The Self-Help Myth: How Philanthropy Fails To Alleviate Poverty: 1

Product Description

Can philanthropy alleviate inequality? Do antipoverty programs work on the ground? In this eye-opening analysis Erica Kohl-Arenas bores deeply into how these issues play out in California's Central Valley which is one of the wealthiest agricultural production regions in the world & also home to the poorest people in the United States Through the lens of a provocative set of case studies The Self-Help Myth reveals how philanthropy maintains systems of inequality by attracting attention to the behavior of poor people while shifting the focus away from structural inequities & relationships of power that produce poverty In Fresno County for example which has a 56 billion-plus agricultural industry migrant farm workers depend heavily on food banks religious organizations & family networks to feed & clothe their families Foundation professionals espouse well-intentioned hopeful strategies to improve the lives of the poor These strategies contain specific ideas-in philanthropy terminology "theories of change"- that rely on traditional American ideals of individualism & hard work such as self-help civic participation & mutual prosperity But when used in partnership with well-defined limits around what foundations will & will not fund these ideals become fuzzy concepts promoting professional & institutional behaviors that leave relationships of poverty & inequality untouched