The concept of social status is vitally important in the documentary “The Real Slumdogs”. As defined in our text books, “ascribed statuses is involuntary. You do not ask for it, nor do you choose it (pg. 98).” All of the citizens of Dharavi are either ascribed their status or achieved their status in this mega-slum city. It is seen throughout the documentary that many rag-pickers are generational. This is most noted in Sheetal’s family- her grandmother is a rag-picker and so is her mother and this has become a form of a family business for many of those living in poverty in Dharavi. While some people living there generationally, some find themselves coming into Dharavi later in life, where they are taken in by other families until they can
The connection between poor living conditions, low income families, and inequality of varying groups go hand in hand when dealing with poverty as discussed in Evicted by Matthew Desmond. These issues are often swept under the rug for those not immersed in the situation and can even be unknown. There is gender inequality which can affect every aspect of life, including dwelling. There is also racial inequality which also renders the quality of life. Both themes have a deeper meaning and are connected at the source of poor education and job discrimination.
In the Pulitzer prize-winning novel Evicted, sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight families as he exposes how the lack of affordable housing perpetuates a state of poverty. He even goes so far as to assert that it is eviction that is a cause of poverty, not the other way around (Desmond 229). While this latter argument is as engrossing and it is striking, analyzing it with justice is simply not possible within the scope of this paper. Nevertheless, it is these two factors—inescapable poverty and eviction—that engender an unrelenting condition of financial, emotional, and communal instability, effectively hindering any chance of upward mobility.
...oes not show emotion to either side, which truly makes a difference. I am astounded that the slum dwellers of Annawadi are doing what they can to make it through the day, attempting to fulfill Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs of the Western world. This development into a Western country was short-cut ridden, the result of corruption and social structural factors that cause widespread poverty. The other side of greed is apparent within this non-fiction text, a moving text published by Katherine Boo.
In the end of 18th century to 19th century, more and more people began moving into developed cities. Especially in New York City, thousands of new immigrants were seeking a better life than the one they had before. Tenements were built as a way to accommodate this growing population, and the majority people who lived in tenements were working-class, cause back to that time most tenements were located near factories, tenements were highly concentrated in the poorest neighborhoods of the city. A typical tenement building had four to five stories, in order to maximize the number of renters and to maximize their profits, builders wasted little space and buildings that had been single-family residence were divided into multiple living spaces to fit in more people, early tenements might dwell in almost 90 percent of their lots. There were no housing laws to protect the rights for people who lived in tenements until they stated The First
Throughout the entire film when you see society in Dharavi they were constantly working and on the move. In the video there was people walking up and down the street, cooking bread, picking through garbage, studying, and making pottery. As a whole the people who live in the slum are extremely hard working. Their life depends on this hard work and they know that. The society we live in is not like this. For most of our society, if we do not have to work a day we don 't. We have the option to do that and very many of us take it for granted. We do not have to walk miles everyday just to get water that isn 't sanitary. We do not have to pick through garbage in unsafe conditions to make a living. In comparison to the people of Dharavi our society seems kind of lazy in my eyes. Some of us can sleep the entire day away and not think twice of it. Some kids have the option to live with their parents well into their twenties and not have to pay a single bill, but the people of Dharavi would not survive if they did not work. The people of Dharavi have so little yet work so hard in life, when we have so much and in comparison to them we work so little. Seeing the conditions they live in and the motivation they have to get up and work hard everyday is extremely motivating to me as a kid. I do not want to be someone that takes everything America has to offer for granted when there are kids over there living in a slum that will never experience these luxuries. 306
“Understanding people who are homeless also plays a very important role – as many poor people who are being provided homes through government schemes are renting their homes to others and they are going back to their previous dwellings (slums/huts). The solution to slums is not to evict people, or to eradicate the dwellings, but to create conditions so that people can improve their own dwellings, with the assistance of the community. One of the best ways to do that is by giving slum-dwellers security of tenure, so they know they are protected against arbitrary, unfair, or illegal eviction. If people know that, even if they only make a couple of hundred dollars a year, which many people do, they'll spend money improving their house that they wouldn't otherwise do if they were afraid of being evicted. If governments acted in partnership with people in this way, many good things could
I will explore how social classes frankly appear and build up the story of the book by comparing and contrast with a modern social hierarchy. Today, we’re living in a society with social classes existing. We can be classified in different classes and so do I. I wish I could designate my social status, but unfortunately, our social classes are usually determined by wealth (income), occupation, education and prestige. Social class can be shown in a pyramid structure and it usually comprises with upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class and lower class.
In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo tells the stories and struggles of families living in a slum adjacent to the Sahar Airport in Mumbai, India. Boo details the ways in which the residents of this slum, Annawadi, attempt to escape their poverty, but fail to do so. Despite numerous initiatives sponsored by the Central Government of India to improve the lives of the many individuals living in Annawadi, these programs are ultimately unable to do so due to deep-rooted corruption in the city of Mumbai. Regardless of this, the residents of Annawadi seem to accept corruption as a fact of life, and do little to fight it. As illustrated over the course of Boo’s narrative, this results from the fact that many Annawadians recognize the ways in which the laws of their society allow for the unfair treatment of certain groups of people, especially the poor and religious minorities, and are also cognizant of the fact that they have no real power to change a system that
Nothing that the people in the Dharavi is like America. When food is made in Dharavi they’re no laws of regulations or sanitations. There’s no concern from anyone about the amount of germs that are lingering within Dharavi because of the trash and the lack of a sewage system. The smell of the place would be unbearable. In one of the scenes it showed an ejection needle exposed and just poking out of some trash. There was also glass shards and metal wires laying right where men, women, and children walk. It is so unsafe and no one in the slum realizes that. Children run and play games in the streets and they are shoeless. It’s surprising that injury isn’t more common for everyone living in Dharavi. Even if someone were to get injured they don’t have any resources to go to a clinic and get help. These types of conditions are only found in slums and are only tolerated in slums. No human being would choose these circumstances for themselves. But the people who live in Dharavi make it work. From the outside looking in the living conditions looks atrocious. But the people can still put a smile on their face. It’s remarkable. From an American perspective, life would not be enjoyable at all if someone had to live in those close quarters. It would be a violation of privacy. But everyone that live in Dharavi genuinely love life. They don’t take for granted anything that they have. They cherish and understand the important things in life. Without all the distractions of rules and expectations they have a clear mind to think of family and the value of what that means. Even though people in Dharavi violate the norms of what Americans think is normal or right Americans can learn from these people who look destitute. Family is worth fighting
Poverty on social conditions affects everyone in every part of the world, no matter if they are rich or poor. First of all, everyone is divided into some sort of social class. The most known classes are the economic classes- the lower class, the middle class, and the higher class. The lower class goes through arduous labor all day and night to earn decent amounts of money to provide for themselves and their families. Most likely, they are the only source of income for the entire family. The higher class works hard to keep up or raise their high social status. They also work hard so they don’t loss their social rank, which permits them to hold a higher power over the middle and lower classes. Similarities of decisions made by characters in these two literary works will analyzed to understand the meaning behind the actions and influences of the social classes on each other.
In the second chapter of the book "Planet of Slums," Mike Davis seeks to answer what characteristics and types of slums are prevalent in different parts of the world. Davis continues his startled, alarmed, disgruntled and depressing tone from the previous chapter. Overall, the chapter is divided into two parts. The first part attempts to explore and examine the global slum census, and the other part describes the various slum typologies
Rapid industrialization and nation-wide corporations led to wealthier families and a new middle class. Although there were many who did enjoy the new luxuries paid for by new salaried jobs like managers, technicians, and engineers, many more people were below the poverty line and resided in the slums, living with other families with no privacy and unsanitary conditions. These families were unfortunate because of the wage cuts and the replacement of labor by immigrants and African Americans. A change was in order and the labor unions took the plate by voicing their complaints, and, when that didn’t work, resorting to physical means to get what they wanted.
The first term, ascribed status plays a large role in the analysis. For example, it is the social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. It is a position that is neither earned nor chosen, but assigned. This term depicts the two families immensely. The mother and father in both families came from poor backgrounds and lived through struggle their entire lives. This plays a large role in life because it already puts you behind people who come from successful backgrounds. It is not easy to work your way back out of poverty if you were born into it. Nobody asks to live that way, but some are just assigned to live that way, and cannot do anything about it to fix it.
On today’s life, social inequality is given based on a variety of different characteristics, of race, ethnicity, gender, culture, economic class, immigration status, and sexual preference that a person may have. It is the power of privilege the holds the honor and respect, and the prestige of income and property, that wins every time. Auto-differentially positioning the poor as minority groups to hold less power, and manipulated by those who want to maintain themselves as elite. “Often experiencing unequal treatment compared to the dominant group, giving them a collective sense of being discriminated against” (Carl 2013, Pg.41) It is clear that society still struggles to find opportunities to live in equality with the poor. Rewarding them with only unequal distribution of opportunities that only increases, today’s wage gap and the disadvantages that they must overcome on their way to survive and succeed in life. What factors can increase this inequality? The poor must overcome the lack of economic resources, the stereotypes created among their group, and the government cutbacks that they must live on their daily basis till the rest of their lives.
Shanty towns, as Google defines them, are deprived areas on the outskirts of cities consisting of large numbers of crude dwellings. There is already a countless number of shantytowns around the world, but that number is growing. The main reason why families are moving into shantytowns is economic opportunities…“The driving force behind these migrations is the abundance of jobs in the cities” (Teghrarian, 1997). People, in hopes of pursuing a new career and making money for their family, often resort to these shantytowns for a temporary living space, but soon find out it’s too hard to leave (Painting with appositives). The families that populate shantytowns often work harder than the average citizen, but are forced to live in dirt and tents,