{"product_id":"the-stigma-of-poverty-a-critique-of-poverty-theories-and-policies-by-chaim-i-waxman","title":"'The Stigma of Poverty: A Critique of Poverty Theories and Policies' by Chaim I. Waxman","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-4\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-4\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a5d7430-35d8-83ec-8537-639937f3e813-4\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-82\" data-turn=\"assistant\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-15 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\" class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"9170c975-4648-4194-a746-ab5b8b2c407e\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-6-thinking\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4 data-start=\"89\" data-end=\"463\"\u003ePoverty is never treated simply as lacking money, itt is also made into a moral identity: evidence of deficient culture, failed character, disordered family life or insufficient adaptation to respectable society. \u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"89\" data-end=\"463\"\u003eChaim I. Waxman examines how these explanations become attached to poor people and then reproduced by the policies supposedly designed to help them. Moving between cultural and situational theories, Waxman considers education, crime, mental illness, welfare and social class to ask where the “problem” of poverty is being located. Is deprivation produced by the values of the poor, by the material structure of poverty, or by institutions that recognise middle-class behaviour as normal and everything else as failure? His sharpest point is that theory is not politically innocent: how poverty is described determines whether policy attempts to redistribute resources, reform institutions or rehabilitate the allegedly defective poor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1052\" data-end=\"1422\"\u003ePublished in 1977, the book belongs to an important period of argument over the “culture of poverty,” but its central critique remains horribly durable. It is useful not simply as a history of welfare theory, but as an account of how inequality is converted into stigma—and stigma then offered back as an explanation for inequality. \u003cspan class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1449\" data-end=\"1610\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition paperback, Pergamon Press, 1977. Covers rubbed and creased with edge wear; clean internally and firmly bound.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45860315922515,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Yourparagraphtext-2026-07-24T113220.076.png?v=1784856833","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-stigma-of-poverty-a-critique-of-poverty-theories-and-policies-by-chaim-i-waxman","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}