Life on the Breadline: Theology, Poverty and Politics in an Age of Austerity

Chris Shannahan''s Life on the Breadline lifts the lid on the roots of and the contemporary struggle against the scandal of rampant poverty that exists in Britain, one of the richest nations in the world. Shannahan shows that structural poverty has not occurred by accident and so the solutions to this multi-faceted problem need to be intentional, prophetic and sustained. This is a much-needed book that deserves a wide readership.

At a time when communities are being pushed to breaking point by increasing need and declining resources, Chris Shanahan offers a detailed examination of the role of the Church and the contribution of theology. Building on the careful listening to the lived experience of local church communities undertaken for the Life on the Breadline study, the author offers the much-needed perspective of the critical friend, challenging and encouraging the Church to be bolder in bringing a prophetic voice to the public square, shining the light of the Gospel on the structural and systemic injustices that push people to the margins of society. It is a hope-filled vision that makes a compelling case for the transformative contribution that a socially-engaged theology, in dialogue with other academic disciplines, can make. Academic theology stands at a crossroads. Will it rise to the challenge and focus its energy on the development of a fieldwork-led theology of liberation that can resource the struggle to make poverty history?Life on the Breadline represents the first fieldwork-based book by an academic theologian to identify, explore and analyse the spectrum of Christian responses to austerity-age poverty in the UK. Rooted in an interdisciplinary theoretical analysis of multidimensional poverty, political discourse and extensive qualitative research, it develops a groundbreaking theological analysis of the impact of governmental austerity policies since the 2008 financial crash. In Life on the Breadline, Chris Shannahan identifies and critiques a spectrum of Christian responses to poverty and sows the seeds of a new theology of liberation, demonstrating that the Church faces a Kairos moment in its engagement in the public sphere and its commitment to ‘transform structural injustice’. BLOGPOST: Why do Christians engage with poverty? Q&A with Chris Shannahan on the SCM Press blog here.

• | Author: Chris Shannahan
• | Publisher: SCM Press
• | Publication Date: Nov 28, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9780334063698
• | ISBN-10: 0334063698