Evicted: Poverty And Profit In The American City By Matthew Desmond

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, written by Matthew Desmond, provides a compelling ethnographic analysis of the connection between freedom and economic power, highlighting the cycle of poverty perpetuated by housing inequality. Desmond contrasts the primarily Black inner-city North side of Milwaukee to the white mobile home park on Milwaukee’s South side to validate the argument that housing instability affects people across classes and races. Out of the many political theorists highlighted in the course, Desmond’s connection between freedom and economic power offers the most compelling analysis of the systemic inequalities inherent in modern capitalist societies, highlighting how economic deprivation constrains individual

As Desmond follows eight families from two communities through their attempt to find housing, he highlights the shocking statistic that “75 percent of those who qualify for housing assistance do not receive anything due to unorganized local zoning regulations, insufficient federal funding for housing assistance, and lack of space dedicated to affordable housing”. In a report from the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC), Trends in Housing Assistance and Who It Serves, found that only one in four households that qualify for affordable housing will receive it, further proving Desmond’s point that although there are programs in place, there is still major progress to be made in the application of the law. Desmond goes on to explain that he does believe in a right to profit, but there must be government intervention that balances out profit and accessibility of materials. He highlights that “exploitation within the housing market relies on government support”, making it fairly easy for the government to put an end to the exploitation of poor people, if they wanted