Examines the economic underworld of migrant farm workers, the aged, minority groups, and other economically underprivileged groups.

Awarded "Special Recognition" by the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism Awards Finalist for the American Bar Association's 2018 Silver Gavel Book Award Named one of the "10 books to read after you've read Evicted" by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the demands of social justice in America."—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy Winner of a special Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, the book that Evicted author Matthew Desmond calls "a powerful investigation into the ways the United States has addressed poverty . . . lucid and troubling" In one of the richest countries on Earth it has effectively become a crime to be poor. For example, in Ferguson, Missouri, the U.S. Department of Justice didn't just expose racially biased policing; it also exposed exorbitant fines and fees for minor crimes that mainly hit the city's poor, African American population, resulting in jail by the thousands. As Peter Edelman explains in Not a Crime to Be Poor, in fact Ferguson is everywhere: the debtors' prisons of the twenty-first century. The anti-tax revolution that began with the Reagan era led state and local governments, starved for revenues, to squeeze ordinary people, collect fines and fees to the tune of 10 million people who now owe $50 billion. Nor is the criminalization of poverty confined to money. Schoolchildren are sent to court for playground skirmishes that previously sent them to the principal's office. Women are evicted from their homes for calling the police too often to ask for protection from domestic violence. The homeless are arrested for sleeping in the park or urinating in public. A former aide to Robert F. Kennedy and senior official in the Clinton administration, Peter Edelman has devoted his life to understanding the causes of poverty. As Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy has said, "No one has been more committed to struggles against impoverishment and its cruel consequences than Peter Edelman." And former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes, "If there is one essential book on the great tragedy of poverty and inequality in America, this is it."

Assault on Poverty: Basic Human Needs, Science, and Technology

Does science and technology (S & T) truly have a part to play in meeting basic human needs? Can S & T help the world's communities secure adequate nutrition, health care, water, sanitary facilities, and access to education and information? The role of science and technology in development is certainly one of the most complex and delicate issues facing policymakers and development practitioners today. In An Assault on Poverty, the Panel on Technology for Basic Needs of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development offers analyses of poverty eradication and the role of S & T.

In Assault on Rural Poverty, Haileleul Getahun analyzes the various causes of rural poverty and constraints impeding increased agricultural productivity during the last four decades in Ethiopia, under three different regimes. Getahun examines the feudalistic system under Emperor Haile Selassie, the command economic system of the military junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, and the current capitalist system of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia led by Meles Zenawi. Getahun discusses the lessons drawn from Ethiopian experience during these three regimes, as well as from other African and Asian countries. These provide the basis for recommending a small farmer-led agricultural and rural development strategy that, if implemented, would alleviate rural poverty in Ethiopia. The author maintains that the keys for successful development are the provision of institutional savings and credit for small-scale farmers and small business owners; the deep involvement of the community in project planning, implementation, evaluation and sharing of the benefits; and the use of development support communication for motivation, information dissemination, and training. Getahun argues strongly that ethnic politics in Ethiopia are destructive to Ethiopian society and militates against sustainable development. Rather, the path to peace and sustainable development requires that ethnic politics be scrapped and replaced by a genuinely democratic and widely acceptable system of governance.

Rural development; Agricultural credit; Land reform; Education; Health.

Improve outcomes for students in poverty by understanding their developing brains Economic hardship is changing our students’ brain structures at a genetic level, producing psychological, behavioral, and cognitive issues that dramatically impact learning, behavior, physical health, and emotional stability. But there is hope. This groundbreaking book by one of the nation’s top experts in brain science and resilience offers solutions that will change minds, attitudes, and behaviors. Learn about how problems develop between people of different races, how the brain develops in persistent poverty, and how it might react to solutions. Inside, you will find real-life applications on topics including: • The lack of culturally competent instruction and its impact on students of color • Poverty′s effect on language development and how it can be positively influenced • The importance of reading • How to counteract the effects of the widespread stress in lower SES environments Children make up 23% of the U.S. population and account for almost 33% of those living in poverty, making the education system our most distressed institution. In The Poverty Problem, you’ll learn how to increase students’ perseverance and confidence and positively impact outcomes by arming yourself with research-based instructional strategies that are inspiring, realistic, and proven to work.