A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia

Lisa Levenstein reframes highly charged debates over the origins of chronic African American poverty and the social policies and political struggles that led to the postwar urban crisis. A Movement Without Marches follows poor black women as they traveled from some of Philadelphia's most impoverished neighborhoods into its welfare offices, courtrooms, public housing, schools, and hospitals, laying claim to an unprecedented array of government benefits and services. With these resources came new constraints, as public officials frequently responded to women's efforts by limiting benefits and attempting to control their personal lives. Scathing public narratives about women's "dependency" and their children's "illegitimacy" placed African American women and public institutions at the center of the growing opposition to black migration and civil rights in northern U.S. cities. Countering stereotypes that have long plagued public debate, Levenstein offers a new paradigm for understanding postwar U.S. history.

Author: Lisa Levenstein
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 08/30/2010
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 9.24h x 6.20w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780807871645

About the Author
Levenstein, Lisa: - Lisa Levenstein is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.