Down But Not Out: Community and the Upper Streets in Halifax, 1890-1914 - Hood, David

As New; Frequent visits to the prison and the poorhouse situated individuals in what is commonly - and problematically - referred to as "the underclass." David Hood breathes life into Halifax's sordid past and challenges contemporary discourse on poverty - discourse, he argues, that has perpetuated the Malthusian theory that "the poor reject the essential mores of society, particularly the willingness to work for a living." Reconstructing the lives of five citizens of the upper streets of Halifax, Hood demonstrates that the poor were not simply deviants making up an underclass but were real people who were forced to make difficult, and sometimes unwise, decisions under circumstances beyond their control. A unique and powerful examination of the history of extreme poverty in Canada, this book provokes readers to rethink accepted notions of poverty and homelessness and encourages compassion in the face of contemporary economic disparities and discrimination.
As New
Soft cover
Fernwood Pub Co Ltd
2010
Black Point, NS