Book Review: Elderly Care and Upwards Solidarity, 2020 Cambridge-Antwerp-Chicago Intersentia, Elisabeth Alofs and Wendy Schrama (Eds.)
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| Author | Radosław Mędrzycki |
| DOI | 10.1177/13882627211007500 |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
shoulders of decision-makers. The section on the growing number of food banks and the emerging
‘‘baby banks’’ draws an interesting parallel to the richest countries in the world with their growing
poverty. However, ignoring disadvantaged citizens is not everything, as the second chapter sheds
light on the policy of the United States, including the Trump government, to deny poverty. The
author not only highlights the denial -but also the fact - that a number of actions detrimental to the
poor have taken place during Trump’s presidency, such as the restriction of Medicaid. An impor-
tant finding is that the two Anglo-Saxon welfare states, although different in many respects, have a
fairly uniform narrative about poverty: those living in poverty are responsible for their situation.
This narrative on poverty is not only reinforced by political communication, but also by the
media and the internet.
An integral element of the third part of the book is the issue of fighting poverty and reversing the
harmful narrative. ‘‘Fighting Poverty and Not thePoor’’ is the title of a subchapter that summarises
the essence of the new perspective. In this section, personal opinions from activists, artists, experts,
students, and the poor themselves play an even greater role than before.
In summary, we are not disappointed in O’Hara this time either. Her book is a mixture of
scientific research and a summary of her career so far. The work will certainly reach the target
audience indicated in the introduction, as it is extremely readable, helped by the integration of
personal stories. However, it is important to point out one suggestion for the future. The toxic
narrative of the countries’ leadership on poverty has been presented in detail, but it would have
been helpful to present some viewpoints of other politicians as well. Are they really that dismissive
of the poor? All this would mean that some people entrusted to them are let down. Under what
conditions can a government take this attitude? Answering these questions would provide further
significant lessons.
ORCID iD
Szandra Kramarics, PhD student https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6225-1372
Elisabeth Alofs and Wendy Schrama (Eds.), Elderly Care and Upwards Solidarity, 2020
Cambridge-Antwerp-Chicago Intersentia pp. 188 ISBN 978-1-78068-960-9.
Reviewed by: Radosław M˛edrzycki , Cardinal Stefan Wyszyn
´ski University, Warsaw
DOI: 10.1177/13882627211007500
Elderly Care and Upwards Solidarity. Historical, sociological and legal perspectives is another
interesting study on the challenges of longevity. The book and its subject matter are extremely
timely.
The book is divided into two parts, ‘Interdisciplinary perspectives on an aging society and
caring for the elderly’ and ‘Legal perspectives on elderly care’. The introductory chapter, ‘An
introduction to Ageing, Care and Upward Solidarity’ and the chapter entitled ‘Conclu sion: A
Roadmap of Future Research on Care for the Elderly’ - both written by the editors of the reviewed
collection - will serve as the framework for discussion.
The first part consists of two chapters and is shorter than the second part, which consists of six
chapters. Thus, in the context of the study as a whole, the clear (quantitative) disproportion of
186 European Journal of Social Security 23(2)
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