After Welfare : : The Culture of Postindustrial Social Policy / / Sanford F. Schram.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Schram, Sanford F.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2000]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2000
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Do contemporary welfare policies reflect the realities of the economy and the needs of those in need of public assistance, or are they based on outdated and idealized notions of work and family life? Are we are moving from a "war on poverty" to a "war against the poor?" In this critique of American social welfare policy, Sanford F. Schram explores the cultural anxieties over the putatively deteriorating "American work ethic," and the class, race, sexual and gender biases at the root of current policy and debates. Schram goes beyond analyzing the current state of affairs to offer a progressive alternative he calls "radical incrementalism," whereby activists would recreate a social safety net tailored to the specific life circumstances of those in need. His provocative recommendations include a series of programs aimed at transcending the prevailing pernicious distinction between "social insurance" and "public assistance" so as to better address the needs of single mothers with children. Such programs could include "divorce insurance" or even some form of "pregnancy insurance" for women with no means of economic support. By pushing for such programs, Schram argues, activists could make great strides towards achieving social justice, even in today's reactionary climate.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Contracting America: The Cycle of Representation and the Contagion of Policy Discourse -- 2 Where the Welfare Queen Resides: The Subtcxt of Personal Responsibility -- 3 In the Clinic: The Medicalization of Welfare -- 4 Deconstructing Devolution: Racing to the Bottom and Other Ironies ofWelfare Reform -- 5 Redefining the Family, Redefining the State: The Politics of Incorporation and the Case of Same-Sex Marriage -- 6 A New Space for Welfare Policy Research: Benefit Decline on the Internet -- 7 After Social Security: Searching for a Postindustrial Ethic -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author