How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics: From Welfare Reform to Foreclosure to Trump (Volume 2) (Reproductive Justice: A New Vision for the 21st Century)

Today all politics are reproductive politics, argues esteemed feminist critic Laura Briggs. From longer work hours to the election of Donald Trump, our current political crisis is above all about reproduction. Households are where we face our economic realities as social safety nets get cut and wages decline. Briggs brilliantly outlines how politicians' racist accounts of reproduction—stories of Black "welfare queens" and Latina "breeding machines"—were the leading wedge in the government and business disinvestment in families. With decreasing wages, rising McJobs, and no resources for family care, our households have grown ever more precarious over the past forty years in sharply race-and class-stratified ways. This crisis, argues Briggs, fuels all others—from immigration to gay marriage, anti-feminism to the rise of the Tea Party. Now all politics are reproductive politics, argues esteemed feminist critic, Laura Briggs. Today's economic realities mean we are always at work, and time to care for dependents and communities has evaporated. Our households bear witness to this with trends towards later childbearing, growing use of IVF, widening racial disparities in infant mortality, and popular dependence on risky marriages and mortgages for semblances of security. Meanwhile an immigrant workforce (which is actually more female than male) cares for US households while leaving their own kids in home countries. This brilliant book outlines our crisis and explains how we got here. From Republican and Democrat stories of Black "welfare queens" and Latina "breeding machines" that helped destroy the so-called nanny state to stagnant wages in rising McJobs, and from a Queer turn to same-sex marriage to the blame game for the subprime crisis, Laura Briggs shows how from the 1980s to Trump and beyond, our current woes are anything but our fault Today all politics are reproductive politics, argues esteemed feminist critic Laura Briggs. From longer work hours to the election of Donald Trump, our current political crisis is above all about reproduction. Households are where we face our economic realities as social safety nets get cut and wages decline. Briggs brilliantly outlines how politicians’ racist accounts of reproduction—stories of Black “welfare queens” and Latina “breeding machines"—were the leading wedge in the government and business disinvestment in families. With decreasing wages, rising McJobs, and no resources for family care, our households have grown ever more precarious over the past forty years in sharply race-and class-stratified ways. This crisis, argues Briggs, fuels all others—from immigration to gay marriage, anti-feminism to the rise of the Tea Party. "This book tells the story of how our political struggles over race, immigration, and queer folks came to center around reproductive politics--children, households, and families. Race-based shaming of irresponsible reproductive behavior--from an account of Black "welfare queens" and Latina immigrant "breeding machines" to Clinton's crackdown on immigration following "Nannygate"--Were instrumental in creating a new normal: the shredding of the government safety net for families and households, the end of the period of rising real wages and a living wage that enabled people to support families and dependents, and the immiseration of households. Laura Briggs argues for the critical importance of paying attention to reproductive politics in this new era"--Provided by publisher "Radical feminism's misogynistic crusade" or the conservative tax revolt? -- Welfare reform : the vicious campaign to reform 1% of the budget -- Offshoring reproduction -- The politics and economy of reproductive technology and black infant mortality -- Gay married, with children -- Epilogue : the subprime