The Empathy Fix

An important and necessary book exploring the chronic empathy deficit around global poverty, offering surprising and compelling solutions to one of the greatest injustices of our time. – Roman Krznaric, author of The Good Ancestor and EmpathyThe enormous achievement of this book is that it provides a lucid assessment of poverty, by connecting dry statistics to human faces and lived experiences… What emerges is a powerful picture showing the inventiveness of people living in poverty and their incredible resilience, but also how their efforts are hampered by povertyism - the abuse and negative stereotyping they confront on a daily basis. If you want to understand the reality of poverty, start by reading this book. – Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rightsNow more than ever The Empathy Fix needs to find its way into the hands of not just global policy makers, but anyone who thinks that poverty doesn’t exist or that there are no solutions to our very often secreted difficulties. This urgent book gives us renewed hope - hope served perfectly and respectfully through the refreshing lens of empathy and equality, a must read! – Natasha Carthew, author of Undercurrent and founder of Working-class Writers FestivalKeetie Roelen’s work on poverty has for many years been a key ‘go-to’ resource for those of us who write or campaign about the issue. The Empathy Fix is no exception. A stellar piece of work from a seasoned researcher that sheds fresh light on what has been a perennial problem. Significantly, Roelen does much more than assess the situation, she offers a new perspective on how we might address it - an empathy road map, if you will. This book is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the root cause and effects of poverty but, crucially, solutions. – Mary O’Hara, journalist and author of Austerity BitesKeetie Roelen has written a unique, sensitively-crafted and much-needed book that takes readers on a journey of understanding the complexities of the impact of poverty not just in terms of human needs but also addressing the often hidden or messier parts of poverty people avoid: attitudes, stigmas and unhealthy power dynamics within systems created to help people out of poverty. A vital book! – Sarah P Corbett, activist, author, speaker, and the founder of Craftivist Collective

Keetie Roelen is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development at The Open University, UK. She has a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and has been working in the field of poverty, social policy, and international development for nearly two decades. She is also founder and host of the podcast Poverty Unpacked, a platform for exploring the hidden sides of poverty. Her work has featured in media such as The Guardian and BBC World Service. She has spoken about how to address poverty to multiple audiences, ranging from government ministers and members of parliament to students and activists.