Neoliberalism remains a flashpoint for political contestation around the world. For decades now, neoliberalism has been in the process of becoming a globally ascendant default logic that prioritizes using economic rationality for all major decisions, in all sectors of society, at the collective level of state policymaking as well as the personal level of individual choice-making. Donald Trump's recent presidential victory has been interpreted both as a repudiation and as a validation of neoliberalism's hegemony. Rethinking Neoliberalism brings together theorists, social scientists, and public policy scholars to address neoliberalism as a governing ethic for our times. The chapters interrogate various dimensions of debates about neoliberalism while offering engaging empirical examples of neoliberalism's effects on social and urban policy in the USA, Europe, Russia, and elsewhere. Themes discussed include: Relationship between neoliberalism, the state, and civil society Neoliberalism and social policy to discipline citizens Urban policy and how neoliberalism reshapes urban governance What it will take politically to get beyond neoliberalism. Written in a clear and accessible style, Rethinking Neoliberalism is a sophisticated synthesis of theory and practice, making it a compelling read for students of Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology, Geography, Urban Planning, Social Work and related fields, at both the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aThis edited collection offers and up-to-date and very readable discussion of knowledge, research, and method in the political sciences and social studies more generally, suitable for academics and doctoral students alike.a
--Thomas Ahrens, University of Warwick

aArticulates and debates the idea that academic work should be primarily concerned with addressing the largest and most immediate challenges faced by societies.a--"Urban Studies"

aDevotees of the perestroika movement will find many of the chapters reinforce their views of the field. . . . Recommended.a--"Choice"

"A significant and thoughtful discussion of key issues in the philosophy of social science, one designed to encourage a richer variety of methodological work in political science."
--Kristen Renwick Monroe, editor of "Perestroika! The Raucous Rebellion in Political Science"

"A bold call to rethink political science. The authors imagine a discipline that challenges power, challenges society, and challenges the ways we think. Making Political Science Matter is a wise, erudite, broad-ranging, sometimes witty gauntlet tossed before contemporary scholarship. It is more than a book, it is a movement."
--James A. Morone, author of "Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History"

Making Political Science Matter brings together a number of prominent scholars to discuss the state of the field of Political Science. In particular, these scholars are interested in ways to reinvigorate the discipline by connecting it to present day political struggles. Uniformly well-written and steeped in a strong sense of history, the contributors consider suchimportant topics as: the usefulness of rational choice theory; the ethical limits of pluralism; the use (and misuse) of empirical research in political science; the present-day divorce between political theory and empirical science; the connection between political science scholarship and political struggles, and the future of the discipline. This volume builds on the debate in the discipline over the significance of the work of Bent Flyvbjerg, whose book Making Social Science Matter has been characterized as a manifesto for the Perestroika Movement that has roiled the field in recent years.

Contributors include: Brian Caterino, Stewart Clegg, Bent Flyvbjerg, Mary Hawkesworth, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Gregory J. Kasza, David Kettler, David D. Laitin, Timothy W. Luke, Theodore R. Schatzki, Sanford F. Schram, Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, Corey S. Shdaimah, Roland W. Stahl, and Leslie Paul Thiele.

Neoliberalism remains a flashpoint for political contestation around the world. For decades now, neoliberalism has been in the process of becoming a globally ascendant default logic that prioritizes using economic rationality for all major decisions, in all sectors of society, at the collective level of state policymaking as well as the personal level of individual choice-making. Donald Trump's recent presidential victory has been interpreted both as a repudiation and as a validation of neoliberalism's hegemony. Rethinking Neoliberalism brings together theorists, social scientists, and public policy scholars to address neoliberalism as a governing ethic for our times. The chapters interrogate various dimensions of debates about neoliberalism while offering engaging empirical examples of neoliberalism's effects on social and urban policy in the USA, Europe, Russia, and elsewhere. Themes discussed include: Relationship between neoliberalism, the state, and civil society Neoliberalism and social policy to discipline citizens Urban policy and how neoliberalism reshapes urban governance What it will take politically to get beyond neoliberalism. Written in a clear and accessible style, Rethinking Neoliberalism is a sophisticated synthesis of theory and practice, making it a compelling read for students of Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology, Geography, Urban Planning, Social Work and related fields, at both the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

Praxis for the Poor puts the relationship of politics to scholarship front and center through an examination of the work of Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward. Piven and Cloward proved that social science could inform social-policy politics in ways that helped energize a movement. Praxis for the Poor offers a critical reflection on their work and builds upon it, demonstrating how a more politically-engaged scholarship can contribute to the struggle for social justice.

Necessary reading for political scientists, sociologists, social workers, social welfare activists, policy-makers, and anyone concerned with the plight of the poor and oppressed, Praxis for the Poor shows how social science can play a role in building a better future for social welfare.

"By focusing squarely on the cultural dimensions of social welfare policy, Sanford Schram brilliantly illuminates recent turns in policy and politics. Nor does he slight the material for the symbolic. Ratherhe shows the close connections between the cultural and material aspects of policy. Most welcome of all, Schram's work is imbued with a rare empathetic concern for the people who are both the beneficiaries and victims of social welfare."
--Frances Fox Piven, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

"If you want a flesh-and-blood story of the real agendas that lie behind policy-making in the age of tough love, After Welfare is the best book on the topic. Schram's incisive expose makes for spectacular common sense."
--Andrew Ross, New York University

"This engagingly written book lays bare the 'dirty little secrets' of a new order of social policy, one that shores up inequality by tapping into cultural reserves of race and gender prejudice while publicly presenting a neutral face. Its power derives from Schram's eloquence, his sharp wit, and his talent for persuading the reader to scrutinize social policy through the lens of social theory."
--Lisa Disch, University of Minnesota

"Sanford Schram's After Welfare is an exemplary combination of political theory, cultural critique, applied policy analysis and astute and comprehensive mapping of the contemporary politics of welfare. It should engage a wide readership in both academia and the policy community."
--Michael J. Shapiro, University of Hawai'i

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 outdatedand 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.

The white nationalist movement in the United States is nothing new. Yet, prior to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, many Americans assumed that it existed only on the fringes of our political system, a dark cultural relic pushed out of the mainstream by the victories of the Civil Rights Movement. The events in Charlottesville made clear that we had underestimated the scale of the white nationalist movement; Donald Trump's reaction to it brought home the reality that the movement had gained political clout in the White House. Yet, as this book argues, the mainstreaming of white nationalism did not begin with Trump, but began during the Obama era. Hard White explains how the mainstreaming of white nationalism occurred, pointing to two major shifts in the movement. First, Barack Obama's presidential tenure, along with increases in minority representation, fostered white anxiety about Muslims, Latinx immigrants, and black Americans. While anti-Semitic sentiments remained somewhat on the fringes, hostility toward Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans bubbled up into mainstream conservative views. At the same time, white nationalist leaders shifted their focus and resources from protest to electoral politics, and the book traces the evolution of the movement's political forays from David Duke to the American Freedom Party, the Tea Party, and, finally, the emergence of the Alt-Right. Interestingly it also shows that white hostility peaked in 2012-not 2016. Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram also show that the key to Trump's win was not persuading economically anxious voters to become racially conservative. Rather, Trump mobilized racially hostile voters in the key swing states that flipped from blue to red in 2016. In fact, the authors show that voter turnout among white racial conservatives in the six states that Trump flipped was significantly higher in 2016 compared to 2012. They also show that white racial conservatives were far more likely to participate in the election beyond voting in 2016. However, the rise of white nationalism has also mobilized racial progressives. While the book argues that white extremism will have enduring effects on American electoral politics for some time to come, it suggests that the way forward is to refocus the conversation on social solidarity, concluding with ideas for how to build this solidarity.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aThis edited collection offers and up-to-date and very readable discussion of knowledge, research, and method in the political sciences and social studies more generally, suitable for academics and doctoral students alike.a
--Thomas Ahrens, University of Warwick

aArticulates and debates the idea that academic work should be primarily concerned with addressing the largest and most immediate challenges faced by societies.a--"Urban Studies"

aDevotees of the perestroika movement will find many of the chapters reinforce their views of the field. . . . Recommended.a--"Choice"

"A significant and thoughtful discussion of key issues in the philosophy of social science, one designed to encourage a richer variety of methodological work in political science."
--Kristen Renwick Monroe, editor of "Perestroika! The Raucous Rebellion in Political Science"

"A bold call to rethink political science. The authors imagine a discipline that challenges power, challenges society, and challenges the ways we think. Making Political Science Matter is a wise, erudite, broad-ranging, sometimes witty gauntlet tossed before contemporary scholarship. It is more than a book, it is a movement."
--James A. Morone, author of "Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History"

Making Political Science Matter brings together a number of prominent scholars to discuss the state of the field of Political Science. In particular, these scholars are interested in ways to reinvigorate the discipline by connecting it to present day political struggles. Uniformly well-written and steeped in a strong sense of history, the contributors consider suchimportant topics as: the usefulness of rational choice theory; the ethical limits of pluralism; the use (and misuse) of empirical research in political science; the present-day divorce between political theory and empirical science; the connection between political science scholarship and political struggles, and the future of the discipline. This volume builds on the debate in the discipline over the significance of the work of Bent Flyvbjerg, whose book Making Social Science Matter has been characterized as a manifesto for the Perestroika Movement that has roiled the field in recent years.

Contributors include: Brian Caterino, Stewart Clegg, Bent Flyvbjerg, Mary Hawkesworth, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Gregory J. Kasza, David Kettler, David D. Laitin, Timothy W. Luke, Theodore R. Schatzki, Sanford F. Schram, Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, Corey S. Shdaimah, Roland W. Stahl, and Leslie Paul Thiele.

Praxis for the Poor puts the relationship of politics to scholarship front and center through an examination of the work of Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward. Piven and Cloward proved that social science could inform social-policy politics in ways that helped energize a movement. Praxis for the Poor offers a critical reflection on their work and builds upon it, demonstrating how a more politically-engaged scholarship can contribute to the struggle for social justice.

Necessary reading for political scientists, sociologists, social workers, social welfare activists, policy-makers, and anyone concerned with the plight of the poor and oppressed, Praxis for the Poor shows how social science can play a role in building a better future for social welfare.

"By focusing squarely on the cultural dimensions of social welfare policy, Sanford Schram brilliantly illuminates recent turns in policy and politics. Nor does he slight the material for the symbolic. Ratherhe shows the close connections between the cultural and material aspects of policy. Most welcome of all, Schram's work is imbued with a rare empathetic concern for the people who are both the beneficiaries and victims of social welfare."
--Frances Fox Piven, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

"If you want a flesh-and-blood story of the real agendas that lie behind policy-making in the age of tough love, After Welfare is the best book on the topic. Schram's incisive expose makes for spectacular common sense."
--Andrew Ross, New York University

"This engagingly written book lays bare the 'dirty little secrets' of a new order of social policy, one that shores up inequality by tapping into cultural reserves of race and gender prejudice while publicly presenting a neutral face. Its power derives from Schram's eloquence, his sharp wit, and his talent for persuading the reader to scrutinize social policy through the lens of social theory."
--Lisa Disch, University of Minnesota

"Sanford Schram's After Welfare is an exemplary combination of political theory, cultural critique, applied policy analysis and astute and comprehensive mapping of the contemporary politics of welfare. It should engage a wide readership in both academia and the policy community."
--Michael J. Shapiro, University of Hawai'i

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 outdatedand 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.

The relationship between politics and storytelling is one with a well-established lineage, but public policy analysis has only recently begun to develop its own appreciation of the power of narrative to explain everything from political traditions to cyberspace. This unique collection of original essays helps further that project by surveying stories of and about all kinds of American politics--from welfare, race, and immigration; to workfare, jobs, and education; to gay rights, national security, and the American Dream in an age of economic globalization.

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 themore 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.

It has been suggested that policy analysis has come to serve the needs of the state at the expense of the citizens. In the case of welfare policy, it often seems geared towards managing poverty rather than trying to lessen it, with a focus on controlling the behaviour of "the poor". "Words of Welfare" offers an important and enlightening critique of how welfare policy is analyzed and set in the US, illustrating that how we study issues affects what ultimately gets done about them. Despite large amounts of funding to support social science research on the causes of poverty, little progress has been made in reducing the problem, and, in fact, poverty appears to have worsened dramatically in recent years. Partly at fault, Schram argues, is that research on poverty and welfare dependency is frequently based on certain questionable assumptions about the economic structures of late capitalist societies. Thus the concern of perspective in social science research has never been fully addressed. Issues examined in "Words of Welfare" include the drawing of the poverty line, the setting of benefit levels, the feminization of poverty, homelessness, the underclass, welfare dependency, recent attempts to reform welfare, and the implications for welfare in the emerging global, postindustrial economy. Schram demonstrates how research on these issues can be done differently and more effectively. Providing an illuminating view of welfare policy in the US, "Words of Welfare" should provoke extensive discussion in a wide variety of related fields.

As Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward argued in the early seventies, in a capitalist economy, social welfare policies alternatingly serve political and economic ends as circumstances dictate. In moments of political stability, governments emphasize a capitalistic work ethic (even if it means working a job that will leave one impoverished); when times are less politically stable, states liberalize welfare policies to recreate the conditions for political acquiescence. Sanford Schram argues in this new book that each shift produces its own path dependency even as it represents yet another iteration of what he (somewhat ironically) calls "ordinary capitalism," where the changes in market logic inevitably produce changes in the structure of the state. In today's ordinary capitalism, neoliberalism is the prevailing political-economic logic that has contributed significantly to unprecedented levels of inequality in an already unequal society. As the new normal, neoliberalism has marketization of the state as a core feature, heightening the role of economic actors, especially financiers, in shaping public policy. The results include increased economic precarity among the general population, giving rise to dramatic political responses on both the Left and the Right (Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party in particular). Schram examines neoliberalism's constraints on politics as well as social and economic policy and gives special attention to the role protest politics plays in keeping alive the possibilities for ordinary people to exercise political agency. The Return of Ordinary Capitalism concludes with political strategies for working through-rather than around-neoliberalism via a radical, rather than status-quo-reinforcing, incrementalism.

This timely collection presents research contributing to the ongoing debate over welfare reform in the 1990s, especially since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Some chapters argue that the law will lead states to restrict benefits out of fear of becoming "welfare magnets." Other chapters assert that no such shift is taking place. Still others point to evidence that states are experimenting and serving as "laboratories of democracy." And others suggest that none of these positions captures the complexities of welfare reform. The work behind several contributions supported arguments (on either side) in a Supreme Court case about welfare argued in January 1999.

Contributors are professionals in government and political science, sociology, social work, and public administration. They are Sanford F. Schram, Samuel H. Beer, Mark Carl Rom, Paul E. Peterson, Kenneth F. Scheve, Jr., Frances Fox Piven, Margaret Weir, Scott W. Allard, Joe Soss, Irene Lurie, Thomas Vartanian, Jim Baumohl, Richard P. Nathan, Thomas L. Gais, Karen A. Curtis, Jocelyn M. Johnston, Kara Lindaman, Richard M. Francis, Saundra K. Schneider, Barbara Gault, Heidi Hartmann, and Hsiao-Ye Yi.

Most chapters were prepared for a conference at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and published as a special edition of the journal "Publius." They have been supplemented by two new chapters, a new introduction by Sanford F. Schram, and an index.