Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e8RLXP902023; Wed, 27 Sep 2000 17:33:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 17:33:26 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000901c028ca$38601660$23bffea9@hppav> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:42] Extending the Discussion to Poverty X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 Status: O Content-Length: 3038 Lines: 71 I appreciate Jill's comment about how we unintentionally perpetuate the system of oppressed and oppressors and that some segments of society benefit from maintaining an "underclass." Thus far, we have been talking about racial oppression. However, this listserv also is about poverty; therefore, I'd like not to divert the discussion from racial oppression but to extend it a bit, as Kay Taggart has suggested, to include economic oppression. There is an interesting analysis (Herbert J. Gans, 1993. People, Plans, and Policies: Essays on Poverty, Racism, and Other National Urban Problems. New York: Columbia University Press) of this very point as it relates to society's need to maintain a system of poverty. On pages 254-268 of his book, Gans proposes 13 functions of poverty, among which are: 1. The existence of poverty makes sure that "dirty" work is done (e.g., work that is physically dirty or dangerous, temporary, dead-end and underpaid, menial). 2. The poor subsidize, directly or indirectly, a variety of activities that benefit the affluent. For example, because they work for law wages, domestic workers make it possible for their more affluent employers to have more leisure time and to take advantage of professional, cultural, civic, and social activities. (Gans cites additional examples here, but I won't take the time or space to list them all in this posting.) 3. Poverty creates jobs for a number of occupations and professions that serve the poor or protect the rest of then population from the poor. Examples include police (the poor are the majority of their clients), pawn shops, the peacetime army (the majority of recruits are from the poor). 4. The poor buy goods that others do not want, thereby prolonging the economic usefulness of such goods as day-old bread, secondhand clothes, deteriorating cars and buildings. 5. The existence of poverty helps guarantee the status of those who are not poor. 6. The poor, being powerless, can be made to absorb the costs of change and growth in American society. For example, expressways that enable suburbanites to commute downtown are typically located in poor neighborhoods because no other group will allow itself to be displaced. Gans lists seven other functions of poverty, but you get the idea. Please provide your thoughts and comments on this. And because this is a listserv dedicated to the application of these concepts to literacy, we invite you, as Lisa Gale has suggested, to offer your thoughts about how we can enhance our program services to be more inclusive of all learners/clients. How do you recruit a diverse staff of professionals? What are the implications of the above for learner recruitment, for instructional design and delivery, for staff professional development? for serving clients in health clinics and libraries? for workplace education programs? We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks. -Mary Ann Corley Director, National Center for Literacy and Social Justice macorley1@earthlink.net
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