Working in government can feel jarring. You start with good intentions. For most, you’re not in it for the money. The wage gap between public and private sector roles is ever widening. You have a responsibility to spend public money wisely, for the betterment of those you serve. Yet the work feels disconnected from the end result. The idea gets refined through working groups, workshops, the democratic process, politics and the paltry public purse. A purse that can feel like it’s filled with monopoly money - all appearance and little impact.
You know your experience is one sided. So the question outward becomes - what do the people think? Services like social care are not designed to be for everyone, but for those who need it most. What do service users think? What challenges do they face? Like Alice, we see people’s lives through a looking glass. Not in totality but as fragments. Less telescope, more kaleidoscope. A partial picture of complex - and for some - challenging lives.
Poverty Safari paints that kaleidoscope and draws you in. Not always welcoming, more like shock therapy. Total emersion with a punch to the face. There’s a truth that some may find uncomfortable. There is dichotomy - that those in positions of power fail to see how their own view is at odds of those they wish to serve, despite efforts to the contrary.
“It’s the belief that the system is rigged against you and that all attempts to resist or challenge it are futile. That the decisions that affect your life are being taken by a bunch of other people somewhere else who are deliberately trying to conceal things from you. A belief that you are excluded from taking part in the conversation about your own life. This belief is deeply held by people in many communities and there is a very good reason for it: it’s true”
Page 37
Then the ‘consultation’ either doesn’t work or doesn’t exist.
“A lack of consultation with the community itself, about their needs and aspirations, and a design phase riddled with well-meaning but privileged assumptions, meant that within 20 years many of these cutting-edge structures were either being torn down, scheduled for demolition or superficially modified to give a less brutal appearance” Page 42
It might be engagement with residents. But the view from the receiving end of this well-meaning activity isn’t rosy.
“The system is set up for working class people to be ‘engaged’ by ‘facilitators’ and ‘mentors’, who help them water down whatever they want to do in order that community aspirations align with those in positions of influence or power. The board structure creates a mechanism by which a group can be commandeered at any time should it begin to get a little too above its station. Glasgow poet and essayist Tom Leonard satirises this phenomenon, where the poor are effectively chaperoned around their own lives by the middle class, in ‘Liason Co-ordinator’. This poem addresses the issue of class and how it is reinforced through language. The words ‘Liason Co-ordinator’ alone arouse suspicion”. Pages 49-50
It’s this irony, cutting observation and humour that brings the book alive, Soy Division is a prime example.
“When you’re sitting in an artisan café called Soy Division, in the middle of a slum, and there is a toddler named Wagner eating tofu off the floor, that’s gentrification. It’s the new word for regeneration, or rather, it’s the gentrification of regeneration” Page 74
Yes the book has humour, but there is a serious undercurrent. Darren reminds us that today’s children, who are keen to support with sympathy towards their plight, are tomorrows adults. Do we provide them with the same support when they reach adulthood? Again there is a dichotomy here, since Darren highlights it is down to the individual adult, with the right support, who can control their outcome.
“When was the last time you heard a prominent left-wing figure speak of the power inherent within each of us to overcome adversity and transform the conditions of our own lives?” Page 112
I’m quoting more than normal as I cannot do the book justice. Despite what may appear negative sentiments, the book has hope. The community coming together through the Pollock Free State is a good example. The writing is strong and to the point. It appeals to a wide audience and should be required reading for anyone in the public sector, particularly anyone working directly with the disadvantaged, marginalised, or those in deprived communities. It is a welcome window. Thank you Darren.
Poverty Safari :: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass
Search for your closest library copy with ISBN 9781529006346
