Overview

Backlash against Welfare Mothers is a forceful examination of how and why a state-level revolt against welfare, begun in the late 1940s, was transformed into a national-level assault that destroyed a critical part of the nation's safety net, with tragic consequences for American society. With a wealth of original research, Ellen Reese puts recent debates about the contemporary welfare backlash into historical perspective. She provides a closer look at these early antiwelfare campaigns, showing why they were more successful in some states than others and how opponents of welfare sometimes targeted Puerto Ricans and Chicanos as well as blacks for cutbacks. Her research reveals both the continuities and changes in American welfare opposition from the late 1940s to the present. Reese brings new evidence to light that reveals how large farmers and racist politicians, concerned about the supply of cheap labor, appealed to white voters' racial resentments and stereotypes about unwed mothers, blacks, and immigrants in the 1950s. She then examines congressional failure to replace the current welfare system with a more popular alternative in the 1960s and 1970s, which paved the way for national assaults on welfare. Taking a fresh look at recent debates on welfare reform, she explores how and why politicians competing for the white vote and right-wing think tanks promoting business interests appeased the Christian right and manufactured consent for cutbacks through a powerful, racially coded discourse. Finally, through firsthand testimonies, Reese vividly portrays the tragic consequences of current welfare policies and calls for a bold new agenda for working families.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ellen Reese
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Edition:   Annotated edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.499kg
ISBN:  

9780520244627

ISBN 10:   0520244621
Pages:   372
Publication Date:   29 July 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Part I. Welfare Opposition: Causes and Consequences 1. Deferred Dreams, Broken Families, and Hardship: The Impact of Welfare Reform 2. Attacking Welfare, Promoting Work and Marriage: Continuity and Change in Welfare Opposition Part II. The First Welfare Backlash (1945--1979) 3. The 1950s Welfare Backlash and Federal Complicity 4. Explaining the Postwar Rise of Welfare Opposition 5. Southern Welfare Backlashes: Georgia and Kentucky 6. Western and Northern Welfare Backlashes: California and New York 7. Setting the Stage: The Failures of Liberal Innovation Part III. The Contemporary Welfare Backlash (1980--2004) 8. The Rise of the Republican Right and the New Democrats 9. Business Interests, Conservative Think Tanks, and the Assault on Welfare 10. Congressional Attacks on Welfare, 1980--2004 11. Rebuilding the Welfare State: Forging a New Deal for Working Families Appendix 1: States That Restricted Eligibility for ADC (1949--1960) Appendix 2: Variables and Data Sources Used in Quantitative Analysis Notes References Index

Reviews

This book provides a powerful new understanding of the right-wing attacks on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the United States's major welfare program that was ultimately dismantled in 1996. Reese's rich historical account sheds important new light on our nation's compassionless conservatism.

"""This book provides a powerful new understanding of the right-wing attacks on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the United States's major welfare program that was ultimately dismantled in 1996. Reese's rich historical account sheds important new light on our nation's compassionless conservatism."""

Author Information

Ellen Reese is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside.

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