Abandoned in the Heartland - by Jennifer Hamer (Paperback)

About the Book

"Politicians today giddily cut taxes and public services without considering the consequences. Read this sensitive portrait of East St. Louis to understand the social costs of government abandonment. Families can and do survive amidst the crumbling infrastructure. But without decent jobs, medical care, and housing, their daily lives are filled with danger and desperation. Hamer makes an urgent case for reinvesting in the American Dream." --Christine L. Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
""Abandoned in the Heartland" presents a unique portrait relative to the common vision of urban poverty in America. In doing so, it allows for broader and healthier thinking about what it means to be poor in a community of people who share that status." --Alford Young, Jr., Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, University of Michigan, and author of "The Minds of Marginalized Black Men"

Book Synopsis

Urban poverty, along with all of its poignant manifestations, is moving from city centers to working-class and industrial suburbs in contemporary America. Nowhere is this more evident than in East St. Louis, Illinois. Once a thriving manufacturing and transportation center, East St. Louis is now known for its unemployment, crime, and collapsing infrastructure. Abandoned in the Heartland takes us into the lives of East St. Louis's predominantly African American residents to find out what has happened since industry abandoned the city, and jobs, quality schools, and city services disappeared, leaving people isolated and imperiled. Jennifer Hamer introduces men who search for meaning and opportunity in dead-end jobs, women who often take on caretaking responsibilities until well into old age, and parents who have the impossible task of protecting their children in this dangerous, and literally toxic, environment. Illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs showing how the city has changed over time, this book, full of stories of courage and fortitude, offers a powerful vision of the transformed circumstances of life in one American suburb.

From the Back Cover

"Politicians today giddily cut taxes and public services without considering the consequences. Read this sensitive portrait of East St. Louis to understand the social costs of government abandonment. Families can and do survive amidst the crumbling infrastructure. But without decent jobs, medical care, and housing, their daily lives are filled with danger and desperation. Hamer makes an urgent case for reinvesting in the American Dream." --Christine L. Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

"Abandoned in the Heartland presents a unique portrait relative to the common vision of urban poverty in America. In doing so, it allows for broader and healthier thinking about what it means to be poor in a community of people who share that status." --Alford Young, Jr., Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, University of Michigan, and author of The Minds of Marginalized Black Men

Review Quotes

"Hamer's text is important for how it personalizes the numerous structural challenges facing a long-stigmatized and marginalized population."-- "Anthropology of Work Review" (7/1/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"Hamer does a valiant job of showing how difficult everyday life can be in a declining suburban landscape."-- "Naacp Legal Defense & Educational Fund" (8/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Jennifer F. Hamer is Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of What It Means to Be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from Their Children.