Book Review: Evicted

Book Review: Evicted

• What is/are the central research question(s) of this study? What is Desmond attempting to figure out or explain? (Approximately 1 paragraph)

Desmond is trying to study the tenants who live in low-income housing in Wisconsin. He is trying to figure out where poverty is an activity that the wealthy use to propel themselves further up. He questions the discourse of poverty. He is concerned that the problem might not be the corrupt morals of people living in poverty. Desmond thinks that perhaps the poor might indeed be unready to work, lack in terms of their family value and be too irresponsible to manage themselves. He mentions that the people living below the poverty line might be responsible for their low-income status. In a new century, they might not have what it takes to compete for resources.

• Describe the methodology used to answer the central research question. Know both the general storyline of “what the researcher did” and the specific type of data and techniques the researcher utilized. (approximately 1 paragraph)

Desmond utilized a mixed methodology to come up with his findings. He uses both qualitative research methodology and quantitative research methodology to gather all the facts he needed about the low-income housing tenants. This is even though some of the houses they live in are inhabitable. His methods were not scientific because they did not have a hypothesis; no measurable data were collected and were they aimed to prove a theory (Burgess 476). The author spent his time living among the low-income earners because he wanted to be able to tell the story from a different perspective. He also wanted to understand the basis of eviction. This methodology is useful in the explanation of social; norms mainly what affects the poor who still received the same amount of welfare money they received ten years ago, yet they are paying rent similar to those living in the middle-class neighbourhoods.

• Describe the key findings of the study. What is the general import of the study?  Does the data Desmond collect support his analysis and argument?  How and why? Provide specific examples from the book to make your point.  (Approximately 1-2 pages)

In his book, Desmond talks about the other side of capitalism and the ability of the wealthy to continue to make money from the poor. At first, it sounds absurd that the wealth would make a significant amount of from a person who has none. He firmly believes that everyone should have decent housing, and it should be their primary need. According to Desmond, “it is hard to argue that housing is not a fundamental human need. Decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this country, and that reason is simple: without stable shelter, everything else falls apart (102)”. Desmond points out that at first, it is not a visible venture into capitalism, although it is of enormous profit. This comes about when the situation of poverty gets so desperate that the people are experiencing it do anything that they are asked to. It is then that exploitation thrives from desperation to access food and housing. The government has to come in and ensure everyone meets their basic needs. This is the only way that the less fortunate can be protected against capitalism. It uses the concept of landlords to demonstrate the issue of exploitation. He gives an example of Sherenna who opens up about how she exploits tenants for extra revenue. She explains that those who have capital can use the failures of others. People often assume that when it comes to poor people in society, then no profit can be gained from them, yet landlords in these areas have managed to maximize profit. He used the plural pronoun we to describe how many people are still unaware of this fact. The only people who are not are those who can profit from it. The greed that landlords have to make money has presented them with the opportunity to benefit from an unequal system of housing. He openly expresses that the skill to do this is not an easy one. Profiting off the poor require a particular type of power that not everyone can acquire. The initiative to allow a person to live in your home, yet you are exploiting them is also very rare. This is why most people cannot become landlords. The words skill takes a turn and becomes negative in the sense that it is an ability that is being used to oppress others.

• Where does Desmond fall on various debates we’ve discussed in class? How would some of the other scholars we have read for class explain his findings?  For example, think about how some of the theories and outcomes we have discussed in class would relate to the different results in his book. (Approximately 2 pages)

According to Adler, the author of the book Evicted only views the issue of housing in America from an underdog’s point of view that is the tenants being at the mercy of their greedy landlords. While it is essential to make such facts public, Adler realizes that most readers do not relate with the evictions to which Desmond is referring. He fails to address and issue which everyone can link to. He is uncertain about how low-income housing could do in such a tight economy. The deceptive part is that he shows one side of the story and tries to make it look as if the landlords have nothing to sacrifice. He feels that Desmond is too focused on exploitation that he does not focus on the actual markets. Conflict theory is most applicable in the work of Desmond. This theory involves the competition of scarce resources. Oberschall argues that “a situation of competition in which the parties are aware of the incompatibility of potential future positions and in which each party wishes to occupy a position that is incompatible” (291). This is the way the wealthy can take advantage of the poor. In the book, Desmond talks about the relationship between landlords and the poor tenants in Wisconsin. The wealthy landlords take advantage of their miserable state and desperate situation and charge them way more than they should be paying, and in case of failure to pay, they are immediately evicted. The theory heavily applies in the cases where landlords overcharge on rent even though they know that the tenants are having a hard time raising the money to pay for the rent.

• Optional: Briefly discuss whether or not Desmond’s findings are convincing. Why or why not? Do you have any criticisms? (Approximately 1 paragraph)

Desmond’s argument in an eviction is compelling. His perspective is entirely life-changing. As a person who has spent a lot of time in the upper-middle-class regions, I was surprised by how low income America lives on the other side. The book follows the story of various families consisting of both tenants and house owners in Wisconsin where poverty is the order of the day. It details the story of a modern-day tenant living in low-income housing and trying to differentiate between their personal life, their careers, their home, the little wages they earn and the wellbeing of those who surround them. The story appeal to the emotions of the reader because they describe the life of people who have been forced to live a certain way by circumstance. He argues that a stable living condition is a step towards achieving the American dream which most people might not have the ability to do. While wages have been steady for a long time, rates of rent have continued to grow, and some of the people have not been able to keep up with them. Evictions have become the order of the day as time progresses, people are unable to make rent. The stories in the book are of desperate people who could not find a way out of poverty and eviction from their homes caused them to fall into an endless hole of failure immediately. He argues that if the tenants were not charged as high as they are for the rent that they pay, some of that money would be of use to their children and families, find a decent job so that they could build a better life for themselves and those around them.