Poverty Amidst Prosperity by Carl Chinn
England was the wealthiest nation in the world in the 19th century, but urban poverty remained widespread and deep. Many observers sought to explain this awful paradox. In their investigations they asked whether the poor were to blame for their position because of their feckless lifestyles, or were they pushed into it by an unfair economic system? This study addresses the issues raised by middle-class outsiders, but in a fresh approach it focuses on the urban poor themselves and explains their way of life from within. Using working-class autobiographies and evidence from working-class people themselves, Carl Chinn shows how people reacted to poverty and brings to the fore their coping strategies. He asserts that the urban poor were not passive victims of their circumstances but that they fought against poverty with the support of neighbours and kin, and that they formed thriving villages in a dreadful environment. This book provides an introduction for students seeking to understand poverty from "below" as well as "above". Its wide range of evidence, clear analysis and strong argument stress the importance of communities and give a voice to those whom traditional history has marginalized.Malcolm Dick is Director of the Centre for West Midlands History and Lecturer in Regional and Local History at the University of Birmingham. He was Director of two community history projects in Birmingham between 2000 and 2004: the Millennibrum Project, which created a multi-media archive of
post-1945 Birmingham history and Revolutionary Players which created a digital resources of the history of the West Midlands region. Malcolm is also Editor in Chief of History West Midlands magazine. Carl Chinn is Professor of Community History at the University of Birmingham and history advisor for the schools of Perry Beeches The Academy. He is a social historian with a national profile, columnist with the 'Birmingham Mail', public speaker, writer, and charity fundraiser. Professor Chinn is
the author of 31 books that include studies of working-class housing, urban working-class life, working-class women's lives, illegal betting, manufacturing, Birmingham, the Black Country, ethnic minorities, and the racecourse wars of the 1920s.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780719039904 |
| ISBN 10 | 0719039908 |
| Title | Poverty Amidst Prosperity |
| Author | Carl Chinn |
| Series | New Frontiers In History |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Manchester University Press |
| Year published | 1995-05-11 |
| Number of pages | 172 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |