Here a group of distinguished feminist scholars examines the causes and the impact of recent changes in welfare policy. Some of the authors trace the politics of welfare from the 1960s, emphasizing how attitudes toward "motherwork" and "working mothers" have evolved in the backlash against poor women's motherhood. Several other authors consider the effects of the new welfare policy on employment and wages, on the lives of noncitizen immigrants, on poor women's ability to escape domestic violence, and on their reproductive and parental rights. A third set of authors explores dependency and caregiving, along with the role of feminist thinking on these issues in the politics of welfare.
Whose Welfare? concludes with a historical analysis of activism among poor women. By illuminating that legacy, the volume challenges readers to build progressive agendas from the demands and actions of poor and working-class women.
Contributors Mimi Abramovitz, Hunter College Eileen Boris, University of Virginia Lynn Fujiwara, University of California, Santa Cruz Eve Feder Kittay, State University of New York, Stony Brook Demie Kurz, University of Pennsylvania Gwendolyn Mink, University of California, Santa Cruz Nancy Naples, University of California, Irvine Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York Dorothy Roberts, Northwestern University Rickie Solinger, Denver, CO
