NOT A NUMBER
Global Stories from the Automated Welfare State
Virginia Eubanks and Andrea Quijada
Haymarket Books (26 January 2027)
Trade paper • ISBN-13: 9798888907504 • US $19.95 • 5.5 in x 8.5 in • 368 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Urgent stories from the intersection of automation and social welfare, told by people around the world fighting for access and resources to care for themselves and loved ones
Welfare systems across the globe have long been set up to punish those who need them to access support. But we’re entering a new era where automation and punitive policy make social provision even worse—systems are increasingly computerized, impersonal, and difficult to navigate.
Offering an intimate look at what it means to rely on public services in an ever more alienating world, Not a Number shares sixteen first-person narratives from around the world describe their fights for access and resources to care for themselves and loved ones.
Read about Sara Peavey, a young woman in Albuquerque who spent years battling what she calls the “Department of Decisions” in order to receive mental health care; Lucy, a mother in the UK forced to attend child protective hearings and bond with her toddler over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdowns; John Otajar, an elder in rural Uganda denied social benefits because administrators assigned him an incorrect birth date; and María Medina in Colombia, who was suddenly removed from the category of “poor” by a change to a classification algorithm, losing access to health care and income support.
Together, these stories call us to build systems grounded in dignity, care, and real human connection—so that no one is reduced to a number or data point.
PRAISE:
“Not a Number is a searing work of moral witness. It makes a powerful case that in order to salvage the project of democracy, we must begin by keeping our promises to those living on the margins. Eubanks and Quijada expose the Big Lie that the forward march of technology will carry the most vulnerable with it. Every policymaker must read this book; every lover of democracy should hear these voices. Let the indignities in these pages shock the conscience, and then let them serve as a clarion call for a human rights renaissance. The time has come.“
Ami Fields-Meyer, New York Times bestselling co-author of On Courage and former White House senior policy advisor
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | Berla & Griffini Rights Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Spanish in Spain | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.