Winter 2006 » Affordable Housing » November 22, 2006

New & Noted

By Alan Mallach

There Is No Such Thing As a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina
Chester Hartman and Gregory D. Squires, eds, Routledge, 2006, 328 pages, illus., $22.95 (paperback). www.routledge-ny.com

There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster takes a comprehensive and critical look at the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina. Fourteen scholars and activists present a multifaceted portrait of the social implications of the disaster. Their essays cover the response to the disaster and the roles that race and class played, its impact on housing and redevelopment, the historical context of urban disasters in America and the future of economic development in the region.

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City

Jed Horne, Random House, 2006, 384 pages, $25.95, (hardcover). www.randomhouse.com

Horne, metro editor of The New Orleans Times-Picayune, recounts the story of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans from the perspective of the private and public lives caught in the aftermath of the disaster. The author provides the narrative context for the catastrophe, which he sees as deeply rooted in the politics and culture of New Orleans.

After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina

David Dante Troutt, editor, The New Press, 2006, 192 pages, $22.95 (hardcover). www.thenewpress.com

A year after the disaster, the political and social questions raised in the aftermath of Katrina have not abated. In this compelling collection, legal scholar David Dante Troutt has gathered 10 essays by black intellectuals who present diverse perspectives on the questions of poverty, housing, governmental decision making, crime, community development and political participation.

Over Goal! What You Must Know To Excel at Fundraising Today, Revised 2nd Edition

Kay Sprinkel Grace, Emerson & Church, 2006, 288 pages, $24.95 (paperback). www.emersonandchurch.com

The author has expanded and revised her earlier book, adding 12 new chapters with updated trends and figures. The book blends “how-to” advice with insights into what makes that advice work and how to implement and motivate donors. Over Goal! covers a wide range of subjects including fundraising, board development, the new realities of capital campaigns, using the internet for stewardship and more.

A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track

Andy Stern, Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, 2006, 224 pages, $24.00 (hardcover). www.simonsays.com

Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, portrays an America where the pace of globalization is relentlessly quickening and the competitive pressures on jobs and quality of life are heating up even more, especially as housing, healthcare and oil prices skyrocket. While CEO salaries soar and the wealthy are handed tax shelters, the incomes of both white-collar and blue-collar workers stagnate, leaving many struggling to pay off mounting debt, instead of saving for retirement. The author presents a set of course-correction reforms that he believes can get things back on track.

Democracy’s Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life

Frances Moore Lappé, Jossey-Bass, 2005, 496 pages, $24.95 (hardcover). www.josseybass.com

America is at the edge, a critical place at which we can either renew and revitalize or give in and lose that most precious American ideal – democracy – and along with it the freedom, fairness and opportunities it assures. Lappé argues that we can, and must, act now to create a “Living Democracy,” a powerful yet often invisible citizens’ revolution surging in communities across America.

Making Housing Happen: Faith-based Affordable Housing Models

Jill Suzanne Shook, editor, Chalice Press, 2006, 270 pages, $34.99 (paperback). www.chalicepress.com

The author looks at the ways churches are addressing the housing crisis nationwide. Part One provides a theological foundation for an affordable housing ministry and offers an overview of U.S. housing policies. Part two features housing development models, demonstrating best practices and workable solutions. The last section discusses ways that people of faith have created affordable housing without actually building it—for example, by changing laws and designing new structures or new financial tools that have resulted in housing solutions.

Alan Mallach, senior fellow of the National Housing Institute, is the author of many works on housing and planning, including Bringing Buildings Back and Building a Better Urban Future: New Directions for Housing Policies in Weak Market Cities. He served as director of housing and economic development for Trenton, N.J. from 1990 to 1999.

Published by the National Housing Institute