Book Review: The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative, by Mary O’Hara
| DOI | 10.1177/13882627211007151 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Author | Szandra Kramarics |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Mary O’Hara, The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative, Bristol (UK) / Chicago (USA):
Policy Press, 2020, 232 pages, ISBN: 978-1447349266.
Reviewed by: Szandra Kramarics, PhD student ,Eo
¨tvo
¨sLor
´
and University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Doc-
toralSchoolofSociology,Hungary
DOI: 10.1177/13882627211007151
Poverty is, to varying degrees, present in every country in the world. Nations view their disad-
vantaged citizens from a different perspective, trying to address their situation through various
means accordingly. The title of Mary O’Hara’s book is already telling, suggesting that society’s
image of poverty is, in most cases, quite negative and hostile.
O’Hara studied social and political science in Cambridge, worked for The Guardian and The
Observer in the UK, and researched in the United States as well. Throughout her career, she has
gained significant experience in social affairs, human rights, and social justice and has received
numerous awards for her work. In The Shame Game, she draws on her extensive knowledge of the
topic, fortified with academic research and poverty statistics, as well as her own experience of
poverty as a child, thus adding an insightful subjective perspective.
The joint discussion of poverty and shame is not new. In his book, Development as Freedom
(1999), Amartya Sen emphasises that poverty includes not only a lack of material goods and basic
skills, but the inability of individuals to appear without shame in front of other members of society.
The relationship between poverty and shame is also an integral part of Walker’s (2014) book,
The Shame of Poverty. Walker provides a broad perspective on poverty-related research and
cultural perceptions and appearances in the media and politics. Examined at the macro level, he
draws general conclusions and includes countries of various levels of development. All in all, his
main message is similar to O’Hara’s: the shame of poverty isolates those affected even more from
society, and may preclude them from receiving certain benefits, as this would make their situation
clear to many.
Against this background, O’Hara seeks to convince the reader of the need to change political
practice and rhetoric around poverty. The book is divided into three parts and ten chapters. In
addition to the abundance of data and statistics, the work shows the more tangible side of poverty,
primarily through discussing interviews with the needy and various volunteer helpers and profes-
sionals. In addition, the author reports on her personal experiences. These recollections appear in
several chapters, largely depicting O’Hara’s childhood experiences, from her first encounter with
stigmatisation and all the way through to college, as well as drawing on stories shared in her own
organisation, the ‘‘Twist-It’’ project.
Although personal experience will undoubtedly increase the credibility of the work, it makes it
difficult to be objective on the subject. This would have been a major flaw in a purely academic
work, but this is not the intention of this volume. In contrast, as O’Hara is clearly in favour of
ending the stigma and disregard for the poor, the whole book is built around this line of thought.
The author herself states that her main goal was not to create a textbook and that she primarily
addresses non-academic audiences. This is indeed the case, although the book undoubtedly con-
tains many useful insights for poverty researchers as well.
O’Hara often supports her evaluation of the nature and extent of American and British poverty
with figures and statistics going back decades. These indicate that more and more people are
falling into poverty, which is incompatible with th e British values that many countries envy.
Shaming the disadvantaged is therefore a political decision that takes responsibility off the
Book Reviews 185
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