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A review by quenchgum
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
5.0
Evicted is required reading. Matthew Desmond, a renowned Harvard sociologist and a winner of the coveted MacArthur “Genius Grant” for his deep and transformative research on poverty, decided to write a book, and I’m so glad that he did. The Pulitzer committee agreed, and awarded it the Pulitzer Prize in 2017.
The book isn’t ostensibly political. At most, Desmond briefly discusses the competing frameworks that politicians use to discuss poverty, with liberals focusing on structural forces (things like past and current discrimination and increasing wealth disparities among classes) and conservatives focused on individual deficiencies (like the deeply poor buying an Xbox with welfare checks). Desmond doesn’t think either side paints the full picture. Similarly, although he proposes a few potential policy changes, he makes clear that his proposals are intended to start the conversation rather than to finish it. In other words, instead of spuriously announcing the end of the debate, he choose to enrich it by illustrating need-to-know information and perspective that most readers wouldn’t have.
As an aside, this would be one of the key “liberal” books that I’d encourage my conservative friends to read. I read a fair amount of liberal nonfiction books, and I wouldn’t necessarily push all of them across the aisle (I’m thinking of things like Coates’ Between The World And Me or Kendi’s How To Be An Antiracist, both of which I enjoyed but didn’t find particularly informative). I think this book along with Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow are the two books that pack the most punch. You can disagree with their proposals, but you should know the other side’s facts.
There are some valid critiques of this book, but they don’t come anywhere near overshadowing its benefits. It shouldn’t be the final word on the subject but it’s also explicitly not intended to be. What nobody can deny is that this is a brilliant and extremely thorough starting point. If you vote then you should read it.
The book isn’t ostensibly political. At most, Desmond briefly discusses the competing frameworks that politicians use to discuss poverty, with liberals focusing on structural forces (things like past and current discrimination and increasing wealth disparities among classes) and conservatives focused on individual deficiencies (like the deeply poor buying an Xbox with welfare checks). Desmond doesn’t think either side paints the full picture. Similarly, although he proposes a few potential policy changes, he makes clear that his proposals are intended to start the conversation rather than to finish it. In other words, instead of spuriously announcing the end of the debate, he choose to enrich it by illustrating need-to-know information and perspective that most readers wouldn’t have.
As an aside, this would be one of the key “liberal” books that I’d encourage my conservative friends to read. I read a fair amount of liberal nonfiction books, and I wouldn’t necessarily push all of them across the aisle (I’m thinking of things like Coates’ Between The World And Me or Kendi’s How To Be An Antiracist, both of which I enjoyed but didn’t find particularly informative). I think this book along with Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow are the two books that pack the most punch. You can disagree with their proposals, but you should know the other side’s facts.
There are some valid critiques of this book, but they don’t come anywhere near overshadowing its benefits. It shouldn’t be the final word on the subject but it’s also explicitly not intended to be. What nobody can deny is that this is a brilliant and extremely thorough starting point. If you vote then you should read it.