Ep.55 Seth Kapan on Fragile Neighborhoods — Relationships and Place-Based Solutions to Social and Material Poverty
About this episode
Seth Kaplan discusses his book on fragile neighborhoods and the impact of social and material poverty in the United States.
In this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast I speak with Seth Kaplan about his book Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society One Zip Code at a Time . Seth has spent his career working in fragile states around the world — countries that are unstable and prone to violence, war, and political problems. About 10 years ago Seth was increasingly asked if the US was becoming fragile. As he turned his attention to studying the United States, he concluded was that while the US is not fragile as a country, there are many areas and neighborhoods throughout the country that are very fragile — where poverty rates are high, there is crime, and instability, and social capital, family stability, and economic and educational opportunities are low. Seth explains that depending on the neighborhood where you live in the United States it can mean a shorter lifespan of over 20 years. Kaplan speaks about two faces of poverty, material and social, and how they are both a problem of broken relationships. He argues: “I think the real question you have to ask about the United States we have many things going very well in our country but something has gotten worse in the last couple of…
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