Dignity Not Debt

An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-0-520-39147-5
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 236 mm x 160 mm, Gewicht: 520 g

An earth-shaking reimagining of household debt that opens up a new path to financial security for all Americans.

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.

In place of these stale narratives, Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma’s new categories of debt—grounded in abolitionist principles—revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ondersma, Chrystin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Rechtswissenschaften Allgemeines Verfahrens-, Zivilprozess- und Insolvenzrecht Insolvenzrecht, Konkurs, Unternehmenssanierung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Family in Debt

PART ONE: THE WORLD OF HOUSEHOLD DEBT
1. The Truth about Household Debt
2. Debt and Injustice

PART TWO: DISMANTLING DEBT
3. The Household Debt Myths
4. The Myth of the Free Market
5. The Myth That Credit Leads to Prosperity and Equality
6. The Myth of the Strategic Debtor

PART THREE: HOW DO WE MAKE THIS RIGHT?
7. A New Guiding Principle: Human Dignity
8. Human Dignity and a New Debt Taxonomy
9. A Reimagined Household Economy

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Chrystin Ondersma is a law professor at Rutgers Law School and an internationally recognized expert in bankruptcy and household debt. Her scholarship has been featured in numerous publications, podcasts, news articles, and conferences.