Abandoned in the Heartland - Work, Family and Living in East St. Louis

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-520-26932-3
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 244 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 139 mm x 209 mm, Gewicht: 328 g

Urban poverty, along with all of its poignant manifestations, is moving from city centers to working-class and industrial suburbs in contemporary America. Nowhere is this more evident than in East St. Louis, Illinois. Once a thriving manufacturing and transportation center, East St. Louis is now known for its unemployment, crime, and collapsing infrastructure. Abandoned in the Heartland takes us into the lives of East St. Louis’s predominantly African American residents to find out what has happened since industry abandoned the city, and jobs, quality schools, and city services disappeared, leaving people isolated and imperiled. Jennifer Hamer introduces men who search for meaning and opportunity in dead-end jobs, women who often take on caretaking responsibilities until well into old age, and parents who have the impossible task of protecting their children in this dangerous, and literally toxic, environment. Illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs showing how the city has changed over time, this book, full of stories of courage and fortitude, offers a powerful vision of the transformed circumstances of life in one American suburb.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hamer, Jennifer

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie von Migranten und Minderheiten
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Familiensoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte Regionalgeschichte der USA: Einzelne Staaten, Städte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wirtschaftssoziologie, Arbeitssoziologie, Organisationssoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Gruppen & Klassen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. The Ubiquity of Maternal Ambivalence

Chapter 2. Motherlove: The Power of Maternal Desire

Chapter 3. The Subtle Ambivalence of the Too-Good Mother

Chapter 4. “Before the Beginning”: Women’s Fears of Monstrous Births

Chapter 5. Women’s Reproductive Fears: More Clinical Examples

Chapter 6. Rachel’s Story: Internalized Ambivalence and the Dangers of Hidden Guilt

Chapter 7. Whose Fault Is It? The Externalization of Ambivalence

Chapter 8. When Fears Are Realized

Chapter 9. From the Child’s Point of View

Chapter 10. Vampyric Mothering: From Stage Moms to Invasive Moms

Chapter 11. The Darkest Side of Motherhood: Child Murder

Chapter 12. What Happens Later: The Fate of Maternal Ambivalence

Chapter 13. What’s a Mother to Do?

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jennifer F. Hamer is Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of What It Means to Be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from Their Children.