Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor: Uses of the Underclass in America
First of all the reading By: HERBERT J. GANS was very interesting, it expand my knowledge on the importance of the functions of the undeserving poor. He discusses the strange alliance between the poor and the wealthy in American society. He states that the underprivileged in essence have kept several vocations in existence such as social work, criminology, and journalism. These vocations serve the double pretense of aiding the less fortunate and protecting society from these same individuals. He Mentions 13 important points of the ways that poor people have a positive contribute to society:
He applies this same logic to the existence of poverty in a society that had so much material wealth and concluded that poverty had 13 functions in society that was beneficial to nonpoor members. They include making sure that the menial work tasks of society will be taken care of, the creation of jobs that provide aid for the poor, and the existence of the poor keeps the aristocracy busy with charitable works, demonstrating charity to the less fortunate and superiority over the elites who chose to spend their free time making more money. He also give several alternatives to poverty such as redistribution of the wealth in society, putting everyone on a more even playing field, but ultimately concluded that poverty will continue to exist because disturbing the unequal balance between the poor and the wealthy in society would prove to be dysfunctional for the affluent and that will not happen.
13 Points:
1. Risk reduction
2. Scapegoating and displacement
3. Economic banshment and the reserve army of labor
4. Supplying illegal goods
5. Job creation
6. Moral legitimation
7. Norm reinforcement
8. Supplying popular culture villains
9. Institutional scapegoating
10. Conservative power shift
11. Spatial purification
12. Reproduction of stigma and the stigmatized
13. Extermination of the surplus
I agree there are many things that i have learned from reading this article. i did not know that poverty had so many different effects on our lives.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Gan illustrates 13 interesting functions in which the poor can be beneficial, I will only elaborate on the first function: risk reduction. Risk reduction “distances the labeled from those who label them”. This is shown through non-poor segregating themselves in order to avoid any risk that the poor may cause (danger, crime, etc.). This includes segregation at work – usually the poor are working jobs that do not require much interaction among the “better” people. They are often invisible to the “better-off” in a sense that they are ignored and expected to solely work without talk.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post this week. This paper was kind of hard for me to understand at first but once I re-read it. When I saw your post I kind of understood some of the points in more depth and had similar ideas. Your wording was also right on point which I enjoyed and getting your perspective on the 13 positive functions and contributions to society.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading about the alternatives to poverty in today's world and I think you were right on point when you wrote about those alternatives in your blog post this week.