Serving the street : volunteering as charity, racial justice, and poverty tourism / Matthew Jerome Schneider

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schneider, Matthew Jerome, 1990- author.

Series:

Sociology of race and ethnicity

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Voluntarism.

Volunteers.

Homeless persons--Missouri--Saint Louis.

Homeless persons.

volunteering.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Athens : The University of Georgia Press, [2026]

Summary:

Volunteering is typically thought of as an act of altruism, yet there are power dynamics embedded in volunteer-service recipient relationships, especially when volunteers operate from privileged positions. Following six grassroots homeless service organizations in St. Louis, Missouri, Matthew Schneider unpacks the tensions between race, class, urban space, and volunteerism. Volunteers are well intentioned and provide vital, life-saving services. However, Serving the Street explores how many of these same volunteer groups helped to reproduce racialized stigma and stereotypes about poverty, homelessness, and marginal urban space through volunteer practices that bordered on "poverty tourism." If our goal is to make communities more inclusive and equitable, this book suggests a need for greater self-reflection, even among well-intentioned, social-justice-oriented volunteers

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed March 26, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Schneider, Matthew Jerome, 1990- Serving the street

ISBN:

9780820375397

082037539X

9780820381503

0820381500

9780820375380

0820375381

OCLC:

1574809921

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license