Description
Book SynopsisChronicles the effects of the 1996 welfare reform legislation that ended welfare. This book profiles the day-to-day struggles of Mexican immigrant women in the Los Angeles area, showing that the "welfare-to-work" regime has produced tremendous instability and insecurity for these women and their children.
Trade ReviewA smart, engaging, and groundbreaking study that exposes the racist underpinnings of welfare reform. A model of stellar scholarship and a must read for anyone seeking to understand poverty in relation to the meaning of American citizenship today. -- Arlene Davila,author of Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City
Original and insightful. Not Working is a powerful book, connecting theories of the state, citizenship, and globalization with first rate ethnography. It is an instant classic and will remain the definitive book on immigrant women and welfare reform for some time. -- Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo,author of Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence
This highly significant contribution assures that Latina immigrants will no longer be invisible in scholarly research on welfare reform. This superb ethnography establishes a clear connection to the political, legal, and economic realities that is needed in reassessing the success stories of welfare reform. It should be read by all those concerned with social inequality, poverty, and justice in America. -- Mary Romero,author of Maid in the U.S.A
This is a scholarly, professional critique of social science research paradigms generally, and poverty knowledge industry and associated applied policy research in particular: * Choice: Highly recommended *
With this book, Marchevsky and Theoharis make a distinct contribution to the welfare reform debate by addressing a topic that has received less attention in the literature, namely how welfare reforms have impacted immigrant. Not Working is particularly timely as immigrants become more visible as they move to less traditional U.S. regions to find work and the immigration debate rages. * Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Latinas on the Fault Lines of Citizenship PART I Neither a Hand Up nor a Handout1 Ending Welfare: New Nativism and the Triumph of Post-Civil Rights Politics 2 Poverty in the Suburbs: Race and Redevelopment Policy in Long Beach PART II Any Job at Any Wage3 Tough Love in L.A. County: The Failure of Welfare-to-Work 4 The Myth of Welfare Dependency: Caught between Welfare and Work 5 "It's Not What You Choose, but Where They Send You": Inside Personal Responsibility Conclusion: The Emperor's New Welfare: Reassessing the "Success" of Welfare Reform Notes Index About the Authors
