Calendar of Events

Can philanthropy alleviate inequality? Do anti-poverty programs work on the ground? In The Self-Help Myth Erica Kohl-Arenas seeks to answer these questions in this eye-opening analysis. She reveals how philanthropy maintains systems of inequality by focusing on the “behavior” of poor people and ignoring the structural inequities that produce poverty. These strategies rely on American ideals of individualism and hard work, but when used in partnership with limits around what foundations will fund, these ideals become ill-defined concepts that leave poverty and inequality untouched. Kohl-Arenas bores deeply into how this plays out in California’s Central Valley, one of the wealthiest agricultural regions in the world and home to the poorest people in the United States.Opening remarks by Ananya Roy (Professor, Urban Planning and Social Welfare, The Meyer and Renee Luskin Chair in Inequality and Democracy, and Director of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin) and Myrna Martinez Nateras, Popular Educator and Researcher. Author Erica Kohl-Arenas, Assistant Professor, Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School, will be joined by Janna Shadduck-Hernandez, Project Director, UCLA Labor Center. Click here to register.