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“Absolutely Sort of Normal”: the Common Origins of the War on Poverty at Home and Abroad, 1961-1965

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“Absolutely Sort of Normal”: the Common Origins of the War on Poverty at Home and Abroad, 1961-1965 “ABSOLUTELY SORT OF NORMAL”: THE COMMON ORIGINS OF THE WAR ON POVERTY AT HOME AND ABROAD, 1961-1965 by DANIEL VICTOR AKSAMIT B.A., UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 2005 M.A., KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, 2009 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2014 Abstract Scholars identify the early 1960s as the moment when Americans rediscovered poverty – as the time when Presidents, policymakers, and the public shifted their attention away from celebrating the affluence of the 1950s and toward directly helping poor people within the culture of poverty through major federal programs such as the Peace Corps and Job Corps. This dissertation argues that this moment should not be viewed as a rediscovery of poverty by Americans. Rather, it should be viewed as a paradigm shift that conceptually unified the understanding of both foreign and domestic privation within the concept of a culture of poverty. A culture of poverty equally hindered poor people all around the world, resulting in widespread illiteracy in India and juvenile delinquency in Indianapolis. Policymakers defined poverty less by employment rate or location (rural poverty in Ghana versus inner-city poverty in New York) and more by the cultural values of the poor people (apathy toward change, disdain for education, lack of planning for the future, and desire for immediate gratification). In a sense, the poor person who lived in the Philippines and the one who lived in Philadelphia became one. They suffered from the same cultural limitations and could be helped through the same remedy. There were not just similarities between programs to alleviate poverty in either the Third World or America; the two became one in the mid-1960s. Makers of policy in the War on Poverty understood all poverty around the world as identical and approached it with the same remedy. President John Kennedy inspired the paradigm shift. After reading about the culture of poverty in Dwight Macdonald’s review of Michael Harrington’s book The Other America: Poverty in the United States, Kennedy began to bring together experts within a new mentality to discuss a program to end poverty. The experts had been working for separate programs that focused on seemingly disparate issues—juvenile delinquency, poverty in New England, and Third World development—but they now realized that they were all working on the same problem, namely, the culture of poverty. The understanding that cultural values created poverty led them to unify their programs and approaches as they created the War on Poverty in 1964. The discovery was not the beginning of national attention on poverty but a culmination that brought together prominent people, ideas, and programs already in existence within a new paradigm. “ABSOLUTELY SORT OF NORMAL”: THE COMMON ORIGINS OF THE WAR ON POVERTY AT HOME AND ABROAD, 1961-1965 by DANIEL VICTOR AKSAMIT B.A., UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 2005 M.A., KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, 2009 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2014 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Donald Mrozek Copyright DANIEL VICTOR AKSAMIT 2014 Abstract Scholars identify the early 1960s as the moment when Americans rediscovered poverty – as the time when Presidents, policymakers, and the public shifted their attention away from celebrating the affluence of the 1950s and toward directly helping poor people within the culture of poverty through major federal programs such as the Peace Corps and Job Corps. This dissertation argues that this moment should not be viewed as a rediscovery of poverty by Americans. Rather, it should be viewed as a paradigm shift that conceptually unified the understanding of both foreign and domestic privation within the concept of a culture of poverty. A culture of poverty equally hindered poor people all around the world, resulting in widespread illiteracy in India and juvenile delinquency in Indianapolis. Policymakers defined poverty less by employment rate or location (rural poverty in Ghana versus inner-city poverty in New York) and more by the cultural values of the poor people (apathy toward change, disdain for education, lack of planning for the future, and desire for immediate gratification). In a sense, the poor person who lived in the Philippines and the one who lived in Philadelphia became one. They suffered from the same cultural limitations and could be helped through the same remedy. There were not just similarities between programs to alleviate poverty in either the Third World or America; the two became one in the mid-1960s. Makers of policy in the War on Poverty understood all poverty around the world as identical and approached it with the same remedy. President John Kennedy inspired the paradigm shift. After reading about the culture of poverty in Dwight Macdonald’s review of Michael Harrington’s book The Other America: Poverty in the United States, Kennedy began to bring together experts within a new mentality to discuss a program to end poverty. The experts had been working for separate programs that focused on seemingly disparate issues—juvenile delinquency, poverty in New England, and Third World development—but they now realized that they were all working on the same problem, namely, the culture of poverty. The understanding that cultural values created poverty led them to unify their programs and approaches as they created the War on Poverty in 1964. The discovery was not the beginning of national attention on poverty but a culmination that brought together prominent people, ideas, and programs already in existence within a new paradigm. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... ix Introduction- Kennedy’s Paradigm Shift: From Alleviating Poverty through Employment to Reforming Cultural Values ...................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 - Distinct Poverties, Distinct Cures: Consumption, Reconstruction, and Development 1 Chapter 2 - “The Major Role Played by Culture in Determining Behavior”: The Triumph of Culture in the Social Sciences ............................................................................................... 24 Chapter 3 - “Substitute Hope for Hopelessness”: Mobilization for Youth, Peace Corps, and the Gray Areas Program .............................................................................................................. 56 Chapter 4 - “Absolutely Sort of Normal”: The Paradigm Shift .................................................... 80 Chapter 5 - “Whether its name is Bombay or New York”: The Global War on Poverty ........... 113 Chapter 6 - “All of the Negativism Piled Up”: The Paradigm Disintegrates ............................. 141 Conclusion - The Paradigm after the War on Poverty ................................................................ 159 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 166 vi Acknowledgements When a member of the audience asked comedian Jimmy Carr, “What book changed your life?” Carr responded, “Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. Before I got that book we had a wobbly table in the kitchen.”1 Carr’s quote captures my experience writing this dissertation. I have tried to be intellectually rigorous while always bringing every thought back to its application in reality. Donald Mrozek, my major professor, has been indispensable in that progress. He has taught me to understand the myriad of ways to interpret a historical topic without losing sight of how people in the past actually experienced it. This realization, although powerful and important, caused me innumerous complications as I attempted to formulate a single thesis that could unify the many ideas, people, and programs related to poverty in the 1960s. Dr. Mrozek was always there to offer guidance with style and grace. He is a model of what I hope to be as a historian and person. It has been an honor to work with him. The other members of my committee deserve my gratitude as well. Derek Hoff and Micheal Krysko have both offered guidance and inspiration throughout my experience in graduate school. Dr. Hoff’s constant effort to challenge me on all of my weakest areas—during courses, preliminary examinations, and conferences—has made me a more well-round historian. I must also thank him for helping me with my conference proposals and introducing me to influential scholars in the field. Dr. Krysko assembled reading lists on foreign relations that roused my enthusiasm for the field. Amanda Murdie offered me her expertise on non- governmental organizations (NGO) and international non-governmental organizations (INGO). I am thankful for Torry Dickinson, who agreed to serve on my committee on short notice. I want to thank Bimal Paul for his willingness to chair my committee. I am grateful for Albert Hamscher’s professional and personal help throughout my graduate career. Dr. Hamscher disciplined both my style of writing and golf swing. He also provided tremendous experience
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