Description
The Lowest Rung is a fascinating and profoundly moving portrait of the
people who are suffering the consequences of a more divided and less
egalitarian Australian society. Based largely on the author’s conversations
with hundreds of people living and working in three areas commonly
described as ‘disadvantaged’ -Inala in Queensland, Mount Druitt in New
South Wales and Broadmeadows in Victoria – this is a book in which
impoverished Australians, who are too often absent from debates about
poverty, tell their own stories. Some are funny, others are sad. There are
stories they can hardly bear to tell about loss, despair and an uncertain
future. But there are also stories about hope, and the capacity of poorer
people to imagine and create a fairer world. Rather than focusing on
abstractions such as ‘the underclass’, this book provides an intimate account
of real people’s fears, hopes and dilemmas in the face of growing inequality,
entrenched unemployment, and fading opportunities for the young.
This important book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the
impact of social and economic change in contemporary Australia.
It urges us to learn from rather than lecture those who experience first-hand
the more unequal future we are now making, and it will change the way we
think about poverty and its solutions.
‘The Lowest Rung challenges us to understand our social reality and
change it.’ – Reverend Tim Costello, Executive Director, Urban Seed
In very good to excellent preloved condition
Softcover
206 pages
copyright 2003
