Date: 12 October 2022
Time: 20:00 – 21:45
Location: Arminius, Museumpark 3
Admission: €10,- (regular), €6,- (reduction)
Language: English
On Wednesday October 12 we welcome this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott to De Dépendance on the occasion of her latest book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City. Elliott is an investigative journalist for The New York Times whose work documents the lives of people on the margins of power.
Based on nearly a decade of reporting, Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani Coates, whose story has become emblematic of America’s most wicked and growing urban problems: segregation, poverty and systemic inequality. It reveals the reality of child homelesness in New York City, and lays bare a strata of society far too often ignored.
So what can we, in the Netherlands, learn from Elliott’s vivid and powerfull narrative? Joined on stage by sociologist Bowen Paulle and urban geographer Cody Hochstenbach we will analyse and unpack the power structures and unequal systems within which people become trapped, and its impact upon households and communities. And we will look into concrete solutions and policies to tackle the divide.
Participants
Andrea Elliott
Andrea Elliott is an investigative reporter for The New York Times and the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize. In 2015, she was awarded Columbia University’s Medal for Excellence, given to one alumnus under the age of 45. She is the author of Invisible Child, chosen by The New York Times as one of the top 10 books of 2021.
Cody Hochstenbach
Cody Hochstenbach is a postdoctoral researcher in Urban Geography at the University of Amsterdam. His work tackles the politics of the current housing crisis. In 2019, he received a research grant from the Dutch Research Council to study the impact of landlords on social inequalities. His latest book Uitgewoond: waarom het tijd is voor een nieuwe woonpolitiek was published in February of 2022 with Das Mag.
Bowen Paulle
Bowen Paulle (1970, New York) is an American sociologist based at the University of Amsterdam and specialized in urban marginality and educational inequality. In his homeland Paulle experienced what effect inequality of opportunity has on a society and he wants to show us that inequalities in The Netherlands are on the rise, with all kinds of detrimental consequences. But also that we have the tools and programmes to dramatically improve the educational and life outcomes of disadvantaged students.
Geert Maarse
Geert Maarse is a journalist and programme-maker. Having worked for Erasmus University for over five years, he is specialized in connecting scientific research to public debate. He has a background in Business Administration and Cultural Studies. He is the founder and regular host of Studio Erasmus, a monthly science magazine broadcasted by OPEN Rotterdam. He worked on a documentary and published in a number of online and offline media (de Volkskrant, Vers Beton, Erasmus Magazine).