Poor People's Survival Strategies

Two Decades of Research in the Americas

Bibliographic Data

ID2295611
AuthorsF M Deckard (0000-0003-2230-0453, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA;,), J Auyero (0000-0001-5387-2812, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA;,)
Year2022
Volume48
Issue1
Pages373-395
Publication date2022-07-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnual Review of Sociology (BOOK_SERIES)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0360-0572 • E-ISSN: 1545-2115
PublisherAnnual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1146/annurev-soc-031021-034449
OpenAlexW4213014702
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited126

Nearly a half-century ago, two scholars north and south of the US border called attention to the role played by reciprocity networks in poor peoples' survival strategies. This article provides a synthetic picture of the qualitative research on those strategies, focusing not only on mutual aid networks but also on clientelist politics and popular protest. These are, we argue, oftentimes complementary ways of everyday problem-solving. Furthermore, most research on survival strategies has overlooked state and street violence as literal threats to poor people's daily survival. Our review systematically describes the individual and collective strategies poor residents use to navigate daily dangers. We advocate for the incorporation of personal safety into the study of poor people's survival strategies and identify as a promising research endeavor a simultaneous attention to ways of making ends meet and coping with interpersonal and state violence

Coping (psychology · Interpersonal communication · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Qualitative research · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Survival of the fittest · Community Health and Development · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Law · Social Psychology