In his withering dissection of the origins and misuse of the term underclass" to stereotype and stigmatize the poor, Herbert J. Gans shows how this ubiquitous label has relegated a wide variety of people,welfare recipients, the working poor, teenage mothers, drug addicts, the homeless, and others,to a single condemned class, feared and despised by the rest of society. Probing the deep psychological, social, and political reasons why Americans seek to indict millions of poor citizens as undeserving," Gans calls for a cease-fire in the undeclared war against the poor. He concludes with a set of innovative, job-centreed policy proposals and a multifaceted educational plan to stop the endless flow of new recruits into America's untouchable caste.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book for 1996; Gustavus Myers Award for Outstanding Book on Human Rights

About the Author
Herbert J. Gans, author of Levittowners and The Urban Villagers, is professor of sociology at Columbia University and the former president of the American Sociological Association.

Awards
Winner of Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 1996.



Book Information
ISBN 9780465019915
Author Herbert J. Gans
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Basic Books
Publisher Basic Books