Author ORCID Identifier
Abstract
Salman’s book centers two different constituencies, in two different locations, in the 2010s, who have been impacted by two different disasters. The first group are Iraqi refugees who have been resettled in Wayne County, Michigan. Trying to start again over half a world away, they are trapped in the transit lounge of life, never able to move on, never able to properly belong. They found a state in recession, the automobile industry collapsing, the city of Detroit bankrupt. Their particular county had higher unemployment than the state’s average and a poor median income as well. Economically speaking, ‘Michigan fared worse than the rest of the country, and Wayne County fared worse than Michigan’ (Salman 2023, 57). The best that they can hope for in terms of employment are low paid jobs in the service industry rather than professional careers of the sort that they had left behind. And in terms of official help, the best that they can hope for falls far short of what they are legally entitled to. The second group are New Yorkers who were in the path of a hurricane, residents of Jamaica Bay swamped by Sandy’s seven-foot storm surge. They are predominantly civil servants and first responders. They are homeowners, with incomes higher than New York’s median.
Recommended Citation
Matthewman, Steve
(2024)
"Book Review: The Shaming State: How the U.S. Treats Citizens in Need,"
Critical Disaster Studies: Vol. 2
:
Iss.
1
, Article 1.
Available at:
https://trace.tennessee.edu/cds/vol2/iss1/1
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