- Home
- ACADEMIC
- Religious Studies
- Religion and Politics
- Poverty Abolitionists
Poverty Abolitionists
Faith, Activism, and Hope for Difficult Times
Poverty Abolitionists
Faith, Activism, and Hope for Difficult Times
Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available
You must sign in to add this item to your wishlist. Please sign in or create an account
Description
Poverty is not inevitable. In fact, we have already made historic progress in reducing it-both globally and in the United States. In Poverty Abolitionists, economist, pastor, and activist David Beckmann shows that with collective will, effective strategy, and renewed moral vision, we can virtually eliminate poverty in our generation.
Drawing on decades of leadership at the World Bank and as president of Bread for the World, Beckmann distills five essential insights and ten strategies to reinvigorate the fight against hunger and deprivation. He highlights data that proves poverty is solvable, confronts the big political setback that has reversed progress, and calls for a new poverty abolition movement-similar in scale and determination to the movement that ended enslavement.
At the heart of this book is hope: hope grounded in evidence, history, and the countless efforts of communities and advocates who continue to push for justice. Beckmann insists that the movement to abolish poverty is not only political but also spiritual. He invites people of faith, seekers, and skeptics alike to deepen their solidarity with those in need and with a threatened planet.
With a foreword by travel writer Rick Steves, Poverty Abolitionists offers both a practical roadmap and a stirring moral challenge--it is a clarion call to action for activists, policy makers, and ordinary citizens who care about the future of humanity and who seek to build a fairer, freer, and more just world.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Five Empowering Insights
1. We Can Virtually End Poverty
2. Most Poor People are Working Hard to Get Ahead
3. Poverty Does Tremendous Damage
4. Looking Back Can Help Us Chart a Path Forward
5. We Need Policies that Provide Both Help and Opportunity
Part 2: Ten Effective Strategies
6. Work, Enterprise, and Charity
7. Legislative Advocacy Works
8. Elections Shape the Future
9. Struggles for Justice
10. Giving Organizations a Political Edge
11. Defanging the Internet
12. Healing Divisions
13. Love-and-Justice Healing Communities
14. Educated Faith
15. Faith in a Forgiving God
16. Working for a Better World
Afterword by Eugene Cho
Product details
| Published | May 14 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 208 |
| ISBN | 9798216275909 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 5 b&w images |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
-
We need this book now.
Rick Steves, American Travel Writer and TV Host
-
David Beckmann always connects facts to faith. He tracks the reduction of poverty in recent decades and directly relates it to the moving of a loving God in history. He documents how the US government is now making life harder and even deadly for poor and hungry people; and hears a call from God to push back. David Beckmann's book will help people move from discouragement to becoming faithful poverty abolitionists.
Jim Wallis, author of the New York Times Bestseller The False White Gospel
-
In Poverty Abolitionists, David Beckmann shares lessons from his leadership of Bread for the World over many years. He also discusses an inspiring array of other ways that people are helping to move us toward the abolition of hunger and poverty.
Eugene Cho, President, Bread for the World
-
Poverty Abolitionists explores a range of effective strategies to renew progress against hunger and poverty. Together, these efforts form a powerful and growing movement.
Eric Mitchell, President, Alliance to End Hunger
-
We need to act now to defend democracy and protect vulnerable people. We also need to raise up and make room for leadership from younger generations. Poverty Abolitionists will help us on both fronts.
Barbara Williams Skinner, PhD, Co-Convener, National African American Clergy Network; President, Skinner Leadership Institute

























