Jean Swanson (2)

Jean Swanson, formerly of End Legislated Poverty (publisher of The Long Haul newspaper), writes from a place of experience, empathy, and activism. Her words are clear, as are her expectations: she wrote this book to challenge the notion of poverty in Canada.

Swanson’s analysis is detailed, especially when it looks at how the understanding of poverty has changed in the past decades. In one chapter, she contrasts “Income Security for Canadians”, a 1970 document which cited the importance of all persons having “an adequate income on which to live” and the role of the economy in supporting social objectives, with “Improving Social Security in Canada”, a 1994 document which abandons these ideas and instead extols the virtues of independence and initiative by individuals in their quest to rid themselves of poverty. In two short decades, she concludes, the blame for poverty has moved from the economy to the individual. This is consistent with the continual privatization and deregulation agendas of the provincial governments; there has been a complete shift in awareness, understanding, and expectation. It is in this type of climate that poor-bashing flourishes.

The simplicity of focusing on individuals in poverty prevents an analysis to develop around the conditions that keep people from employment, education and other dignities. Swanson cites Jo Grey, an activist with a Toronto anti-poverty group, in relation to this issue; instead of the continual “putting a face on the problem [of poverty]” sentiment that people have come to expect in media stories about poverty, Grey advocates for an analysis of the problem in the first place. Grey even coined a new word, poornography, to describe the “poor as victim” stories that dominate Canadian media; these stories re-victimize people in poverty as they reduce them to the category of “deserving” poor.

Swanson certainly does not shy away from the systemic issues: chapters include a look at the role of charities in poor-bashing, how people in poverty can self-bash, and what tools we can use to challenge poor-bashing as we encounter it. She is straightforward and does not hesitate in naming poor-bashing behaviour where she sees it. In the end, the reader is left not only with an enhanced awareness of poor-bashing behaviours, but also a variety of tools to use in challenging poor-bashing in its countless forms.

(archived at http://www.witch-ways.com/2007/07/politics-of-poverty.html)… (meer)

I'm going to use the info from the publisher because it says better than I can. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
From the Publisher
"The special language of poor-bashing disguises the real causes of poverty, hurts and excludes people who are poor, cheapens the labour of people who have jobs, and takes the pressure off the rich. Swanson, a twenty-five year veteran of anti-poverty work, exposes the ideology of poor-bashing in a clear, forceful style. She examines how media ""poornography"" operates when reporters cover poverty stories. She also reveals how government and corporate clients use poor-bashing focus groups. To make the book even more useful Swanson includes key chapters on the history of poor-bashing."
Product Description:
Exposes the ideology of poor-bashing. Not a survey of poverty, this is a popular analysis of the way poor people are depicted in the media. When reporters cover poverty stories, they use a special language of poor-bashing which * disguises the real causes of poverty * hurts and excludes poor people * cheapens the labor of people with jobs * takes the pressure off the rich to fight poverty She also reveals how government and corporate clients use poor-bashing focus groups to support their self-referential viewpoint. Clear, passionate and well-researched, the book includes * the history of poor people in the media * the media image of the poor * how the poor can counter these depictions.… (meer)