Synopses & Reviews
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. Louisand#8217;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.
Review
and#8220;Hamer does a valiant job of showing how difficult everyday life can be in a declining suburban landscape.and#8221;
Review
"Hamerand#8217;s text is important for how it personalizes the numerous structural challenges facing a long-stigmatized and marginalized population."
Synopsis
"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.and#8221; and#151;Christine L. Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
and#147;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
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.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. The Ubiquity of Maternal Ambivalence
Chapter 2. Motherlove: The Power of Maternal Desire
Chapter 3. The Subtle Ambivalence of the Too-Good Mother
Chapter 4. and#147;Before the Beginningand#8221;: Womenand#8217;s Fears of Monstrous Births
Chapter 5. Womenand#8217;s Reproductive Fears: More Clinical Examples
Chapter 6. Racheland#8217;s Story: Internalized Ambivalence and the Dangers of Hidden Guilt
Chapter 7. Whose Fault Is It? The Externalization of Ambivalence
Chapter 8. When Fears Are Realized
Chapter 9. From the Childand#8217;s Point of View
Chapter 10. Vampyric Mothering: From Stage Moms to Invasive Moms
Chapter 11. The Darkest Side of Motherhood: Child Murder
Chapter 12. What Happens Later: The Fate of Maternal Ambivalence
Chapter 13. Whatand#8217;s a Mother to Do?
Notes
Bibliography
Index