growing up in a poor county, I was never hungry and always had a roof above my head. It really broke my heart to read about shaming kids at school in the US and how food was thrown in the bin in front of them just because their parents didn’t manage to pay for their lunches. Which kind of society takes food literally from the mouth of a hungry child? Who does it benefit to throw this food in the trash? It is all about shame to silence the poor and divert attention from deep structural problems of an unfair system.

[Toby Evetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years O'Hara has been writing for The Guardian shining a light on those groups we are all guilty of conveniently ignoring, particularly the poor and the disabled. In this moving book, she focuses on poverty and reveals the heart-breaking experience of people who find themselves living week to week, both practically and in terms of the sense of shame and helplessness. Along the way, she dissects the myths that surround the poor: that there is always a choice, that poverty is a symptom of laziness, or, most insidious of all, that there is something intrinsic to the poor that makes them incapable of escaping. It’s a brave book. O’Hara grew up in great poverty in Northern Ireland in the ’70s, and she is very honest about her difficult childhood and it’s clear her empathy towards the people she interviews comes directly from that experience. Her bravery, and the bravery of many people interviewed for the book and the accompanying Project Twist It, becomes very apparent as they reveal the shame that they often still live with, regardless of their current circumstances. This shame is revealed as even more ugly as O’Hara details how deliberately it has been manufactured by thinktanks and governments, often with the (only sometimes) unwitting support of the wider media. This book is an important first step to flipping that narrative.

[Jordan Claire McCraw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary's book is an exemplary piece of investigative journalism, laying bare the frameworks for injustice which are holding us hostage in the capitalist social structures of the US and UK. The narrative voice is articulate but also accessible, and the author's inclusion of intimate childhood experiences and hopeful suggestions for social reform counter her rigorously academic pursuit for justice. I love this book and treasure it as a reference.

[Sarah Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book on an important topic, but unfortunately I found it quite difficult to read and not as well written as other books discussing similar ideas. A big example of this is the use of quotes as subtitles for sections of the book which are then repeated in the main text, making it feel repetitive. Some of the strengths of this book are the use of quotes and stories from people with lived experience of poverty, but these stories aren't always brought together in a coherent way

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent look at how the poor are portrayed and villainized in the US and UK. This otherness has enabled the decimation of support in both countries to be striped bare, while blaming the victims. Like anyone would choose to go without basic necessities? Ms. O'Hara hopes to turn the narrative around to facilitate kinder programs that actually provide constructive assistance.

[Arliska Fatma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for my fellow Indonesian, stop flashing your privilege t0, "Asal mau berusaha yang gigih, kita bisa sukses kok". That's incapability of shame

[Marie Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Change the narrative. Blaming the poor for being lazy is deliberate and means one doesnt have to do anything to change it. It is "their" fault. This is not true. Let's fight poverty not the poor

[Jezz Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fucking cracked. Absolutely essential read to understand how the weaponisation of shame has become central to poverty narratives and essential to Anglo-American approaches on welfare

[Simon Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a really interesting read and some great thought-provoking ideas at times it became a little too American for me hence the 4 stars.