March 30, 2023 10:00am CT
Matthew Desmond, Ph.D.
(image from www.familyactionnetwork.net)
Family Action Network (FAN) is hosting two, in-person events with Matthew Desmond, Ph.D. on Wednesday, April 12. "Poverty, by America” will be held at 12:30pm at University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work and at 7:00pm at Evanston Township High School. Both events are free and suitable for ages 12 and up. Registration is required for the 12:30pm event.
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In his new landmark book Poverty, by America, acclaimed social scientist and urban ethnographer Matthew Desmond, Ph.D. draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Desmond is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab. His last book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, among others. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Desmond is also a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.
The event at ETHS will be held in the auditorium located at 1600 Dodge Ave. Guests should plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to find parking and seats. Accessible seating is available in the auditorium. Parking is available in the lot across from the main entrance, off of Dodge Avenue, or in the lots behind the high school. Parking is also available along Dodge Avenue according to posted City of Evanston signs.
The April 12 events will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. For more information, including a list of sponsors for the event, visit the Family Action Network website.
