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Frances Fox Piven
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Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail Paperback – December 12, 1978

by Frances Fox Piven (Author), Richard Cloward (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 105 ratings
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Have the poor fared best by participating in conventional electoral politics or by engaging in mass defiance and disruption? The authors of the classic Regulating The Poor assess the successes and failures of these two strategies as they examine, in this provocative study, four protest movements of lower-class groups in 20th century America:
-- The mobilization of the unemployed during the Great Depression that gave rise to the Workers' Alliance of America
-- The industrial strikes that resulted in the formation of the CIO
-- The Southern Civil Rights Movement
-- The movement of welfare recipients led by the National Welfare Rights Organization.
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  1. Print length
    416 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    December 12, 1978
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.93 x 7.94 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0394726979
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0394726977
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...enormously instructive."

-- E.J. Hobsbawm, New York Review of Books

"This beautifully written book is the most exciting and important political study in years."

-- S. M. Miller, Department of Sociology, Boston University.

"Of the first importance; it is bound to have a wide and various influence; and it is disturbing."

-- Jack Beatty, The Nation

From the Publisher

"A provocative book that should be read by both students and makers of social history."--Michael Harrington, The New York Times Book Review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (December 12, 1978)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394726979
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394726977
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.93 x 7.94 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 105 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Frances Fox Piven

    Frances Fox Piven

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    Frances Fox Piven is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology

    at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and the author of the bestselling Poor People’s Movements, Regulating the Poor, and Why Americans Don’t Vote (with the late

    Richard A. Cloward), as well as The War At Home, Keeping Down the Black Vote, and many other books. She lives in New York City.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Richard A. Cloward

    Richard A. Cloward

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
105 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Katherine Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis of political disparity in America
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is a dense, sometimes too deeply academic, work. However, it is a thorough, well-documented, and fascinating deep dive into what our nation has been through during my lifetime, as well as that of my parents, which left subsequent generations with the cruel status quo - citizens who have no empathy for those at the mercy of the unchecked greed of rampant capitalism.

I didn't find any hope for ways out of this mess, but I am ready to support the next movement for change. This will help sharpen our planning, if we pay close attention to the lessons outlined in this book.
3 people found this helpful
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Stuart Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful for post-2008 crisis
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
A must read book to understand poor people's political organization in the USA. Very interesting to compare with current USA in the post-2008 crisis.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Very revealing if what’s going in our world today!
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
Bought this product to educate myself that the agenda to tear the United States down had a beginning!
2 people found this helpful
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ANARCHIST TIL I DIE
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 STARS
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
A must read for all in poverty that cannot see a way out..
3 people found this helpful
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Christopher G Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
Verified Purchase
Good view on a theory of protests and social Change, just make sure to read some of Dennis Chong's theory to have a balanced approach.
9 people found this helpful
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Lorraine Merrick
5.0 out of 5 stars Poor People's Movement
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2009
Verified Purchase
Poor People's Movement is an excellent and an informative source regarding poor people and how they are regulated by our system when they are not educated on this issue.
4 people found this helpful
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Cory E F
3.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book, but this edition has an annoying printing error.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book changed how I think about direct action tactics and the usefulness of organizing. However, the pages are all offset by one in this edition so the page numbers are next to the inner margin and the inner margins are smaller than the outer margins. Really annoying if you're taking notes and need to go back to reference specific pages. It also results in extra abuse of the spine as you have to force it totally open to read the text closest to the inside margins.
3 people found this helpful
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Elaine Rosenfeld
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
came in great condition
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Top reviews from other countries

E N Cuentro
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely astonishing...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2006
Verified Purchase
I can only echo the view of the previous reviewer - this is a phenomenal work, bristling with academic integrity, and full of passion. It's remarkable for the way it cuts through the shibboleths and assumptions of many social movement activists about how and why grassroots action can be important, while still maintaining a commitment to its value - in the right way, time and place.

It's a question we often ask, and hear answers proffered too: how do we change the world? This theory, and that, abounds in the political arena. But it's rare for such a systematic and scholarly response to be given, rooted in such detailed case studies; each of which examines not only the nature of the movements themselves, but the significance of the 'obective' (i.e. immovable, background) conditions in which they took place. Even if you don't agree, there's a formidable case to be answered.

Piven and Cloward argue that change is achieved through large-scale, *disruptive* mobilisation, against propitious historical backdrops. The significance of disruption is that where it cannot be suppressed, bought off or ignored, the terrain of political incentives faced by the powers that be alters - and so government and business must alter their actions in order to dampen the fire of revolt. It is through this, they argue, that victory can be achieved.

Piven and Cloward argue against creating formal institutions, suggesting that this path is antithetical to the militant, disruptive approach which they favour. It may be interesting to see how their thesis stands up against the success (we might argue), since the book's publication, of groups such as ACORN and the Industrial Areas Foundation in the US, in using institutions to create disruption, and build power through sustained organisations.

It is a shame that the only way (that I can find) to buy this book new in the UK is by having it posted from abroad through the Amazon marketplace - try it though, you won't be dissapointed!
One person found this helpful
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