Dignity not debt : an abolitionist approach to economic justice / Chrystin Ondersma.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ondersma, Chrystin, 1981- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Debt--United States.

Debt.

Households--Economic aspects--United States.

Households.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 268 pages)

Other Title:

Abolitionist approach to economic justice

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, 2024.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Introduction : a family in debt

The truth about household debt

Debt and injustice

Dismantling the household debt myths

The myth of the free market

The myth that credit leads to prosperity and equality

The "consumer debtor" : bankruptcy myths

A new guiding principle : human dignity

Human dignity and a new household debt taxonomy

A reimagined household economy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Ondersma, Chrystin Dignity Not Debt

ISBN:

9780520391482

0520391489

OCLC:

1419064998