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Lisa Dodson: American Poverty and the Rise of a Moral Underground

Date of Lecture: March 27, 2014

Lisa DodsonAbout the Speaker: Lisa Dodson is a research professor of sociology at Boston College. She is currently conducting national policy research on low wage work and family. Previously, she worked as a union activist, an obstetrical nurse, and as director of the Division of Women’s Health in Massachusetts. She has written two books: "The Moral Underground: How Ordinary People Subvert an Unfair Economy” (The New Press, 2011) and “Don’t Call Us Out of Name: The Untold Lives of Women and Girls in Poor America” (Beacon Press, 1999).

About the Talk: Dodson presents data on wealth distribution and poverty rates in the United States and shares stories of the working poor from her field research. She describes a growing trend of middle managers and professionals who recognize an unfair economic system and choose to quietly bend or break rules to assist their low-wage employees.

Watch the lecture below or download it free from iTunes U.