Living on the Edge: When Hard Times Become a Way of Life

Abstract

L iving on the Edge is a timely and well-researched study of economic inequality and insecurity in the United States. More than a scholarly analysis, it is also an impassioned call to action. The book’s target audience is the broader public, and its aim is three-fold: to convince readers that poverty in the United States is rooted in structural arrangements, not personal faults; to identify some of the institutions that keep people trapped in nearpoverty; and to suggest that many members of the struggling class will support progressive policies to reduce inequality if given the chance. Pascale’s thesis is that economic insecurity has become a way of life for Americans, and that this pervasive insecurity is the product of collusion between government and business to promote profit-seeking. She advances this argument with an institutional ethnography—in-depth interviews with 27 respondents from five communities, all situated within the context of the structural forces that shaped their lives. Across 11 chapters, Pascale examines the conditions of daily life in two Appalachian regions, two Native American reservations, and the city of Oakland, California. Eschewing familiar terms such as working poor or working class, Pascale adopts the term “struggling class” because this is how her respondents often described themselves. Moreover, as respondents’ narratives show, “struggling” indicates both hardship and hope. While Pascale’s respondents earned incomes well above the poverty line, she shows how their incomes fell far below the actual cost of living for their area. Much of this shortfall can be explained by the rising costs of housing, transportation, and healthcare. Interestingly, although Pascale’s respondents live paycheck to paycheck, they consider themselves well off in comparison to their neighbors living in poverty. Some define poverty as being without any food or shelter. As an aside, I found Pascale’s description of her upbringing in the first chapter to be fascinating. It touches poignantly upon the joy and heartbreak of upward