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 willprovoke 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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