The Promise of Welfare Reform
Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century
1st Edition
Published on 17. May 2006
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-7890-2921-8 (ISBN)
Description
Find out howand whylegislation has made economic rights more important than human rights
Since 1996, politicians and public officials in the United States have celebrated the success of welfare reform legislation despite little, if any, evidence to support their claims. The Promise of Welfare Reform: Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century presents articles from 23 community practitioners and researchers who challenge the reform that has turned public aid from a right to a privilege. The authors transcend conventional academic writing, offering careful and thoughtful analysis that examines the history of welfare reform, its connection to poverty, family issues, and the impact of racism on poverty and on the treatment of the poor.
The Promise of Welfare Reform analyzes the consequences over the past ten years of legislative changes made to the public assistance program formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC). This powerful book examines the social, political, and economic context of welfare reform, including the elimination of poverty as a societal goal, how racial and ethic groups have been targeted, popular stereotypes about the poor and their work ethic, anti-immigrant hostility, the struggles of single mothers with children, domestic violence, and marriage as a realistic escape from poverty. The book's authors address the need for empathy and understanding to change public sentiments about welfare and poverty.
Contributors to The Promise of Welfare Reform include:
Elizabeth A. Segal and Keith M. Kilty, co-founding editors of the Journal of Poverty (Haworth)
Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare
Ann Withorn, co-editor of For Crying Out Loud: Women's Poverty in the United States
Mimi Abramovitz, author of Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the United States
Joel Blau, co-author with Mimi Abramovitz of The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy
Margaret K. Nelson, author of The Social Economy of Single Mothers: Raising Children in Rural America
Gwendolyn Mink, co-editor of Welfare: A Documentary History of U.S. Policy and Politics
Kenneth J. Neubeck, co-author of Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor
Lynn Fujiwara, author of Sanctioning Immigrants: Asian Immigrant Women and the Racial Politics of Welfare Reform
Nancy C. Jurik, author of Bootstrap Dreams: U.S. Microenterprise Developments in an Era of Welfare Reform
and much more!
The Promise of Welfare Reform challenges current views on welfare reform and promotes alternative methods to alleviate poverty. It is an essential resource for sociologists, political scientists, economists, public policy and management specialists, social welfare and human services workers, and anyone else concerned about changes made to public assistance by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Since 1996, politicians and public officials in the United States have celebrated the success of welfare reform legislation despite little, if any, evidence to support their claims. The Promise of Welfare Reform: Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century presents articles from 23 community practitioners and researchers who challenge the reform that has turned public aid from a right to a privilege. The authors transcend conventional academic writing, offering careful and thoughtful analysis that examines the history of welfare reform, its connection to poverty, family issues, and the impact of racism on poverty and on the treatment of the poor.
The Promise of Welfare Reform analyzes the consequences over the past ten years of legislative changes made to the public assistance program formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC). This powerful book examines the social, political, and economic context of welfare reform, including the elimination of poverty as a societal goal, how racial and ethic groups have been targeted, popular stereotypes about the poor and their work ethic, anti-immigrant hostility, the struggles of single mothers with children, domestic violence, and marriage as a realistic escape from poverty. The book's authors address the need for empathy and understanding to change public sentiments about welfare and poverty.
Contributors to The Promise of Welfare Reform include:
Elizabeth A. Segal and Keith M. Kilty, co-founding editors of the Journal of Poverty (Haworth)
Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare
Ann Withorn, co-editor of For Crying Out Loud: Women's Poverty in the United States
Mimi Abramovitz, author of Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the United States
Joel Blau, co-author with Mimi Abramovitz of The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy
Margaret K. Nelson, author of The Social Economy of Single Mothers: Raising Children in Rural America
Gwendolyn Mink, co-editor of Welfare: A Documentary History of U.S. Policy and Politics
Kenneth J. Neubeck, co-author of Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor
Lynn Fujiwara, author of Sanctioning Immigrants: Asian Immigrant Women and the Racial Politics of Welfare Reform
Nancy C. Jurik, author of Bootstrap Dreams: U.S. Microenterprise Developments in an Era of Welfare Reform
and much more!
The Promise of Welfare Reform challenges current views on welfare reform and promotes alternative methods to alleviate poverty. It is an essential resource for sociologists, political scientists, economists, public policy and management specialists, social welfare and human services workers, and anyone else concerned about changes made to public assistance by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Reviews / Votes
"...provide[s] an eclectic collection of chapters that address many aspects of the new welfare-to-work program and examines the wider political, economic and cultural context in which these changes evolved." -- Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol. 36 no. 3, 2008More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
703 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7890-2921-8 (9780789029218)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Elizabeth Segal
The Promise of Welfare Reform
Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century
E-Book
05/2006
1st Edition
Routledge
€76.49
Available for download
Elizabeth Segal
The Promise of Welfare Reform
Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century
E-Book
05/2006
1st Edition
Routledge
€76.49
Available for download
Elizabeth Segal
The Promise of Welfare Reform
Political Rhetoric and the Reality of Poverty in the Twenty-First Century
Book
05/2006
1st Edition
Routledge
€88.19
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Elizabeth Segal
Content
About the Editors
Contributors
Foreword (Frances Fox Piven)
Introduction
PART I: THE CONTEXT OF WELFARE REFORM
Chapter 1. Looking Up the Slippery Slope: Lessons from a Lifetime of Trying to Figure Out and Fight Poverty (Ann Withorn)
Learning Begins at Home
Political Lessons
Welfare and Welfare Rights: Remembering What We Have Lost and Learned
Lessons Learned
A Final Personal Lesson: Why It All Still Matters
Chapter 2. Neither Accidental, Nor Simply Mean-Spirited: The Context for Welfare Reform (Mimi Abramovitz)
Background: The Rise of the Welfare State
Dismantling the Welfare State
Welfare Reform
The Race Card
Fighting Back
Chapter 3. Welfare Reform: Forward to the Past (Alfred L. Joseph Jr.)
Introduction
Welfare Reform and Beyond
History of Hostility to Assistance
The Struggle Continues: Fighting Racism Is Crucial
Chapter 4. Welfare Reform in Historical Perspective (Joel Blau)
From Agricultural to Industrial
From Competitive Capitalism to Monopoly Capitalism
Chapter 5. Lessons from Vermont (Margaret K. Nelson)
The Disappearance of Grassroots Resistance
Modest Social Change
A More Active Engagement
Chapter 6. Welfare Reform and the Transformation of the U.S. Welfare State (Michael Reisch)
Introduction: The Roots of Contemporary Welfare Reform
American Exceptionalism
Race and Welfare Reform
Antiwelfare Ideology
The Impact of Welfare Reform
The U.S. Workfare Regime
Welfare Reform and Economic Globalization
Welfare State Transformation and the Nature of Social Work
Conclusion: The Workfare Regime and Power
Chapter 7. Living Economic Restructuring at the Bottom: Welfare Restructuring and Low-Wage Work (Sandra Morgen, Joan Acker, Jill Weigt, and Lisa Gonzales)
What Is a Good Job?: Measuring Poverty and Good Jobs/Bad Jobs
Jobs, Poverty, and Welfare Reform in Oregon
Jobs and Poverty in the Era of Globalization and the Jobless Recovery
Policy Directions in the Context of Neoliberalism and Globalization
PART II: POVERTY AND WELFARE REFORM
Chapter 8. Welfare Reform and the American Dream (Laura R. Peck and Sarah Allen Gershon)
What Is the American Dream?
How Has Welfare Reform Influenced the American Dream?
Discussion and Conclusion
Chapter 9. Welfare Reform: What's Poverty Got to Do With It? (Keith M. Kilty)
Poverty: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
When Poverty Becomes Too Visible
Welfare Reform and Poverty
Chapter 10. Microenterprise Development, Welfare Reform, and the Contradictions of New Privatization (Nancy C. Jurik)
The Privatization of Collective Welfare
Microenterprise Development Programs (MDPs)
MDPs in Action: The Contradictions of New Privatization
Conclusion
Chapter 11. Welfare Reform and Housing Retrenchment: What Happens When Two Policies Collide? (Jessica W. Pardee)
Understanding Welfare Policy
Understanding Housing Policy
Discussion
Conclusion
Chapter 12. Changing the Face of Homelessness: Welfare Reform's Impact on Homeless Families (Bart W. Miles and Patrick J. Fowler)
Introduction
The Discursive Frame of Welfare Reform
The Goals of Welfare Reform, and Its Impact on Homeless People
Change in Demographics Among Homeless People
Increase in the Number of Homeless Families
Impact of Welfare Reform on Homeless Families
Conclusion
Recommendations
PART III: FAM
Contributors
Foreword (Frances Fox Piven)
Introduction
PART I: THE CONTEXT OF WELFARE REFORM
Chapter 1. Looking Up the Slippery Slope: Lessons from a Lifetime of Trying to Figure Out and Fight Poverty (Ann Withorn)
Learning Begins at Home
Political Lessons
Welfare and Welfare Rights: Remembering What We Have Lost and Learned
Lessons Learned
A Final Personal Lesson: Why It All Still Matters
Chapter 2. Neither Accidental, Nor Simply Mean-Spirited: The Context for Welfare Reform (Mimi Abramovitz)
Background: The Rise of the Welfare State
Dismantling the Welfare State
Welfare Reform
The Race Card
Fighting Back
Chapter 3. Welfare Reform: Forward to the Past (Alfred L. Joseph Jr.)
Introduction
Welfare Reform and Beyond
History of Hostility to Assistance
The Struggle Continues: Fighting Racism Is Crucial
Chapter 4. Welfare Reform in Historical Perspective (Joel Blau)
From Agricultural to Industrial
From Competitive Capitalism to Monopoly Capitalism
Chapter 5. Lessons from Vermont (Margaret K. Nelson)
The Disappearance of Grassroots Resistance
Modest Social Change
A More Active Engagement
Chapter 6. Welfare Reform and the Transformation of the U.S. Welfare State (Michael Reisch)
Introduction: The Roots of Contemporary Welfare Reform
American Exceptionalism
Race and Welfare Reform
Antiwelfare Ideology
The Impact of Welfare Reform
The U.S. Workfare Regime
Welfare Reform and Economic Globalization
Welfare State Transformation and the Nature of Social Work
Conclusion: The Workfare Regime and Power
Chapter 7. Living Economic Restructuring at the Bottom: Welfare Restructuring and Low-Wage Work (Sandra Morgen, Joan Acker, Jill Weigt, and Lisa Gonzales)
What Is a Good Job?: Measuring Poverty and Good Jobs/Bad Jobs
Jobs, Poverty, and Welfare Reform in Oregon
Jobs and Poverty in the Era of Globalization and the Jobless Recovery
Policy Directions in the Context of Neoliberalism and Globalization
PART II: POVERTY AND WELFARE REFORM
Chapter 8. Welfare Reform and the American Dream (Laura R. Peck and Sarah Allen Gershon)
What Is the American Dream?
How Has Welfare Reform Influenced the American Dream?
Discussion and Conclusion
Chapter 9. Welfare Reform: What's Poverty Got to Do With It? (Keith M. Kilty)
Poverty: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
When Poverty Becomes Too Visible
Welfare Reform and Poverty
Chapter 10. Microenterprise Development, Welfare Reform, and the Contradictions of New Privatization (Nancy C. Jurik)
The Privatization of Collective Welfare
Microenterprise Development Programs (MDPs)
MDPs in Action: The Contradictions of New Privatization
Conclusion
Chapter 11. Welfare Reform and Housing Retrenchment: What Happens When Two Policies Collide? (Jessica W. Pardee)
Understanding Welfare Policy
Understanding Housing Policy
Discussion
Conclusion
Chapter 12. Changing the Face of Homelessness: Welfare Reform's Impact on Homeless Families (Bart W. Miles and Patrick J. Fowler)
Introduction
The Discursive Frame of Welfare Reform
The Goals of Welfare Reform, and Its Impact on Homeless People
Change in Demographics Among Homeless People
Increase in the Number of Homeless Families
Impact of Welfare Reform on Homeless Families
Conclusion
Recommendations
PART III: FAM