Limit this search to....

Abandoned in the Heartland: Work, Family, and Living in East St. Louis
Contributor(s): Hamer, Jennifer (Author)
ISBN: 0520269322     ISBN-13: 9780520269323
Publisher: University of California Press
OUR PRICE:   $29.65  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: September 2011
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Minority Studies
- Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social
Dewey: 305.562
LCCN: 2010052399
Physical Information: 0.7" H x 5.4" W x 8.2" (0.75 lbs) 262 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
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.