Matthew Desmond Books

Sociology, to me, must be lived. To understand eviction, I moved into the very neighborhoods where it was most rampant, renting from the same landlords, speaking daily with tenants who juggled overdue bills and housing court summons. This immersive ethnography was driven by one conviction: that stat...

From Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Arleen’s life was fragilely balanced on the edge of eviction. A single mother with two sons, she fought day after day to keep them sheltered. Her world revolved around housing instability—a single missed rent payment could send her spiraling into nights at homeless shelters or overcrowded apartments...

From Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

To understand the persistence of poverty in America, we must first confront the historical layers that have built this reality. Long before welfare programs or minimum wages existed, American economic policy favored accumulation for the few. From the beginnings of industrial capitalism, cheap labor ...

From Poverty, by America

I use the term 'exploitation' deliberately. It describes more than hardship; it captures the asymmetry of benefit in our economy. The wealthy and the comfortable profit directly from the poverty of others. Each time a worker earns less than the value of their labor, exploitation occurs. Every time r...

From Poverty, by America