Broke : hardship and resilience in a city of broken promises Cover Image

Book

Broke : hardship and resilience in a city of broken promises / Jodie Adams Kirshner.

Summary:

Bankruptcy and the austerity it represents have become a common "solution" for struggling American cities. What do the spending cuts and limited resources do to the lives of city residents? Kirshner follows seven Detroiters as they navigate life during and after their city's bankruptcy. For them, financial issues are mired within the larger ramifications of poor urban policies, restorative negligence on the state and federal level and-- even before the decision to declare Detroit bankrupt in 2013-- the root causes of a city's fiscal demise. Detroit is emblematic, Kirshner shows, that cities are never quite given the aid that they need by either the state or federal government for their residents to survive, not to mention flourish. -- adapted from jacket.

Record details

ISBN: 9781250220639
Physical Description: xxiii, 342 pages ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2019.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-331) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Foreword: Detroit vs. everybody / by Michael Eric Dyson -- Prologue: Springtime in Detroit -- Protagonists -- Part 1: Bankruptcy. Emergency management -- Home -- Census -- Detroit hustles harder -- Bottom line -- Exit from bankruptcy -- Part 2: Emergence. A decent home -- The architectural imagination -- If you build it -- Having trouble getting to a job? Start your own! -- The Motor City -- City on the move -- The campaign -- Part 3: Prospects. Report cards -- The way we live now -- I'm from the government, and I'm here to help -- Nice work if you can get it -- New beginnings -- Bait and switch -- Detroit versus everybody -- Epilogue: We hope for better things.