I’m Not By Myself: Building Sustainable Social Ties through a Poor People’s Organization

• In Event: 084 - Section on Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Paper Session. Extreme Poverty

Abstract

This paper relies on ethnographic observations and interviews with 25 poor and homeless members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as interviews with 25 poor women who were not KWRU members. People come to KWRU when their situations are dire. Homeless or at risk of losing welfare benefits, food stamps, or other crucial forms of support, they seek support from an organization that may assist them to secure benefits or temporary housing. Many have recently escaped domestic violence. This paper focuses on the difficult circumstances people confront that lead them to KWRU, how the organization addresses their practical needs, and how their involvement leads them to build social ties with strangers to aid survival, in a society that exerts considerable pressure to pursue stability and success as individuals. The non-members provide contrast; most had kin on whom to rely, and therefore less of an urgent need for non-kin support. KWRU members often came to KWRU precisely because of a lack of kin support; through the organization they built social ties that were more sustainable than the non-kin ties other research has identified.

Author

• Joan Maya Mazelis, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers at Camden