Description
Book SynopsisRepresentation of the poor has never been the top priority for civil rights organizations, which exist to eradicate racially prejudiced and discriminatory practices and policy. Scholars have argued that the activities and ideologies of civil rights groups have functioned with a distinct middle-class bias since well before the 1960s civil rights movement. Additionally, all political organizations face disincentives to represent the poor—such advocacy is expensive and politically unpopular, and often involves trade-offs with other issues that are more central to organizations'' missions.
In Civil Rights Advocacy on Behalf of the Poor, Catherine M. Paden examines five civil rights organizations and explores why they chose to represent the poor—specifically low-income African Americans—during six legislative periods considering welfare reform. Paden''s archival research into groups such as NAACP, the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Southern Christian L
Trade Review
"Paden's impressive archival research establishes and explains shifts in Civil Rights organizations' priorities during the critical years of the Civil Rights movement and the War on Poverty. She reinforces the value of integrating history, politics, and policy in contemporary scholarship-a perspective that has the capacity to reach a general readership beyond the political science community." * Perspectives on Politics *
"Catherine M. Paden takes a fresh look at an extremely important but understudied topic, examining the circumstances under which 'identity-based' advocacy organizations represent disadvantaged subpopulations of larger constituencies. Her findings are original, compelling, and provocative." * Dara Z. Strolovitch, University of Minnesota *
Table of Contents
1. Antipoverty as a Civil Rights Issue?
2. Assessing and Explaining Shifts in Organizational Priorities
3. Civil Rights Organizations and the War on Poverty
4. Civil Rights Organizations' Antipoverty Activities During the Late 1960s and Early 1970s
5. Explaining Priority Shifts During the 1960s
6. Explaining Priority Shifts During the Early 1970s
7. Recent Battles, Recent Challenges
8. Conclusions
Appendix A: Archival Research and Coding
Appendix B: Shifts in Organizational Attention to Antipoverty Policy
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Notes to Figure Sources
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
