The Empathy Fix – Why Poverty Persists and How To Change It

Poverty isn’t a problem out there, in someone else’s world. It’s a crisis within our own societies and communities.

It’s something we all want to see less of. So why does it prove so difficult to tackle? Can empathy help fix it?

The Empathy Fix exposes the realities of poverty and reveals why current policies frequently fail to work. In this book, Keetie Roelen draws on decades of experience working on global poverty to create a nuanced and intricate portrait of the problem and efforts to combat it, from the overly automated bureaucracy that undermines access to benefits, to the immeasurable impact of cash transfers and human-centred support.

The Empathy Fix shows us how to relate to poverty on a human level, to realise how and why current interventions are often ineffective, and to respond in a way that promotes dignity and agency. From outreach within your own community to reform at government level, The Empathy Fix is a radical rethink of how we perceive of poverty and how to break the cycle.

Published by Allen & Unwin, now available in your bookshop and online!

If you’d like to learn more, Keetie will speak about The Empathy Fix at the following events:

Keetie also discusses The Empathy Fix in various podcasts (apart from this one!):

• Better Known podcast hosted by Ivan Wise, asking his guests to talk about six things that should be better known.
• Between the Lines podcast hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), discussing The Empathy Fix with Stephen Devereux.
• World Beyond Resilience podcast hosted by Carolyn Gibson and Angela Philps, reflecting on how empathy can help move beyond individualised and judgemental notions of resilience.

And she brings messages from The Empathy Fix into opinion pieces and media engagements:

• In an opinion piece for the Big Issue, she argues the need for greater empathy in the face of benefit cuts in the UK.
• In a learning piece on the Open University’s free learning platform, she argues the importance of empathy and tailored support in reducing poverty.
• In an opinion piece for the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, she argues that tackling poverty requires trusting people in poverty.

If you have any questions about these events and media appearances or have event or media requests, please email Keetie directly (keetie.roelen@open.ac.uk) or Kate Straker at Atlantic Books (katestraker@atlantic-books.co.uk)