Race, Money, and the American Welfare State

2018-10-18 Political Science

Author : Michael E. Brown
Release : 2018-10-18
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 352/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Race, Money, and the American Welfare State by : Michael E. Brown

Download or read book Race, Money, and the American Welfare State written by Michael E. Brown. This book was released on 2018-10-18. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American welfare state is often blamed for exacerbating social problems confronting African Americans while failing to improve their economic lot. Michael K. Brown contends that our welfare system has in fact denied them the social provision it gives white citizens while stigmatizing them as recipients of government benefits for low income citizens. In his provocative history of America's "safety net" from its origins in the New Deal through much of its dismantling in the 1990s, Brown explains how the forces of fiscal conservatism and racism combined to shape a welfare state in which blacks are disproportionately excluded from mainstream programs.Brown describes how business and middle class opposition to taxes and spending limited the scope of the Social Security Act and work relief programs of the 1930s and the Great Society in the 1960s. These decisions produced a welfare state that relies heavily on privately provided health and pension programs and cash benefits for the poor. In a society characterized by pervasive racial discrimination, this outcome, Michael Brown makes clear, has led to a racially stratified welfare system: by denying African Americans work, whites limited their access to private benefits as well as to social security and other forms of social insurance, making welfare their "main occupation." In his conclusion, Brown addresses the implications of his argument for both conservative and liberal critiques of the Great Society and for policies designed to remedy inner-city poverty.

Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform

2010-03-10 Political Science

Author : Sanford F. Schram
Release : 2010-03-10
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 511/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform by : Sanford F. Schram

Download or read book Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform written by Sanford F. Schram. This book was released on 2010-03-10. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's hard to imagine discussing welfare policy without discussing race, yet all too often this uncomfortable factor is avoided or simply ignored. Sometimes the relationship between welfare and race is treated as so self-evident as to need no further attention; equally often, race in the context of welfare is glossed over, lest it raise hard questions about racism in American society as a whole. Either way, ducking the issue misrepresents the facts and misleads the public and policy-makers alike. Many scholars have addressed specific aspects of this subject, but until now there has been no single integrated overview. Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform is designed to fill this need and provide a forum for a range of voices and perspectives that reaffirm the key role race has played--and continues to play--in our approach to poverty. The essays collected here offer a systematic, step-by-step approach to the issue. Part 1 traces the evolution of welfare from the 1930s to the sweeping Clinton-era reforms, providing a historical context within which to consider today's attitudes and strategies. Part 2 looks at media representation and public perception, observing, for instance, that although blacks accounted for only about one-third of America's poor from 1967 to 1992, they featured in nearly two-thirds of news stories on poverty, a bias inevitably reflected in public attitudes. Part 3 discusses public discourse, asking questions like "Whose voices get heard and why?" and "What does 'race' mean to different constituencies?" For although "old-fashioned" racism has been replaced by euphemism, many of the same underlying prejudices still drive welfare debates--and indeed are all the more pernicious for being unspoken. Part 4 examines policy choices and implementation, showing how even the best-intentioned reform often simply displaces institutional inequities to the individual level--bias exercised case by case but no less discriminatory in effect. Part 5 explores the effects of welfare reform and the implications of transferring policy-making to the states, where local politics and increasing use of referendum balloting introduce new, often unpredictable concerns. Finally, Frances Fox Piven's concluding commentary, "Why Welfare Is Racist," offers a provocative response to the views expressed in the pages that have gone before--intended not as a "last word" but rather as the opening argument in an ongoing, necessary, and newly envisioned national debate. Sanford Schram is Visiting Professor of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. Joe Soss teaches in the Department of Government at the Graduate school of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, D.C. Richard Fording is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky.

Racism in and for the Welfare State

2022

Author : Fabio Perocco
Release : 2022
Genre :
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 724/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Racism in and for the Welfare State by : Fabio Perocco

Download or read book Racism in and for the Welfare State written by Fabio Perocco. This book was released on 2022. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses politics, practices, and discourses of welfare racism against immigrants under neoliberalism. As an instrument of selection, exclusion, exploitation, and stigmatisation, welfare racism is a distinguishing feature of anti-immigrant racism which has gained new momentum over the last decades. The strength and persistence of this form of racism are linked to several factors, including the colonial roots of the welfare state, racism's structural position in modern society, the intrinsic limits of social rights in capitalism, and migration policies that are almost always punitive in nature. Rich in documents and historical perspective, this book presents a global analysis of racism within and in the name of the welfare state. It examines discriminatory laws, measures, and practices by state actors and discourses by public figures and organizations, demonstrating the ways these developments are related to the dismantling of the welfare state in the neoliberal era, and to the war on labour and social rights. Integrating perspectives from Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Perocco highlights welfare racism as a global and structured phenomenon producing inequalities and concerning labour as a whole. Fabio Perocco is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Venice, Italy.

The White Welfare State

2009-12-11 Political Science

Author : Deborah E. Ward
Release : 2009-12-11
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 884/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The White Welfare State by : Deborah E. Ward

Download or read book The White Welfare State written by Deborah E. Ward. This book was released on 2009-12-11. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The White Welfare State challenges common misconceptions of the development of U.S. welfare policy. Arguing that race has always been central to welfare policy-making in the United States, Deborah Ward breaks new ground by showing that the Mothers' Pensions--the Progressive-Era precursors to modern welfare programs--were premised on a policy of racial discrimination against blacks and other minorities. Ward's rigorous and thoroughly documented analysis demonstrates that the creation and implementation of the mothers' pensions program was driven by debates about who "deserved" social welfare and not who needed it the most. "In The White Welfare State, Deborah Ward assembles a powerful array of documentary and statistical evidence to reveal the mechanisms, centrality, and deep historical continuity of racial exclusion in modern 'welfare' provision in the United States. Bringing unparalleled scrutiny to the provisions and implementation of state-level mothers' pensions, she argues persuasively that racialized patterns of welfare administration were firmly entrenched in this Progressive Era legislation, only to be adopted and reinforced in the New Deal welfare state. With rigorous and clear-eyed analysis, she pushes us to confront the singular role of race in welfare's development, from its early 20th-century origins to its official demise at century's end." --Alice O'Connor, University of California at Santa Barbara "This is a richly informative and arresting work. The White Welfare State will force a reevaluation of the role racism has played as a fundamental feature in even the most progressive features of the American welfare state. Written elegantly, this book will provoke a wide-ranging discussion among social scientists, historians, and students of public policy." --Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University "This book offers an original and absorbing account of early policies that shaped the course of the American welfare state. It extends yet challenges extant interpretations and expands our understanding of the interconnections of race and class issues in the U.S., and American political development more broadly." --Rodney Hero, University of Notre Dame

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Race, Money, and the American Welfare State

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