Abstract
In Poverty Propaganda: Exploring the Myths, Tracy Shildrick brings together a body of research on poverty, policy, discourses and the experience of poverty. The book explores how the framing of poverty and the poor in public and political discourses influences public perceptions, policy options and the poor themselves. The text is built around the author’s own work as well as that of her associates, bringing to bear relevant literatures outside that immediate circle. It is a magisterial account of an important issue that anyone with a serious interest in poverty – be it as an academic, activist, or policy maker – must understand.
The concept ‘poverty propaganda’ refers to specific ways in which poverty is constructed in public and political discourses. More precisely, poverty propaganda refers to the strategic misrepresentation of segments of the population as lazy, work-shy or deviant and thus undeserving of support. This narrative therefore plays on the age-old distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor. Examples of poverty propaganda include presenting people living in poverty as lazy and work-shy and thus responsible for their own plight, as benefit fraudsters who play the system while not actually being poor or manage to live in luxury on benefits, or as problematic people who got into and remain in poverty through continuously making bad choices.
The welfare state is held to play a role in enabling these problematic individuals, either through trapping them in welfare dependency or simply by creating opportunities for them to live off other people’s labour without contributing anything to society in return. Thus, rather than solving the problem of poverty the welfare state is seen as one of its causes. Shildrick argues that this way of framing poverty is grounded in an individualistic ideology and, as such, is central to the neoliberal political project.
This way of framing poverty implies a policy approach that is both punitive and conditional. All stick and no carrot, if you will. The onus is on the poor to prove that they are deserving of support and when they fail to do so they are swiftly punished with withdrawal of support. One way to think of this is that people receiving support are assumed to be non-deserving and cannot be proven otherwise. Instead, they are continually tested. The support for this approach is further enhanced by the way in which poverty propaganda affects public perceptions of people in poverty.
Poverty propaganda affects people in poverty in at least two ways. Firstly, it facilitates policies that are detrimental to their well-being. Secondly, it affects their sense of self-worth and silences an already marginalized group. Furthermore, poverty propaganda deploys a them-and-us gambit that is not only effective in turning the non-poor against the poor but also drives a wedge between different groups of the poor as many of the latter seek to distance themselves from the vilified poor.
Shildrick provides evidence that explanations for poverty can be found in socio-economic structures such as changing labour markets, deteriorating working conditions, low pay and people getting caught in a vicious cycle of unemployment and low quality employment with little employment security, low wages and little or no chance of advancement. Her account of poverty propaganda and the life experiences of people in poverty are also backed by an impressive body of evidence. While Shildrick’s discussion is limited to Britain her general approach travels easily to other societies and can be put to good use even if labour market conditions or the causes of poverty differ from those in the UK.
The one fault I find with this book is that sometimes it seems that the author assumes intention and malice or zealotry on the part of politicians and policy makers. Shildrick addresses this issue briefly in chapter seven with reference to the concept of ‘wilful institutional ignorance’. I suspect that wilful institutional ignorance plays a role, but it is also easy to see how motivated reasoning plays a role, allowing harmful policies to be implemented in good faith rather than out of malice or ideological zeal. This, however, is not a serious fault as it is somewhat peripheral to the book’s central arguments.
Poverty Propaganda: Exploring the Myths is a fine contribution that will benefit anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of poverty. It is clearly written, well-argued and backed by solid evidence. Lastly, Shildrick’s treatment of the subject matter is both compassionate and respectful.