Dignity Not Debt

This week's review applies an abolitionist approach to household debt in the US, challenging current debt policies and providing a new taxonomy based in economic justice.

Posted on December 23, 2024 in Reviews of the Month

Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice

Ondersma, Chrystin. California, 2024
280p bibl index, 9780520391475 $27.95, 9780520391482 $27.95

Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice book cover.

Combining personal stories (including from the author and her family) about how people become indebted and summaries of academic studies on the causes and consequences of household debt, this book argues that rising household debt is not due to flawed individual behavior. Rather, the problem stems from a system that privileges financial institutions over human beings. Consequently, standard solutions to the problem—financial education or regulating financial institutions so they cannot charge predatory interest rates—won’t solve the household debt problem. The former solution ignores the problem’s actual cause, and financial institutions will devise ways around regulations. The problem is that many people turn to debt and pay predatory rates just to survive. These people lack the income needed to live with dignity, and precariously remain one emergency away from financial disaster. Solving this problem requires abolishing survival debt. Governments must ensure that households have access to adequate food and housing and a social safety net for emergencies. Also, governments must ensure that people can afford to attend college or start a business. Well researched, well written, and cogently argued, this book belongs in every college and university library.

Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.
Reviewer: S. Pressman, New School for Social Research
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Economics
Choice Issue: Jan 2025

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